Cloud Databases

Convox Cloud Databases provide fully managed RDS instances without a subscription. Pay only for the hours you use. Every tier includes 7-day automated backups and optional Multi-AZ failover, so you can match your database to your workload from development environments to high-traffic production.

Supported Database Types

Convox Cloud supports three database engines:

• PostgreSQL - Versions 14.x through 18.x
• MySQL - Versions 8.0.x and 8.4.x
• MariaDB - Versions 10.6.x through 11.8.x

Definition

Cloud Databases are defined in your convox.yml with provider: aws:

resources:
  database:
    type: postgres
    provider: aws
    options:
      class: small
      version: 17.5
      
services:
  web:
    build: .
    port: 3000
    resources:
      - database

Attributes

Name	Required	Description
type	yes	Database engine: postgres, mysql, or mariadb
provider	yes	Must be aws for Cloud Databases
options.class	no	Database size: dev, small, medium, or large (default: dev)
options.version	no	Database engine version (see supported versions below)
options.durable	no	Enable Multi-AZ failover for high availability (default: false)

Database Classes

Class	vCPU	RAM	Storage	Use Case
dev	1.0	1 GB	20 GB	Development, testing, sandbox environments
small	2.0	2 GB	50 GB	Small production apps, light to moderate traffic
medium	2.0	4 GB	100 GB	Growing applications, higher connection limits
large	2.0	8 GB	250 GB	High-traffic production, enterprise workloads

Linking Resources

Linking a database to a Service injects environment variables into the service's processes:

resources:
  main:
    type: postgres
    provider: aws
    options:
      class: small
      version: 17.5

services:
  web:
    resources:
      - main

The following environment variables are automatically set:

MAIN_URL=postgres://username:password@host.name:port/database
MAIN_USER=username
MAIN_PASS=password
MAIN_HOST=host.name
MAIN_PORT=port
MAIN_NAME=database

Multi-AZ (Durable) Configuration

Enable Multi-AZ deployment for automatic failover and high availability:

resources:
  database:
    type: postgres
    provider: aws
    options:
      class: medium
      version: 17.5
      durable: true

When durable: true is set:

• A standby replica is created in a different availability zone
• Automatic failover occurs if the primary instance fails
• Monthly cost is doubled (two instances running)

Example Configurations

Development Environment

resources:
  database:
    type: postgres
    provider: aws
    options:
      class: dev
      version: 17.5

services:
  web:
    build: .
    port: 3000
    resources:
      - database

Production with Multiple Databases

resources:
  postgres-main:
    type: postgres
    provider: aws
    options:
      class: medium
      version: 17.5
      durable: true
      
  mysql-legacy:
    type: mysql
    provider: aws
    options:
      class: small
      version: 8.4.6
      
  mariadb-analytics:
    type: mariadb
    provider: aws
    options:
      class: large
      version: 11.4.8

services:
  web:
    build: .
    port: 3000
    resources:
      - postgres-main
      - mysql-legacy
      
  analytics:
    build: ./analytics
    resources:
      - mariadb-analytics

Command Line Interface

Listing Resources

$ convox cloud resources -a myapp -i my-machine
NAME           TYPE      URL
postgres-main  postgres  postgres://username:password@host.name:5432/database

Getting Resource Information

$ convox cloud resources info postgres-main -a myapp -i my-machine
Name  postgres-main
Type  postgres
URL   postgres://username:password@host.name:5432/database

Launching a Console

$ convox cloud resources console postgres-main -a myapp -i my-machine
psql (17.5)
Type "help" for help.
database=#

Starting a Proxy

$ convox cloud resources proxy postgres-main -a myapp -i my-machine
Proxying localhost:5432 to host.name:5432

Exporting Data

$ convox cloud resources export postgres-main -a myapp -i my-machine --file backup.sql
Exporting data from postgres-main... OK

Importing Data

$ convox cloud resources import postgres-main -a myapp -i my-machine --file backup.sql
Importing data to postgres-main... OK

Next Steps

• PostgreSQL - PostgreSQL-specific configuration and versions
• MySQL - MySQL-specific configuration and versions
• MariaDB - MariaDB-specific configuration and versions
• Sizing and Pricing - Detailed pricing information