gotosocial/docs/configuration/database.md

Database

GoToSocial stores statuses, accounts, etc, in a database. This can be either SQLite or Postgres.

By default, GoToSocial will use Postgres, but this is easy to change.

SQLite

SQLite, as the name implies, is the lightest database type that GoToSocial can use. It stores entries in a simple file format, usually in the same directory as the GoToSocial binary itself. SQLite is great for small instances and lower-powered machines like Raspberry Pi, where a dedicated database would be overkill.

To configure GoToSocial to use SQLite, change db-type to sqlite. The address setting will then be a filename instead of an address, so you might want to change it to sqlite.db or something similar.

Note that the :memory: setting will use an in-memory database which will be wiped when your GoToSocial instance stops running. This is for testing only and is absolutely not suitable for running a proper instance, so don't do this.

Postgres

Postgres is a heavier database format, which is useful for larger instances where you need to scale performance, or where you need to run your database on a dedicated machine separate from your GoToSocial instance (or do funky stuff like run a database cluster).

GoToSocial supports connecting to Postgres using SSL/TLS. If you're running Postgres on a different machine from GoToSocial, and connecting to it via an IP address or hostname (as opposed to just running on localhost), then SSL/TLS is CRUCIAL to avoid leaking data all over the place!

When you're using Postgres, GoToSocial expects whatever you've set for db-user to already be created in the database, and to have ownership of whatever you've set for db-database.

For example, if you set:

db:
  [...]
  user: "gotosocial"
  password: "some_really_good_password"
  database: "gotosocial"  

Then you should have already created database gotosocial in Postgres, and given ownership of it to the gotosocial user.

The psql commands to do this will look something like:

create database gotosocial;
create user gotosocial with password 'some_really_good_password';
grant all privileges on database gotosocial to gotosocial;

Settings

############################
##### DATABASE CONFIG ######
############################

# Config pertaining to the Gotosocial database connection

# String. Database type.
# Options: ["postgres","sqlite"]
# Default: "postgres"
db-type: "postgres"

# String. Database address or parameters.
# Examples: ["localhost","my.db.host","127.0.0.1","192.111.39.110",":memory:"]
# Default: "localhost"
db-address: "127.0.0.1"

# Int. Port for database connection.
# Examples: [5432, 1234, 6969]
# Default: 5432
db-port: 5432

# String. Username for the database connection.
# Examples: ["mydbuser","postgres","gotosocial"]
# Default: "postgres"
db-user: "postgres"

# REQUIRED
# String. Password to use for the database connection
# Examples: ["password123","verysafepassword","postgres"]
# Default: "postgres"
db-password: "postgres"

# String. Name of the database to use within the provided database type.
# Examples: ["mydb","postgres","gotosocial"]
# Default: "postgres"
db-database: "postgres"

# String. Disable, enable, or require SSL/TLS connection to the database.
# If "disable" then no TLS connection will be attempted.
# If "enable" then TLS will be tried, but the database certificate won't be checked (for self-signed certs).
# If "require" then TLS will be required to make a connection, and a valid certificate must be presented.
# Options: ["disable", "enable", "require"]
# Default: "disable"
db-tls-mode: "disable"

# String. Path to a CA certificate on the host machine for db certificate validation.
# If this is left empty, just the host certificates will be used.
# If filled in, the certificate will be loaded and added to host certificates.
# Examples: ["/path/to/some/cert.crt"]
# Default: ""
db-tls-ca-cert: ""