Using a Cloud Database¶

Quick Guide¶

Consider collaborating! The public Simmate website is an open collective where all data is shared publicly, even new workflow submissions. By using the public site, our team will handle the management responsibility for the database, and all data contributed becomes public for the community to use.
Establish a cloud database. Simmate uses Postgres as the primary database engine for production systems. You have two main options for setting up a Postgres database:
- Managed Cloud (Recommended): The easiest way to set up a Postgres database for beginners is with DigitalOcean. A basic 10GB database (~$15/month) is plenty to get started with, and if you use our referral link, you'll get $200 in free credit for your first 60 days.
- Local Docker (For Practice): If you want to test Postgres locally for free before moving to the cloud:
```
docker run --name some-postgres -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword -v ~/simmate/database_volume:/var/lib/postgresql/data -d postgres
```

Update your Simmate settings. You can update your settings directly from the command line (replace with your actual details):

simmate config update "database.engine=django.db.backends.postgresql"
simmate config update "database.host=simmate-db.example.com"
simmate config update "database.name=simmate_db"
simmate config update "database.user=doadmin"
simmate config update "database.password=your_password"
simmate config update "database.port=25061"
simmate config update "database.options.sslmode=require"

Alternatively, you can manually update the file ~/simmate/settings.yaml (or {conda_env}-settings.yaml) with your connection details that align with the Django format. Your settings file should look like this:

database:
  engine: django.db.backends.postgresql
  host: simmate-db.example.com
  name: simmate-db-pool
  user: doadmin
  password: your_password
  port: 25061
  options:
    sslmode: require

Initialize your database. If you have created a brand new database, you will need to build the initial tables. Use the following command:
```
simmate database reset
```

Danger

Do NOT execute this command if you have joined a shared database that already has data!