Laravel and PostgreSQL

We have a whole section dedicated to PostgreSQL, we even have a flyctl integration to simplify both creation and interaction with your Postgres Fly Apps!

Laravel and PostgreSQL Fly App

To run PostgreSQL as a Fly App, follow our guide here. Afterwards you can connect it with your Laravel Fly App through various means:

Connect From a Laravel Fly App by Attachment
Connect From a Laravel Fly App Manually
Connect From a Local Environment

Connect From a Laravel Fly App by Attachment

You can Attach your Laravel Fly App to your Postgres Fly App with fly postgres attach:
- This will create a database named after <laravel-app-name> in your Postgres Fly App
- This will create an env variable DATABASE_URL containing a connection string in your Laravel fly app
Please make sure the fly.toml of your Laravel Fly App uses the postgres driver by specifying it as the value of DB_CONNECTION:
```
[env]
APP_ENV = "production"
DB_CONNECTION = "pgsql"
```
Thanks to the attach command, Postgres connection will now be available to your Laravel Fly App using the auto-generated DATABASE_URL from the attachment process.
If you are using Laravel version 11, it no longer uses the DATABASE_URL env variable name, instead it uses DB_URL. So, please set an additional Fly secret, DB_URL with the value of the DATABASE_URL.
```
fly secrets set DB_URL="<DATABASE_URL_VALUE>"
```

Connect From a Laravel Fly App Manually

If you decide not to use the fly postgres attach command above and would want to connect to your Laravel Fly App in a manual, grueling step-by-step procedure, I hear you! You’ll have to:

Manually set up a Database in your Postgres Fly App
Manually connect your Postgres Database with your Laravel Fly App

Manually set up a Database in your Postgres Fly App

Manually connecting with your Postgres Fly App also means manually creating your Postgres Database. You can interact with your Postgres Fly App using fly postgres connect.

Connect with your Postgres Fly App using its App name.
```
fly postgres connect -a <postgres-fly-app>
```
```
Connecting to <postgres-fly-app>.internal... complete
psql (14.4 (Debian 14.4-1.pgdg110+1))
Type "help" for help.

postgres=# 
```
In case you’ve forgotten about your app name, but managed to save the output from the Postgres Fly App creation (which you should’ve!), then check the value of the Hostname. The App name would simply be every little character before “.internal”.
Great, you’re connected! Go ahead and complete your set-up with a new database:
```
create database <DB_NAME>;
```
Now if you check your database list, you should find the recent database created:
```
SELECT datname FROM pg_database;
```
```
  datname  
~-----------
 postgres
 testdb
 template1
 template0
(4 rows)
```

There are tons of ways to interact with your Postgres Fly App! If you want to get a bird’s eye view of your Postgres database list outside of the flyctl postgres connect command, simply run the command below instead.

flyctl postgres db list -a <postgres-fly-app-name>

Now that you have a database in your Postgres Fly App, it’s time to connect it with your Laravel Fly App.

Manually connect to Laravel Fly App

Once you have your running and database configured Postgres Fly App, it’s time to connect with your Laravel Fly App:

Revise your Laravel Fly App’s fly.toml file to connect with the Hostname( your Postgres Fly App’s .internal Address ) from the configuration output, and the DB_NAME configured above:
```
[env]
  APP_ENV = "production"
  DB_CONNECTION = "pgsql"
  DB_HOST = "<Hostname>"
  DB_DATABASE= "<DB_NAME>" 
  DB_PORT = 5432
```
Set your Laravel database DB_USERNAME and DB_PASSWORD with fly secrets based on the configuration output received during your Postgres Fly App creation:
```
fly secrets set DB_USERNAME=<Username> DB_PASSWORD=<PASSWORD>
```
You’ve finally reached the last part. You can now rest easy and deploy:
```
fly deploy
```

Connect From a Local Environment

You can check out various ways to connect with your Postgres Fly App from your local environment, here.
Once you’re locally connected to your Postgres Fly App, setup your Laravel .env file to connect with the Postgres database:
```
DB_CONNECTION=pgsql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=5432
DB_DATABASE=<DB_NAME>
DB_USERNAME=<Username>
DB_PASSWORD=<Password>
```

Laravel Possible PGSQL Errors

If you get an error similar to, "ERROR: could not find driver pgsql", make sure that your environment is configured properly with a pgsql driver:

First up, check your php.ini file and make sure the driver for Postgres is available and uncommented:
```
extension=pgsql
```
Next, make sure you have the correct php-pgsql installed for your PHP version. Let’s assume you have a PHP 8.1 running locally, then you must also have the compatible php8.1-pgsql in your environment.

If you get an error similar to, "pg_dump: error: server version: 14.x; pg_dump version: 12.x", the pgsql client running in the VM does not match the server version.

To fix this, update your Dockerfile. In there, you can install an updated version of the PostgreSQL clients by adding the following commands:

    # Install pgsql client for version 14
RUN ...other stuff here... \
    && apt-get -q install -y lsb-release wget \
    && echo "deb http://apt.postgresql.org/pub/repos/apt $(lsb_release -cs)-pgdg main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pgdg.list \
    && wget --quiet -O - https://www.postgresql.org/media/keys/ACCC4CF8.asc | apt-key add - \
    && apt-get -q update \
    && apt-get -q install -y postgresql-client-14

  

Test Connection

To test whether you are connected to your sparkling new Postgres Fly App, a simple php artisan migrate should let you know.

Once migration completes, you can check the tables migrated in your Postgres Fly App:

# Connect to your Postgres Fly App
$ fly postgres connect -a <postgres-app-name>

# Use the database created 
postgres=# \c <database_name_created>

You are now connected to database "<database_name_created>" as user "<user>".

# List your current database's tables
<database_name_created>=# \d

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