matrix-docker-ansible-deploy/docs/configuring-playbook-external-postgres.md

Using an external PostgreSQL server (optional)

By default, this playbook would set up a PostgreSQL database server on your machine, running in a Docker container. If that's okay, you can skip this document.

Note: using an external Postgres server is currently not very seamless when it comes to enabling various other playbook services - you will need to create a new database/credentials for each service and to point each service to its corresponding database using custom vars.yml configuration. For the best experience with the playbook, stick to using the integrated Postgres server.

If you'd like to use an external Postgres server that you manage, add the following configuration to your inventory/host_vars/matrix.example.com/vars.yml file (adapt to your needs):

postgres_enabled: false

# Rewire Synapse to use your external Postgres server
matrix_synapse_database_host: "your-postgres-server-hostname"
matrix_synapse_database_user: "your-postgres-server-username"
matrix_synapse_database_password: "your-postgres-server-password"
matrix_synapse_database_database: "your-postgres-server-database-name"

# Rewire any other service (each `matrix-*` role) you may wish to use to use your external Postgres server.
# Each service expects to have its own dedicated database on the Postgres server
# and uses its own variable names (see `roles/custom/matrix-*/defaults/main.yml`) for configuring Postgres connectivity.

The database (as specified in matrix_synapse_database_database) must exist and be accessible with the given credentials. It must be empty or contain a valid Synapse database. If empty, Synapse would populate it the first time it runs.

Note: the external server that you specify in matrix_synapse_database_host must be accessible from within the matrix-synapse Docker container (and possibly other containers too). This means that it either needs to be a publicly accessible hostname or that it's a hostname on the same Docker network where all containers installed by this playbook run (a network called matrix by default). Using a local PostgreSQL instance on the host (running on the same machine, but not in a container) is not possible.

The connection to your external Postgres server will not be SSL encrypted, as we don't support that yet.