Dedicated databases

A dedicated database is a PostgreSQL database with PostGIS that depends on no instance. It has its own subscription, is rented by the GB, and stays in place when you stop or delete an instance. You can have several; they are managed from Bases de données, in the menu.

On deployment, we create the database with PostGIS and a few common extensions: postgis_topology, hstore, uuid-ossp and pg_trgm. You receive a user that can create its own schemas and tables; a terrain schema is already there. Connections are encrypted.

We host the database, measure its size and warn you before it is full. Its content, its structure and its exports remain your responsibility.

A database is ordered in two stages: you pay for it, then you deploy it by giving it a name.

1. Open Bases de données and click Order a database. The Database plans page opens; it can also be reached from Abonnements.
2. Choose the period: Monthly or Yearly.
3. Set the size with the Storage slider. What is included details the offer; the Summary, on the right (below on a phone), gives the price per GB and the total, which follow the slider.
4. Choose Bank card or Mobile Money. Mobile Money is only offered yearly.
5. Accept the terms, click Commander and pay. You then come back to the Databases page, where the new database waits to be deployed.

With a licence key, click I have a licence key instead of paying, enter the key, then Activate the key. The database appears in the same way, ready to deploy. Only the account owner can order a database; team members manage existing ones, according to their permissions.

Deploying the database

1. On the database's card, enter the PostgreSQL instance name: 3 to 12 characters, in lowercase letters, digits and hyphens. The name must not already be taken.
2. If you wish, open Advanced options (optional) to choose the Database name and the PostgreSQL user. If you do not choose, they are derived from the name; the password is generated.
3. In PostgreSQL / PostGIS version, keep the version offered, the recommended version shown below the list, or choose another one.
4. Click Deploy the database (or Redeploy the database). A window follows the steps; at the end, Database deployed! is displayed and an email confirms it.

Paid by card, the database renews itself each period. Paid by Mobile Money or with a key, it does not renew: emails warn you seven, three and one day before it ends.

Each database has its card on the Bases de données page, across the full width: its name, then on one line its status, its size and Expires in, the time left until the end of the period (or its creation date). Once deployed, the card shows the Storage bar, which compares the space used with the size you bought, and Connection details, to expand. Cards are sorted by status; the search and the Status filter at the top narrow the list.

At the top right of the card, buttons offer Restart, Stop and Delete the database when the database is active; Start and Delete the database when it is stopped. An email confirms each action. On an active database, Open in LizPack Viewer opens a map, in a new tab, on the tables with geometry of the database: add them like the layers of a project. The database of each instance is listed there too.

Deleting the database

Delete the database asks for your account password, then Delete permanently. The database and its data are erased; a safety copy is made on our server just before. The subscription, however, goes on: the card comes back marked Ready to redeploy, and you can deploy a new, empty database until the end of the paid period.

Cancelling the subscription

Cancellation is done from Mes abonnements: Cancel on the database's line, then your account password. You are no longer charged, and the database stays active until the end of the current period; its card then shows Abonnement résilié and the end date. When the period ends, the database becomes Expired and stops. It is kept for 60 days, then deleted with its data.

We measure the size of each active database every few minutes: tables, indexes and everything the database contains. The card's Storage bar changes color as it fills up; from 75 % a message appears on the card, and from 80 % a banner on the dashboard.

If you get back under 100 % before the stop, the alert is lifted and an email confirms it. No data is erased by a quota stop.

After a quota stop

A database stopped for quota cannot be restarted from the client area. Write to support: we restart it and give you one hour to free up space. The card then shows Grace period running and the time left. Once back under 100 %, the database returns to normal; otherwise, the rules in the table apply again.

Freeing up space

Dropping a table (DROP TABLE) or emptying it entirely (TRUNCATE) gives the space back at once. Deleting rows (DELETE) does not: then run VACUUM FULL on the table, which locks it while it runs. To see the current size: SELECT pg_size_pretty(pg_database_size(current_database())); the card updates at the next measurement.

A database's size cannot be changed from the client area after ordering.

Once the database is deployed, its card shows Connection details. Expand it: Host, Port, Database, User, Password, the SSL mode and the Connection URI, which puts it all on one line. Each value is copied with one click; the eye shows the password.

The host, pg.lizpack.com, is shared by all dedicated databases; the port, specific to your database, is what designates it. It is not the usual 5432. The connection requires encryption: SSL mode require. The URI contains the password; treat it as such.

From QGIS

1. In QGIS, create a new PostgreSQL connection from the Data Source Manager.
2. Copy the host, the port and the database name, and choose SSL mode require.
3. Enter the user and the password under basic authentication.
4. Test the connection, then save it.

Other clients, pgAdmin, DBeaver or psql, take the same values; psql also accepts the URI as it is. After a deletion followed by a redeployment, copy the settings again: the database is new, and so is its password.