files/arthur-docs-markdown/platform-management/installation/externalize_postgres.md.txt

# Externalizing the Relational Database

If desired, you can bring your own Postgres instance to use as your Arthur's relational database. Follow the steps 
on this page to prepare your Postgres instance.

First, deploy your Postgres instance in your desired environment with appropriate ingress firewall configuration.

Create databases for the Arthur platform.
```
CREATE DATABASE arthurai
CREATE DATABASE alert_service;
CREATE DATABASE dataset_service;
CREATE DATABASE metric_service;

-- for stand alone instance
CREATE USER arthurai WITH PASSWORD 'SuperSecret';
-- for RDS instance
CREATE ROLE arthurai WITH PASSWORD 'SuperSecret' LOGIN;

REVOKE ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE postgres FROM arthurai;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE arthurai TO arthurai;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE alert_service TO arthurai;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE dataset_service TO arthurai;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE metric_service TO arthurai;
```

If you have been using the embedded database and you wish to switch to using an external Postgres, backup the embedded 
database and restore it to the new external Postgres with `pg_dump` and `pg_restore`.

### Connecting to the database using SSL/TLS

If your postgres instance supports SSL/TLS connections, and you want to connect to your external database
with an encrypted connection, you simply need to set `Database SSL Mode` in the initial configuration. By default, this
is set to `disable`. However, you can enable an encrypted connection using the value `require`.

```{note}
An externally managed Postgres instance is strongly recommended for production-grade installs.
```