April 24, 2022

How to connect SuperTokens to a MySQL or to a PostgreSQL database

Learn how to connect a self-hosted SuperTokens core to a database with or without Docker

By Rishabh PoddarCo-Founder and CTO at SuperTokens

This blog will take you through connecting the SuperTokens core service with a MySQL or a PostgreSQL database with and without Docker.

This is only applicable if you are self-hosting the SuperTokens core service.

There are several methods for how you might want to run SuperTokens along with a database. In this blog, we will cover:

1. Running with MySQL:
1. Running with PostgreSQL:

Please feel free to navigate to the correct section based on your setup. In each section, we will be linking to the SuperTokens documentation wherever applicable so that this blog is not very lengthy.

All the sections below assume that you will be using a Linux based operating system. For Windows, the syntax for some of the steps might be different, but the overall steps that need to be performed will be the same.

1a) Running SuperTokens and MySQL without docker

Install SuperTokens on your local machine by following the self-hosted, without docker, instructions in the SuperTokens’ documentation.
Connect to the MySQL server on your local machine and create a database for SuperTokens to write to:
```
create database supertokens;
```
If you already have a database for your application and want SuperTokens to create tables in that, you can skip this step.
Create a MySQL user that has full access to the database created in the previous step. This user will be used by SuperTokens to create and write to the database tables:
```
CREATE USER 'supertokens_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'somePassword';
```
```
GRANT ALL ON supertokens.* TO 'supertokens_user'@'localhost';
```
```
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
```
Notice that we only allow this user to work via 'localhost'. This would only work if the SuperTokens core is running locally as well. If you are running the core in a different location, then you would need to replace 'localhost' in the above with '%'.
Edit the SuperTokens config.yaml file (located in /usr/lib/supertokens/config.yaml) to add the following config:
```
mysql_connection_uri: "mysql://supertokens_user:somePassword@localhost:3306/supertokens"
```
Make sure that you put in the right values for the user, password, database name and location of your MySQL instance in the above connection uri string.

Run SuperTokens by running supertokens start on your terminal:

supertokens start

Loading storage layer.
Loading MySQL config.
...
Started SuperTokens on localhost:3567 with PID: ...

Verify that it is setup correctly by querying the core service:
```
curl http://localhost:3567/hello
```
If you get back a Hello reply, the core setup is done!

1b) Running SuperTokens with Docker and MySQL without docker

For this setup to work, we must connect SuperTokens and MySQL via the host machine’s network. For this, we will have to expose the MySQL db to the local IP.

Start by pulling the SuperTokens docker image that is compatible with MySQL:
```
docker pull registry.supertokens.io/supertokens/supertokens-mysql
```
Expose MySQL server to all network interfaces on your machine. To do this, edit the my.cnf file (MySQL config file) to include:
```
bind-address = 0.0.0.0
```
Be sure to restart your MySQL server after saving the file.
Connect to the MySQL server on your local machine and create a database for SuperTokens to write to:
```
create database supertokens;
```
If you already have a database for your application and want SuperTokens to create tables in that, you can skip this step.
Create a MySQL user that has full access to the database created in the previous step. This user will be used by SuperTokens to create and write to the database tables:
```
CREATE USER 'supertokens_user'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'somePassword';
```
```
GRANT ALL ON supertokens.* TO 'supertokens_user'@'%';
```
```
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
```
Run the SuperTokens docker image with the env var specifying the MySQL connection URI:
```
docker run \
  -p 3567:3567 \
  --network=host \
  -e MYSQL_CONNECTION_URI="mysql://supertokens_user:[email protected]:3306/supertokens" \
  -d registry.supertokens.io/supertokens/supertokens-mysql
```
Be sure to replace 192.168.1.1 with the correct IP of your system.

This will start the docker image in the background. You can find it by running:
```
docker ps
```
If you want to run it in the foreground, you can remove the -d option from the docker run command.
Verify that it is setup correctly by querying the core service:
```
curl http://localhost:3567/hello
```
If you get back a Hello reply, the core setup is done!

1c) Running SuperTokens without Docker and MySQL with docker

Install SuperTokens on your local machine by following the self-hosted, without docker, instructions in the SuperTokens’ documentation.
Start the MySQL docker container:
```
docker run \
  -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=root \
  -e MYSQL_USER=supertokens_user \
  -e MYSQL_PASSWORD=somePassword \
  -e MYSQL_DATABASE=supertokens \
  --network=host \
  -p 3306:3306 \
  -d mysql
```
The above will start the mysql db with a new database called supertokens. SuperTokens core will store the data in this database. If instead, you want the data to be stored in an existing db, please provide that db’s name instead.
Edit the SuperTokens config.yaml file (located in /usr/lib/supertokens/config.yaml) to add the following config:
```
mysql_connection_uri: "mysql://supertokens_user:somePassword@localhost:3306/supertokens"
```
Make sure that you put in the right values for the user, password, database name and location of your MySQL instance in the above connection uri string.

Run SuperTokens by running supertokens start on your terminal:

supertokens start

Loading storage layer.
Loading MySQL config.
...
Started SuperTokens on localhost:3567 with PID: ...

Verify that it is setup correctly by querying the core service:
```
curl http://localhost:3567/hello
```
If you get back a Hello reply, the core setup is done!

1d) Running SuperTokens and MySQL with docker, but without docker-compose

Start by pulling the SuperTokens docker image that is compatible with MySQL:
```
docker pull registry.supertokens.io/supertokens/supertokens-mysql
```
Start the MySQL docker container:
```
docker run \
  -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=root \
  -e MYSQL_USER=supertokens_user \
  -e MYSQL_PASSWORD=somePassword \
  -e MYSQL_DATABASE=supertokens \
  --network=host \
  -p 3306:3306 \
  -d mysql
```
The above will start the mysql db with a new database called supertokens. SuperTokens core will store the data in this database. If instead, you want the data to be stored in an existing db, please provide that db’s name instead.
Run the SuperTokens docker image with the env var specifying the MySQL connection URI:
```
docker run \
  -p 3567:3567 \
  --network=host \
  -e MYSQL_CONNECTION_URI="mysql://supertokens_user:[email protected]:3306/supertokens" \
  -d registry.supertokens.io/supertokens/supertokens-mysql
```
Be sure to replace 192.168.1.1 with the correct IP of your system.

This will start the docker image in the background. You can find it by running:
```
docker ps
```
If you want to run it in the foreground, you can remove the -d option from the docker run command.
Verify that it is setup correctly by querying the core service:
```
curl http://localhost:3567/hello
```
If you get back a Hello reply, the core setup is done!

1e) Running SuperTokens and MySQL with docker, with docker-compose

Use the following docker compose file. You can call it docker-compose.yaml

version: '3'

services:
  db:
    image: mysql:latest
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: root
      MYSQL_USER: supertokens_user
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: somePassword
      MYSQL_DATABASE: supertokens
    ports:
      - 3306:3306
    networks:
      - app_network
    restart: unless-stopped
    healthcheck:
      test: [ "CMD", "mysqladmin", "ping", "-h", "localhost" ]
      timeout: 20s
      retries: 10

  supertokens:
    image: registry.supertokens.io/supertokens/supertokens-mysql
    depends_on:
      - db
    ports:
      - 3567:3567
    environment:
      MYSQL_CONNECTION_URI: mysql://supertokens_user:somePassword@db:3306/supertokens
    networks:
      - app_network
    restart: unless-stopped
    healthcheck:
      test: >
        bash -c 'exec 3<>/dev/tcp/127.0.0.1/3567 && echo -e "GET /hello HTTP/1.1\r\nhost: 127.0.0.1:3567\r\nConnection: close\r\n\r\n" >&3 && cat <&3 | grep "Hello"'
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

networks:
  app_network:
    driver: bridge

You can run the following command to start the service:
```
docker-compose up
```
Verify that it is setup correctly by querying the core service:
```
curl http://localhost:3567/hello
```
If you get back a Hello reply, the core setup is done!

2a) Running SuperTokens and PostgreSQL without docker

Install SuperTokens on your local machine by following the self-hosted, without docker, instructions in the SuperTokens’ documentation.
Connect to the PostgreSQL server on your local machine and create a database for SuperTokens to write to:
```
CREATE DATABASE supertokens;
```
If you already have a database for your application and want SuperTokens to create tables in that, you can skip this step.
Create a PostgreSQL user that has full access to the database created in the previous step. This user will be used by SuperTokens to create and write to the database tables:
```
CREATE USER supertokens_user WITH ENCRYPTED PASSWORD 'somePassword';
```
```
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE supertokens TO supertokens_user;
```
Edit the SuperTokens config.yaml file (located in /usr/lib/supertokens/config.yaml) to add the following config:
```
postgresql_connection_uri: "postgresql://supertokens_user:somePassword@localhost:5432/supertokens"
```
Make sure that you put in the right values for the user, password, database name and location of your postgreSQL instance in the above connection uri string.

Run SuperTokens by running supertokens start on your terminal:

supertokens start

Loading storage layer.
Loading PostgreSQL config.
...
Started SuperTokens on localhost:3567 with PID: ...

Verify that it is setup correctly by querying the core service:
```
curl http://localhost:3567/hello
```
If you get back a Hello reply, the core setup is done!

2b) Running SuperTokens with Docker and PostgreSQL without docker

For this setup to work, we must connect SuperTokens and PostgreSQL via the host machine’s network. For this, we will have to allow PostgreSQL to allow incomming client connections over the network.

Start by pulling the SuperTokens docker image that is compatible with PostgreSQL:
```
docker pull registry.supertokens.io/supertokens/supertokens-postgresql
```
Allow incoming client connections to your PostgreSQL database over your network by adding the following lines to the postgresql.confand pg_hba.conf file.

postgresql.conf
```
listen_addresses = '0.0.0.0'
```
pg_hba.conf
```
host all all 0.0.0.0/0 md5
```
Connect to the PostgreSQL server on your local machine and create a database for SuperTokens to write to:
```
CREATE DATABASE supertokens;
```
If you already have a database for your application and want SuperTokens to create tables in that, you can skip this step.
Create a PostgreSQL user that has full access to the database created in the previous step. This user will be used by SuperTokens to create and write to the database tables:
```
CREATE USER supertokens_user with encrypted password 'somePassword';
```
```
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE supertokens TO supertokens_user;
```
Run the SuperTokens docker image with the env var specifying the PostgreSQL connection URI:
```
docker run \
  -p 3567:3567 \
  --network=host \
  -e POSTGRESQL_CONNECTION_URI="postgresql://supertokens_user:[email protected]:5432/supertokens" \
  -d registry.supertokens.io/supertokens/supertokens-postgresql
```
Be sure to replace 192.168.1.1 with the correct IP of your system.

This will start the docker image in the background. You can find it by running:
```
docker ps
```
If you want to run it in the foreground, you can remove the -d option from the docker run command.
Verify that it is setup correctly by querying the core service:
```
curl http://localhost:3567/hello
```
If you get back a Hello reply, the core setup is done!

2c) Running SuperTokens without Docker and PostgreSQL with docker

Install SuperTokens on your local machine by following the self-hosted, without docker, instructions in the SuperTokens’ documentation.
Start the PostgreSQL docker container:
```
docker run \
  -e POSTGRES_USER=root \
  -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=root \
  --network=host \
  -p 5432:5432 \
  -d postgres \
  -c listen_addresses=0.0.0.0
```
The above will start the PostgreSQL db. You will need to connect to the database and create a user with the privileges.
```
CREATE DATABASE supertokens;
```
If you already have a database for your application and want SuperTokens to create tables in that, you can skip this step.
Create a PostgreSQL user that has full access to the database created in the previous step. This user will be used by SuperTokens to create and write to the database tables:
```
CREATE USER supertokens_user with encrypted password 'somePassword';
```
```
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE supertokens TO supertokens_user;
```
Edit the SuperTokens config.yaml file (located in /usr/lib/supertokens/config.yaml) to add the following config:
```
postgresql_connection_uri: "postgresql://supertokens_user:somePassword@localhost:5432/supertokens"
```
Make sure that you put in the right values for the user, password, database name and location of your PostgreSQL instance in the above connection uri string.

Run SuperTokens by running supertokens start on your terminal:

supertokens start

Loading storage layer.
Loading PostgreSQL config.
...
Started SuperTokens on localhost:3567 with PID: ...

Verify that it is setup correctly by querying the core service:
```
curl http://localhost:3567/hello
```
If you get back a Hello reply, the core setup is done!

2d) Running SuperTokens and PostgreSQL with docker, but without docker-compose

Start by pulling the SuperTokens docker image that is compatible with PostgreSQL:
```
docker pull registry.supertokens.io/supertokens/supertokens-postgresql
```
Start the PostgreSQL docker container:
```
docker run \
  -e POSTGRES_USER=root \
  -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=root \
  --network=host \
  -p 5432:5432 \
  -d postgres \
  -c listen_addresses=0.0.0.0
```
The above will start the PostgreSQL db. You will need to connect to the database and create a user with the privileges.
```
CREATE DATABASE supertokens;
```
If you already have a database for your application and want SuperTokens to create tables in that, you can skip this step.
Create a PostgreSQL user that has full access to the database created in the previous step. This user will be used by SuperTokens to create and write to the database tables:
```
CREATE USER supertokens_user with encrypted password 'somePassword';
```
```
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE supertokens TO supertokens_user;
```
Run the SuperTokens docker image with the env var specifying the PostgreSQL connection URI:
```
docker run \
  -p 3567:3567 \
  --network=host \
  -e POSTGRESQL_CONNECTION_URI="postgresql://supertokens_user:[email protected]:5432/supertokens" \
  -d registry.supertokens.io/supertokens/supertokens-postgresql
```
Be sure to replace 192.168.1.1 with the correct IP of your system.

This will start the docker image in the background. You can find it by running:
```
docker ps
```
If you want to run it in the foreground, you can remove the -d option from the docker run command.
Verify that it is setup correctly by querying the core service:
```
curl http://localhost:3567/hello
```
If you get back a Hello reply, the core setup is done!

2e) Running SuperTokens and PostgreSQL with docker, with docker-compose

Use the following docker compose file. You can call it docker-compose.yaml

version: '3'

services:
  db:
    image: 'postgres:latest'
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: supertokens_user 
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: somePassword 
      POSTGRES_DB: supertokens
    ports:
      - 5432:5432
    networks:
      - app_network
    restart: unless-stopped
    healthcheck:
      test: ['CMD', 'pg_isready', '-U', 'supertokens_user', '-d', 'supertokens']
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

  supertokens:
    image: registry.supertokens.io/supertokens/supertokens-postgresql
    depends_on:
      - db
    ports:
      - 3567:3567
    environment:
      POSTGRESQL_CONNECTION_URI: "postgresql://supertokens_user:somePassword@db:5432/supertokens"
    networks:
      - app_network
    restart: unless-stopped
    healthcheck:
      test: >
        bash -c 'exec 3<>/dev/tcp/127.0.0.1/3567 && echo -e "GET /hello HTTP/1.1\r\nhost: 127.0.0.1:3567\r\nConnection: close\r\n\r\n" >&3 && cat <&3 | grep "Hello"'
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

networks:
  app_network:
    driver: bridge

You can run the following command to start the service:
```
docker-compose up
```
Verify that it is setup correctly by querying the core service:
```
curl http://localhost:3567/hello
```
If you get back a Hello reply, the core setup is done!