Establishing a Remote Connection to a PostgreSQL Database in a Docker Container

Описание: A step-by-step guide on how to connect remotely to a PostgreSQL database hosted in a container, covering SSH port forwarding and configuration tips for NGINX.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/77418159/ asked by the user 'Andrey Dmitriev' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/20599180/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/77418240/ provided by the user 'igops' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/20085654/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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Establishing a Remote Connection to a PostgreSQL Database in a Docker Container

When running applications with Docker, it’s common to host your PostgreSQL database in a container. While this setup provides many benefits, it can also lead to challenges, especially when you need to connect to your database remotely. This guide addresses a common question: How do I establish a remote connection to a PostgreSQL database hosted in a container?

Understanding the Challenge

You have a PostgreSQL database running in a Docker container with the following configuration in your server.yml file:

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This configuration means that the database is only accessible from localhost, making it not reachable directly from the internet. To connect to this database remotely, you will need to employ a few strategies, including using NGINX as a proxy and utilizing SSH port forwarding.

Solution Overview

To connect to your PostgreSQL database remotely, follow these steps:

Setup NGINX on the server.

Use SSH to forward a local port.

Define the correct URL to connect to the database.

Step 1: Setting Up NGINX

First, you need to configure NGINX to allow remote access:

Update your NGINX configuration file. Here’s a basic example of what your NGINX server block should look like:

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Replace x.x.x.x with your server's public IP address.

Make sure NGINX is installed and running. You can typically do this with:

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Step 2: SSH Port Forwarding

Instead of exposing your database directly over the public internet (which can be a security risk), it's often safer to use SSH port forwarding. This allows you to create a secure tunnel from your local machine to your database on the server.

Open your terminal and execute the following command:

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Replace user@ your-server-ip with your actual username and the server's public IP address.

This command forwards your local port 5433 to the server's port 5432.

Step 3: Connecting via DBeaver

Now that you have set up port forwarding, you can connect to your PostgreSQL database using DBeaver or any other SQL client.

In the connection settings, use the following URL:

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Here, localhost refers to your local machine, and 5433 is the port you used for the SSH forwarding.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you should be able to connect to your PostgreSQL database hosted in a Docker container remotely, using a secure and efficient method. Always remember to keep security in mind by not exposing your database directly to the internet and using SSH tunneling whenever possible.

If you encounter any issues during this process, feel free to revisit each step to ensure everything is configured correctly. Happy coding!