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Managing databases in Managed Service for PostgreSQL

Written by
Updated at July 9, 2025

You can add, rename, and remove databases, as well as view information about them.

Warning

You can't manage databases using SQL commands.

Getting a list of cluster databases

  1. Navigate to the folder dashboard and select Managed Service for PostgreSQL.
  2. Click the cluster name and open the Databases tab.

If you do not have the Yandex Cloud CLI installed yet, install and initialize it.

By default, the CLI uses the folder specified when creating the profile. To change the default folder, use the yc config set folder-id <folder_ID> command. You can also set a different folder for any specific command using the --folder-name or --folder-id parameter.

To get a list of databases in a cluster, run the command:

yc managed-postgresql database list --cluster-name=<cluster_name>

You can request the cluster name with the list of clusters in the folder.

  1. Get an IAM token for API authentication and put it into the environment variable:

    export IAM_TOKEN="<IAM_token>"

  2. Use the Database.List method and send the following request, e.g., via cURL:

    curl \
  --request GET \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $IAM_TOKEN" \
  --url 'https://mdb.api.cloud.yandex.net/managed-postgresql/v1/clusters/<cluster_ID>/databases'

    You can request the cluster ID with the list of clusters in the folder.

  3. View the server response to make sure the request was successful.

  1. Get an IAM token for API authentication and put it into the environment variable:

    export IAM_TOKEN="<IAM_token>"

  2. Clone the cloudapi repository:

    cd ~/ && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/yandex-cloud/cloudapi

    Below, we assume the repository contents are stored in the ~/cloudapi/ directory.

  3. Use the DatabaseService.List call and send the following request, e.g., via gRPCurl:

    grpcurl \
  -format json \
  -import-path ~/cloudapi/ \
  -import-path ~/cloudapi/third_party/googleapis/ \
  -proto ~/cloudapi/yandex/cloud/mdb/postgresql/v1/database_service.proto \
  -rpc-header "Authorization: Bearer $IAM_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
        "cluster_id": "<cluster_ID>"
      }' \
  mdb.api.cloud.yandex.net:443 \
  yandex.cloud.mdb.postgresql.v1.DatabaseService.List

    You can request the cluster ID with the list of clusters in the folder.

  4. View the server response to make sure the request was successful.

Creating a database

Note

You can create a maximum of 1000 databases in each cluster.

  1. Navigate to the folder dashboard and select Managed Service for PostgreSQL.

  2. Click the cluster name.

  3. If the new database does not have an owner among its current users, add such a user.

  4. Select the Databases tab.

  5. Click Create database.

  6. Specify the database settings:

    • Name

      The database name may contain Latin letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens. The name may be up to 63 characters long. The names postgres, template0, and template1 are reserved for Managed Service for PostgreSQL. You cannot create databases with these names.

    • Owner

    • Deletion protection

      The possible values are:

      • Same as cluster
      • Enabled
      • Disabled

    • (Optional) Template: The name of one of the existing databases from which the data schema needs to be copied. All connections to the template database will be closed while the new database is being created.

      For more information, see the PostgreSQL documentation.

    • Collation and character set locales.

      PostgreSQL uses locales to support various language standards. The locale you choose affects:

      • Sort order in the queries that use the ORDER BY operator or standard text data matching operators.
      • The functions upper, lower, initcap, and the to_char family of functions.
      • Pattern matching operators (LIKE, ILIKE, SIMILAR TO, regular expressions).
      • Support of indexes with the LIKE operator.

      By default, the C locale is used. if you use the C encoding for text data containing non-Latin (for example, Cyrillic) characters, errors might occur in the data sort order and data display in the case of pattern search. If this locale is not suitable for valid processing of tables in your database, select another encoding from the list. However, please keep in mind that a non-standard locale might decrease the database query processing rate.

      For more information about locale settings, see the PostgreSQL documentation.

      You cannot change locale settings after you create a database. However, you can set the sorting locale for columns when creating and modifying individual tables. Learn more in the PostgreSQL documentation.

  7. Click Create.

If you do not have the Yandex Cloud CLI installed yet, install and initialize it.

By default, the CLI uses the folder specified when creating the profile. To change the default folder, use the yc config set folder-id <folder_ID> command. You can also set a different folder for any specific command using the --folder-name or --folder-id parameter.

To create a database in a cluster:

  1. View a description of the CLI create database command:

    yc managed-postgresql database create --help

  2. Request a list of cluster users to select the owner of the new database:

    yc managed-postgresql user list --cluster-name=<cluster_name>

    If the required user is not in the list, create it.

  3. Run the create database command. If necessary, specify the required collation and character set locales (the default ones are LC_COLLATE=C and LC_CTYPE=C) and the template:

    yc managed-postgresql database create <DB_name> \
   --cluster-name=<cluster_name> \
   --owner=<database_owner_name> \
   --lc-collate=<collation_locale> \
   --lc-type=<character_set_locale> \
   --template-db=<DB_template_name>

    The database name may contain Latin letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens. The name may be up to 63 characters long. The names postgres, template0, and template1 are reserved for Managed Service for PostgreSQL. You cannot create databases with these names.

    You can request the cluster name with the list of clusters in the folder.

    Managed Service for PostgreSQL runs the create database operation.

  1. Open the current Terraform configuration file that defines your infrastructure.

    For more information about creating this file, see Creating clusters.

    For a complete list of editable fields in the Managed Service for PostgreSQL cluster database configuration, see the Terraform provider documentation.

  2. Add the yandex_mdb_postgresql_database resource: If necessary, specify the required collation and character set locales (the default ones are LC_COLLATE=C and LC_CTYPE=C) and the template:

    resource "yandex_mdb_postgresql_database" "<DB_name>" {
  cluster_id  = "<cluster_ID>"
  name        = "<DB_name>"
  owner       = "<database_owner_name>"
  lc_collate  = "<collation_locale>"
  lc_type     = "<character_set_locale>"
  template_db = "<DB_template_name>"
  deletion_protection = <deletion_protection>
}

    Where:

    • owner: Username of the owner that must be specified in the yandex_mdb_postgresql_user resource.
    • deletion_protection: DB deletion protection, true, false, or unspecified (inherits the value from the cluster). The default value is unspecified.

    The database name may contain Latin letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens. The name may be up to 63 characters long. The names postgres, template0, and template1 are reserved for Managed Service for PostgreSQL. You cannot create databases with these names.

  3. Make sure the settings are correct.

    1. In the command line, navigate to the directory that contains the current Terraform configuration files defining the infrastructure.

    2. Run this command:

      terraform validate

      Terraform will show any errors found in your configuration files.

  4. Confirm updating the resources.

    1. Run this command to view the planned changes:

      terraform plan

      If you described the configuration correctly, the terminal will display a list of the resources to update and their parameters. This is a verification step that does not apply changes to your resources.

    2. If everything looks correct, apply the changes:

      1. Run this command:

        terraform apply

      2. Confirm updating the resources.

      3. Wait for the operation to complete.

Warning

After you create a DB, do not change its owner in the owner parameter, as this will recreate the DB and its data will be lost.

  1. Get an IAM token for API authentication and put it into the environment variable:

    export IAM_TOKEN="<IAM_token>"

  2. Use the Database.Create method and send the following request, e.g., via cURL:

    curl \
  --request POST \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $IAM_TOKEN" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --url 'https://mdb.api.cloud.yandex.net/managed-postgresql/v1/clusters/<cluster_ID>/databases' \
  --data '{
            "databaseSpec": {
              "name": "<DB_name>",
              "owner": "<database_owner_name>",
              "lcCollate": "<collation_locale>",
              "lcCtype": "<character_set_locale>",
              "extensions": [
                {
                  "name": "<extension_name>"
                }
              ],
              "deletionProtection": <deletion_protection>
            }
          }'

    Where databaseSpec is the object containing the new DB settings: Its structure is as follows:

    • name: DB name.

      The database name may contain Latin letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens. The name may be up to 63 characters long. The names postgres, template0, and template1 are reserved for Managed Service for PostgreSQL. You cannot create databases with these names.

    • owner: DB owner username.

    • lcCollate: Collation locale. The default value is C.

    • lcCtype: Character set locale. The default value is C.

    • extensions: Array of DB extensions. One array element contains settings for a single extension and has the following structure:

      • extensions.name: Extension name.

      Give a name according to the list of supported PostgreSQL extensions and utilities.

    • deletionProtection: DB deletion protection, true, false, or unspecified (inherits the value from the cluster). The default value is unspecified.

    You can request the cluster ID with the list of clusters in the folder.

  3. View the server response to make sure the request was successful.

  1. Get an IAM token for API authentication and put it into the environment variable:

    export IAM_TOKEN="<IAM_token>"

  2. Clone the cloudapi repository:

    cd ~/ && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/yandex-cloud/cloudapi

    Below, we assume the repository contents are stored in the ~/cloudapi/ directory.

  3. Use the DatabaseService.Create call and send the following request, e.g., via gRPCurl:

    grpcurl \
  -format json \
  -import-path ~/cloudapi/ \
  -import-path ~/cloudapi/third_party/googleapis/ \
  -proto ~/cloudapi/yandex/cloud/mdb/postgresql/v1/database_service.proto \
  -rpc-header "Authorization: Bearer $IAM_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
        "cluster_id": "<cluster_ID>",
        "database_spec": {
          "name": "<DB_name>",
          "owner": "<database_owner_name>",
          "lc_collate": "<collation_locale>",
          "lc_ctype": "<character_set_locale>",
          "extensions": [
            {
              "name": "<extension_name>"
            }
          ],
          "deletion_protection": <deletion_protection>
        }
      }' \
  mdb.api.cloud.yandex.net:443 \
  yandex.cloud.mdb.postgresql.v1.DatabaseService.Create

    Where databaseSpec is the object containing the new DB settings: Its structure is as follows:

    • name: DB name.

      The database name may contain Latin letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens. The name may be up to 63 characters long. The names postgres, template0, and template1 are reserved for Managed Service for PostgreSQL. You cannot create databases with these names.

    • owner: DB owner username.

    • lc_collate: Collation locale. The default value is C.

    • lc_ctype: Character set locale. The default value is C.

    • extensions: Array of DB extensions. One array element contains settings for a single extension and has the following structure:

      • extensions.name: Extension name.

      Give a name according to the list of supported PostgreSQL extensions and utilities.

    • deletion_protection: DB deletion protection, true, false, or unspecified (inherits the value from the cluster). The default value is unspecified.

    You can request the cluster ID with the list of clusters in the folder.

  4. View the server response to make sure the request was successful.

Renaming a database

  1. Open the current Terraform configuration file that defines your infrastructure.

    For more information about creating this file, see Creating clusters.

    For a complete list of editable fields in the Managed Service for PostgreSQL cluster database configuration, see the Terraform provider documentation.

  2. Find the yandex_mdb_postgresql_database resource of the database you need.

  3. Change the value of the name field:

    resource "yandex_mdb_postgresql_database" "<database_name>" {
  ...
  name     = "<new_database_name>"
  ...
}

    The database name may contain Latin letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens. The name may be up to 63 characters long. The names postgres, template0, and template1 are reserved for Managed Service for PostgreSQL. You cannot create databases with these names.

  4. Make sure the settings are correct.

    1. In the command line, navigate to the directory that contains the current Terraform configuration files defining the infrastructure.

    2. Run this command:

      terraform validate

      Terraform will show any errors found in your configuration files.

  5. Confirm updating the resources.

    1. Run this command to view the planned changes:

      terraform plan

      If you described the configuration correctly, the terminal will display a list of the resources to update and their parameters. This is a verification step that does not apply changes to your resources.

    2. If everything looks correct, apply the changes:

      1. Run this command:

        terraform apply

      2. Confirm updating the resources.

      3. Wait for the operation to complete.

  1. Get an IAM token for API authentication and put it into the environment variable:

    export IAM_TOKEN="<IAM_token>"

  2. Use the Database.Update method and send the following request, e.g., via cURL:

    Warning

    The API method will assign default values to all the parameters of the object you are modifying unless you explicitly provide them in your request. To avoid this, list the settings you want to change in the updateMask parameter as a single comma-separated string.

    curl \
  --request PATCH \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $IAM_TOKEN" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --url 'https://mdb.api.cloud.yandex.net/managed-postgresql/v1/clusters/<cluster_ID>/databases/<previous_DB_name>' \
  --data '{
            "updateMask": "newDatabaseName",
            "newDatabaseName": "<new_DB_name>"
          }'

    Where:

    • updateMask: List of parameters to update as a single string, separated by commas.

      In this case, only one parameter is provided.

    • newDatabaseName: New DB name.

      The database name may contain Latin letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens. The name may be up to 63 characters long. The names postgres, template0, and template1 are reserved for Managed Service for PostgreSQL. You cannot create databases with these names.

    You can request the cluster ID with the list of clusters in the folder, and the DB name, with the list of DBs in the cluster.

  3. View the server response to make sure the request was successful.

  1. Get an IAM token for API authentication and put it into the environment variable:

    export IAM_TOKEN="<IAM_token>"

  2. Clone the cloudapi repository:

    cd ~/ && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/yandex-cloud/cloudapi

    Below, we assume the repository contents are stored in the ~/cloudapi/ directory.

  3. Use the DatabaseService.Update call and send the following request, e.g., via gRPCurl:

    Warning

    The API method will assign default values to all the parameters of the object you are modifying unless you explicitly provide them in your request. To avoid this, list the settings you want to change in the update_mask parameter as an array of paths[] strings.

    Format for listing settings
    "update_mask": {
    "paths": [
        "<setting_1>",
        "<setting_2>",
        ...
        "<setting_N>"
    ]
}

    grpcurl \
  -format json \
  -import-path ~/cloudapi/ \
  -import-path ~/cloudapi/third_party/googleapis/ \
  -proto ~/cloudapi/yandex/cloud/mdb/postgresql/v1/database_service.proto \
  -rpc-header "Authorization: Bearer $IAM_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
        "cluster_id": "<cluster_ID>",
        "database_name": "<previous_DB_name>",
        "update_mask": {
          "paths": [
            "new_database_name"
          ]
        },
        "new_database_name": "<new_DB_name>"
      }' \
  mdb.api.cloud.yandex.net:443 \
  yandex.cloud.mdb.postgresql.v1.DatabaseService.Update

    Where:

    • update_mask: List of parameters to update as an array of paths[] strings.

      Only one parameter is provided in this case.

    • new_database_name: New DB name.

      The database name may contain Latin letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens. The name may be up to 63 characters long. The names postgres, template0, and template1 are reserved for Managed Service for PostgreSQL. You cannot create databases with these names.

    You can request the cluster ID with the list of clusters in the folder, and the DB name, with the list of DBs in the cluster.

  4. View the server response to make sure the request was successful.

Configuring deletion protection

  1. Navigate to the folder dashboard and select Managed Service for PostgreSQL.
  2. Click the cluster name and open the Databases tab.
  3. Click in the required DB row and select Configure.
  4. Select the appropriate value in the Deletion protection field.
  5. Click Save.

  1. Open the current Terraform configuration file that defines your infrastructure.

  2. Find the yandex_mdb_postgresql_database resource of the DB you need.

  3. Add the deletion_protection parameter. The possible values are true, false, or unspecified (inherits the value from the cluster). The default value is unspecified.

    resource "yandex_mdb_postgresql_database" "<DB_name>" {
  ...
  deletion_protection = <deletion_protection>
  ...
}

  4. Make sure the settings are correct.

    1. In the command line, navigate to the directory that contains the current Terraform configuration files defining the infrastructure.

    2. Run this command:

      terraform validate

      Terraform will show any errors found in your configuration files.

  5. Confirm updating the resources.

    1. Run this command to view the planned changes:

      terraform plan

      If you described the configuration correctly, the terminal will display a list of the resources to update and their parameters. This is a verification step that does not apply changes to your resources.

    2. If everything looks correct, apply the changes:

      1. Run this command:

        terraform apply

      2. Confirm updating the resources.

      3. Wait for the operation to complete.

  1. Get an IAM token for API authentication and put it into the environment variable:

    export IAM_TOKEN="<IAM_token>"

  2. Use the Database.Update method and send the following request, e.g., via cURL:

    Warning

    The API method will assign default values to all the parameters of the object you are modifying unless you explicitly provide them in your request. To avoid this, list the settings you want to change in the updateMask parameter as a single comma-separated string.

    curl \
  --request PATCH \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $IAM_TOKEN" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --url 'https://mdb.api.cloud.yandex.net/managed-postgresql/v1/clusters/<cluster_ID>/databases/<DB_name>' \
  --data '{
            "updateMask": "deletionProtection",
            "deletionProtection": <deletion_protection>
          }'

    Where:

    • updateMask: List of parameters to update as a single string, separated by commas.

      Only one parameter is provided in this case.

    • deletionProtection: DB deletion protection, true, false, or unspecified (inherits the value from the cluster). The default value is unspecified.

    You can request the cluster ID with the list of clusters in the folder, and the DB name, with the list of DBs in the cluster.

  3. View the server response to make sure the request was successful.

  1. Get an IAM token for API authentication and put it into the environment variable:

    export IAM_TOKEN="<IAM_token>"

  2. Clone the cloudapi repository:

    cd ~/ && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/yandex-cloud/cloudapi

    Below, we assume the repository contents are stored in the ~/cloudapi/ directory.

  3. Use the DatabaseService.Update call and send the following request, e.g., via gRPCurl:

    Warning

    The API method will assign default values to all the parameters of the object you are modifying unless you explicitly provide them in your request. To avoid this, list the settings you want to change in the update_mask parameter as an array of paths[] strings.

    Format for listing settings
    "update_mask": {
    "paths": [
        "<setting_1>",
        "<setting_2>",
        ...
        "<setting_N>"
    ]
}

    grpcurl \
  -format json \
  -import-path ~/cloudapi/ \
  -import-path ~/cloudapi/third_party/googleapis/ \
  -proto ~/cloudapi/yandex/cloud/mdb/postgresql/v1/database_service.proto \
  -rpc-header "Authorization: Bearer $IAM_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
        "cluster_id": "<cluster_ID>",
        "database_name": "<DB_name>",
        "update_mask": {
          "paths": [
            "deletion_protection"
          ]
        },
        "deletion_protection": <deletion_protection>
      }' \
  mdb.api.cloud.yandex.net:443 \
  yandex.cloud.mdb.postgresql.v1.DatabaseService.Update

    Where:

    • update_mask: List of parameters to update as an array of paths[] strings.

      Only one parameter is provided in this case.

    • deletion_protection: DB deletion protection, true, false, or unspecified (inherits the value from the cluster). The default value is unspecified.

    You can request the cluster ID with the list of clusters in the folder, and the DB name, with the list of DBs in the cluster.

  4. View the server response to make sure the request was successful.

Warning

Deletion protection only applies at specific DB level. Deleting a cluster will delete all DBs, including those protected from deletion.

Deleting a database

A DB can be protected against deletion. To delete such a DB, disable the protection first.

To delete a database:

  1. Navigate to the folder dashboard and select Managed Service for PostgreSQL.
  2. Click the cluster name and open the Databases tab.
  3. Click in the required DB row, select Delete, and confirm the deletion.

If you do not have the Yandex Cloud CLI installed yet, install and initialize it.

By default, the CLI uses the folder specified when creating the profile. To change the default folder, use the yc config set folder-id <folder_ID> command. You can also set a different folder for any specific command using the --folder-name or --folder-id parameter.

To delete a database, run the command:

yc managed-postgresql database delete <DB_name> \
   --cluster-name <cluster_name>

You can request the cluster name with the list of clusters in the folder.

To delete a database:

  1. Open the current Terraform configuration file that defines your infrastructure.

    For more information about creating this file, see Creating clusters.

    For a complete list of editable fields in the Managed Service for PostgreSQL cluster database configuration, see the Terraform provider documentation.

  2. Delete the yandex_mdb_postgresql_database resource with the name of the database you want to delete.

  3. Make sure the settings are correct.

    1. In the command line, navigate to the directory that contains the current Terraform configuration files defining the infrastructure.

    2. Run this command:

      terraform validate

      Terraform will show any errors found in your configuration files.

  4. Confirm updating the resources.

    1. Run this command to view the planned changes:

      terraform plan

      If you described the configuration correctly, the terminal will display a list of the resources to update and their parameters. This is a verification step that does not apply changes to your resources.

    2. If everything looks correct, apply the changes:

      1. Run this command:

        terraform apply

      2. Confirm updating the resources.

      3. Wait for the operation to complete.

  1. Get an IAM token for API authentication and put it into the environment variable:

    export IAM_TOKEN="<IAM_token>"

  2. Use the Database.Delete method and send the following request, e.g., via cURL:

    curl \
  --request DELETE \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $IAM_TOKEN" \
  --url 'https://mdb.api.cloud.yandex.net/managed-postgresql/v1/clusters/<cluster_ID>/databases/<DB_name>'

    You can request the cluster ID with the list of clusters in the folder, and the DB name, with the list of DBs in the cluster.

  3. View the server response to make sure the request was successful.

  1. Get an IAM token for API authentication and put it into the environment variable:

    export IAM_TOKEN="<IAM_token>"

  2. Clone the cloudapi repository:

    cd ~/ && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/yandex-cloud/cloudapi

    Below, we assume the repository contents are stored in the ~/cloudapi/ directory.

  3. Use the DatabaseService.Delete call and send the following request, e.g., via gRPCurl:

    grpcurl \
  -format json \
  -import-path ~/cloudapi/ \
  -import-path ~/cloudapi/third_party/googleapis/ \
  -proto ~/cloudapi/yandex/cloud/mdb/postgresql/v1/database_service.proto \
  -rpc-header "Authorization: Bearer $IAM_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
        "cluster_id": "<cluster_ID>",
        "database_name": "<DB_name>"
      }' \
  mdb.api.cloud.yandex.net:443 \
  yandex.cloud.mdb.postgresql.v1.DatabaseService.Delete

    You can request the cluster ID with the list of clusters in the folder, and the DB name, with the list of DBs in the cluster.

  4. View the server response to make sure the request was successful.

Warning

Before creating a new database with the same name, wait for the delete operation to complete, otherwise the database being deleted will be restored. Operation status can be obtained with a list of cluster operations.

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