Working with databases¶

Adding a database¶

Drupal sets up the application’s primary database when you install Drupal. Your application can also require more databases. You can create more databases by using the Cloud Platform user interface.

1. Sign in to the Cloud Platform user interface.

2. Access your application, and click Actions > Add Database.

   Alternatively, access a specific environment in your application, and click Databases > Add Database.

3. Enter the database name, and click Add Database. Adding a database creates unique databases for each environment and adds a block for the database on the Databases page.

   • If the database is for a new website using Drupal multisite, enter the website name. Then, add the include statement from the Databases page to the settings.php file in the multisite directory (for example, docroot/sites/[sitename]/settings.php). For more information, see About Drupal multisite installations.
   • If the database is for added content for an existing application, enter a name (for example, for a postal code database, use “postalcodes”), and use db_set_active('[Database]') within Drupal to access it. Do not add the include statement from the Databases page to the settings.php file unless you intend the new database to be your application’s default Drupal database.

   Note

   • Database roles have a character limit of 62, and can include a-z, A-Z, 0-9, - (dash), and _ (underscore) characters. However, database roles cannot have a leading or trailing dash or underscore. In addition, you cannot use the . (dot) character.
   • Database names can include a-z, A-Z, and 0-9. However, database names cannot include - (dash), _ (underscore), and . (dot) characters.

Configuring your application to use environment databases¶

To view the include statement, which is also known as the require statement) for your database:

1. Sign in to the Cloud Platform user interface.

2. Access a specific environment in your application, and click Databases.

3. Select a specific database and click PHP.

   

The include statement must be at the end of the settings.php file in your /sites directory, but it must be before any other Cloud Platform-specific entries in settings.php, including Memcached configuration code or any code using environment variables.

The database include statement causes your application to use a unique database for each environment allowing you to use the same settings.php file in each of your Cloud Platform environments.

When you use the Cloud Platform user interface to install a Drupal distribution or import a website archive, or import an application using the Acquia Connector, Cloud Platform creates the database include statement in your settings.php file. Otherwise, you must edit the settings.php file to add the include statement. Do not add the include statement unless you intend the new database to be your application’s default Drupal database.

Copying a database across environments¶

As you develop your application, you may often want to update an environment with the version of the database from a different environment. Most commonly, you may want to update your Dev or Stage environment databases with the content and configuration from your Prod environment.

1. Sign in to the Cloud Platform user interface and access your application.

2. In the grid view, drag the source database container to the target environment you want to contain the database copy. For example, drag the Prod database to the Dev environment.

3. If the application has more than one database, select the database you want to copy, or click All to select all the databases.

4. Click Continue.

5. Click Copy to confirm you want to overwrite the target environment’s database with the source environment’s database. The database migration begins, and the existing database is dropped (drush sql-drop) during the copy process.

   Important

   After your application is live, Acquia does not recommend copying a database into the Production environment. Doing so may lead to content loss on your application. While the database is copying, requests which cannot be served from cache will fail.

   You cannot copy a database to your Production environment when your application is in the Production mode. For more information, see Using Production mode to protect your live application.

Viewing database information¶

To view information about your databases:

1. Sign in to the Cloud Platform user interface.

2. Access a specific environment in your application and click Databases.

3. Click the database for which you want to view detailed information.

4. Click Settings.

   The system displays the connection information for the database.

   

Cloud Platform displays the environment-agnostic database name at the top of the section, along with the following fields and their values:

• SSH Host: Fully-qualified domain name needed to SSH in to the environment
• MySQL Host: The hostname of the database infrastructure. It is only accessible after connecting to the SSH host.
• Name: Environment-specific name for the database
• Username: Username needed to connect to the database
• Password: Password needed to connect to the database; click Show to reveal the password

Backing up your database¶

The Databases page displays the date and time of the last created backup for each database in each environment. You can also create on-demand backups and view, download, restore, and delete backups. For more information, see Backing up your application.

Deleting a database¶

You can use the Databases page to delete a database, so long as it is not your Drupal application’s primary database. You cannot delete the primary database for your application. Doing so would prevent your application from working.

To delete a database:

1. On the Databases page, locate the database that you want to delete and click Delete.

Monitoring and accessing your databases¶

Cloud Platform provides several tools you can use to monitor and access your application’s databases:

• Access the MySQL command line. You have full grants on your application’s database, giving you complete control of the application’s database. The grants on your application’s database do not grant you access to the entire database system, nor do they grant you permission to add users or change permissions on the database system.
• Administer your database with a desktop application or phpMyAdmin.
• View the slow query logs.
• Trace database queries using an application monitoring tool, such as New Relic.