Yes, you can use an external RDS Postgres instance with Phoenix. To do this, set the `PHOENIX_SQL_DATABASE_URL` environment variable in your Phoenix deployment to your RDS Postgres connection string. This is the recommended approach for production, and Phoenix will connect to your external database instead of starting a local Postgres instance. Make sure your RDS instance is accessible from your Kubernetes cluster and that the connection string is correct. Migrations are handled automatically at boot up when using an external Postgres database.
For Kubernetes, you can modify the deployment YAML or Helm values to disable the internal Postgres deployment and point Phoenix to your RDS instance. See the <https://arize.com/docs/phoenix/self-hosting/deployment-options/kubernetes|official docs> and <https://github.com/Arize-ai/phoenix/blob/main/helm/values.yaml|Helm values> for configuration details.
Would you like a step-by-step example for Kubernetes or Helm?
Sources:
- <https://github.com/Arize-ai/phoenix/blob/main/helm/values.yaml|Phoenix Helm values.yaml>
- <https://arize.com/docs/phoenix/self-hosting|Phoenix Self-Hosting Architecture>
- <https://arize-ai.slack.com/archives/C04R3GXC8HK/p1715990445.892599|Phoenix Slack: external Postgres guidance>
- <https://arize.com/docs/phoenix/self-hosting/deployment-options/kubernetes|official docs>
