Using external database and storage services with Concert Workflows

The MySQL version for the external database must be 8.0.0 or later.

For more information about performance tuning in MySQL databases, see MySQL Performance Tuning and Optimization Resources.

In the external MySQL database, create an administrative database user that has sufficient privileges to manage the application schema (for example, a user that has these privileges: CREATE, ALTER, DROP, INDEX, SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE).

When you create the Kubernetes secret later, you must specify the username and password for this administrative user.

SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'max_connections'

When deploying Amazon Aurora MySQL, network access to the database must be enabled within the VPC where the Aurora cluster is created. The database port that is configured for the Aurora cluster (for example, 3306 for MySQL) must be consistently allowed at the network level and match the port value that is provided to Concert Workflows during installation.

For more information about Amazon Aurora MySQL, see Working with Amazon Aurora MySQL.

To use an external MySQL database instance, include the following parameters and appropriate values when you create the cw-secrets secret:

kubectl create secret generic cw-secrets \
 --namespace=concert-workflows \
 --from-literal=MYSQLDB_HOST="my-server.example.com" \
 --from-literal=MYSQLDB_PORT="3306" \
 --from-literal=MYSQLDB_USER="admin" \
 --from-literal=MYSQLDB_PASSWORD="adminpw456" \
 --from-literal=MYSQLDB_DBNAME="extmySQLDB" 

If all of the required fields are included in the secret, Concert Workflows will use the external MySQL database when you complete the installation. If not, the default internal MySQL database will be used.

External MySQL databases are not included in the standard Concert Workflows backup and restore process. If you use an external MySQL database, you must make arrangements to back it up and, if required, restore it.

The PostgreSQL version for the external database must be 15.0 or later.

For more information about performance tuning in PostgreSQL databases, see Performance Tips.

If you intend to use the Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL service that is offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS) as your external PostgreSQL database, you can configure these parameters by setting up a custom database parameter group. For more information about Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL, see Working with Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL.

CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS vector;

In addition, you must create an administrative database user that has sufficient privileges to manage the application schema (for example, a user that has these privileges: CREATE, ALTER, DROP, INDEX, SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE).

When you create the Kubernetes secret later, you must specify the username and password for this administrative user.

To use an external PostgreSQL database instance, include the following parameters and appropriate values when you create the cw-secrets secret:

kubectl create secret generic cw-secrets \
 --namespace=concert-workflows \
 --from-literal=POSTGRESQL_HOST="my-host.ibm.com" \
 --from-literal=POSTGRESQL_PORT="5432" \
 --from-literal=POSTGRESQL_USER="admin" \
 --from-literal=POSTGRESQL_PASSWORD="adminpw123" \
 --from-literal=POSTGRESQL_DBNAME="myextPGDB" 

If all of the required fields are included in the secret, Concert Workflows will use the external PostgreSQL database when you complete the installation. If not, an internal PostgreSQL database will be used.

External PostgreSQL databases are not included in the standard Concert Workflows backup and restore process. If you use an external MySQL database, you must make arrangements to back it up and, if required, restore it.

To use an AWS S3 bucket for object storage with Concert Workflows, include the following parameters and appropriate values when you create the cw-secrets secret:

kubectl create secret generic cw-secrets \
 --namespace=concert-workflows \
 --from-literal=CW_ACCESS_KEY=AKIaiOSFODNN7EXAMPLE \
 --from-literal=CW_SECRET_KEY=wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY \
 --from-literal=CW_AUTH_TYPE=HMAC \
 --from-literal=CW_BUCKET=my-S3-bucket-name \
 --from-literal=CW_HOST=s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com \
 --from-literal=CW_REGION=us-east-1 \
 --from-literal=CW_PORT=443 

If all of the required fields are included in the secret, Concert Workflows will use the AWS S3 bucket for object storage when you complete the installation. If not, the internal Minio object storage service will be used.

AWS S3 buckets that are used with Concert Workflows are not included in the standard backup and restore process. If you use an AWS S3 bucket, you must make arrangements to back it up.