Postgres question

JaredBusch

@julian Being lazy here - Is PostgreSQL a first class db backend for NodeBB these days or is it still third party plugin? I'm not up on the latest and greatest.

Well it is built into the ./nodebb setup process now.

I have a tiny site running on it with zero issues.

I would like to convert a small site that is currently on redis to postgresql but it appears that @Ben-Lubar (not tagging he hasn't been online in 2 years) has archived his conversion repo.

@julian will this still work?
https://github.com/BenLubar/nodebb-postgres-converter

Or is there something new?

gotwf

@jaredbusch Thanks bunches, mon! Good to know. I too, had noted the long absence and stagnation of the conversion repo, which raised my "second class citizen" concerns and has put me off further experimenting w/PostgreSQL.

To wit: I know you're pretty experienced w/NodeBB and would love to see an tech/fact based compare and contrast between PostgreSQL and NoSQL alternatives fomr someone who actually has hands on experience with the various options.

I'm presently on mongo and no complaints. At least not technically. Just not fond of the company behind it. I am also a big fan of portable software. So that adds up to two strikes. Mongo is otherwise hitting it out of the park but I like keeping my options open.

JaredBusch

@gotwf said in Postgres question:

Good to know.

I had a need to setup a new instance and did not want to use Mongo for similar reasons as to why you were looking at options.

I documented what I did here: https://www.mangolassi.it/topic/22497/setup-nodebb-on-fedora-33-with-postgresql-and-nginx-with-https-only

I want to tinker with that some more.

gotwf

@jaredbusch Cool.

Way back when I was first evaluating NodeBB with use of Postgre backend I checked a fairly large site that was using it. Ben's, maybe? Too long ago to recall but it definitely felt sluggish by comparison. Of course the question is whether mere correlation (very large site) or causation due to Postgres. Whatever, coupled w/some other concerns it was enough to put me off further exploration.

Which brings me to....

Please do share your thoughts w.r.t. my query above once you get a better feel. I do not hang much at Mangolassi so please ping me here.

TIA-- o/

julian

@gotwf the database abstraction layer is fairly stable, we haven't had to make many changes to it at all for years. The Postgres implementation is fully supported

gotwf

@julian Thanks, Julian.

Mongo is rocking it for me presently but this incentivizes me to explore PostgreSQL some more. So much cool stuff, so little time. Sigh...

By "fully supported", may I take that to include commercial clients? Cuz if so, then that is a pretty big vote of confidence. Also, if so, any chance you could point to one such client I could peruse? At least get some seat of the pants impression? Preferably a medium to largish site?

oplik0

@julian

the database abstraction layer is fairly stable, we haven't had to make many changes to it at all for years.

There definitely were changes to the database abstraction layer for Postgres with the latest one being less than a month ago: https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB/commits/master/src/database/postgres

Though I get that you mean that there wasn't any big refactor or breaking changes not connected to general NodeBB update (like upgrade to socket.io 3, zscan etc.).
In 2020 there were only 10 commits there and all were changes that applied to all databases.

julian

@oplik0 Yes, correct

I mean that the API itself is stable, and that we are not adding arguments and methods willy-nilly, and removing others.

JaredBusch

@julian said in Postgres question:

@oplik0 Yes, correct

I mean that the API itself is stable, and that we are not adding arguments and methods willy-nilly, and removing others.

So what about that conversion utility? It definitely worked when I tested taking a system from redis to mongo a couple years ago.

But that was a couple years ago.

gotwf

I am also curious about converting the other direction. For, e.g. an clean install started on PostgreSQL transitioned back to Mongo? Not done any diggin' but since you're asking... might as well add mine to the query.

smoe

@julian said in Postgres question:

@gotwf the database abstraction layer is fairly stable, we haven't had to make many changes to it at all for years. The Postgres implementation is fully supported

It would be nice to have a bit more documentation for the Postgres support. It's only mentioned here and here:

https://docs.nodebb.org/configuring/config/
https://docs.nodebb.org/installing/os/fedora/

If you follow the other OS install guides you already have installed MongoDB when you reach the config.json page.

루루

This post is deleted!