Using Hasura Cloud with an Azure Postgres database

Introduction

This guide explains how to connect a new or existing Azure Postgres database to a Hasura Cloud project.

Step 0: Sign up or log in to Hasura Cloud

Navigate to Hasura Cloud and sign up or log in.

Step 1: Create a Hasura Cloud project

On the Hasura Cloud dashboard, create a new project:

Create Hasura Cloud project

After the project is initialized successfully, click on Launch console to open the Hasura console in your browser.

On the Hasura console, navigate to Data -> Manage -> Connect Database -> Connect existing database:

You will get prompted for a Postgres Database URL. We will create this in the next step and then come back here.

Hasura Cloud database setup

Step 2: Create a Postgres DB on Azure (skip if you have an existing DB)

Log into the Azure portal.

On the Azure portal, type “postgres” in the search window and choose Azure Database for PostgreSQL servers:

Select Postgres database on Azure

Click the + Add button to create a new Postgres database:

Add Postgres database on Azure

Choose the plan that fits your requirements. For this tutorial, we’ll choose Single server:

Select single server on Azure

Configure your database with all required fields:

Configure database on Azure

Then click Review + create.

Note

If you’re using a database user other than the default one, make sure to give it the right Postgres permissions.

Note

For Azure flexible server, Hasura v1.x does not work with JIT turned on. JIT can be turned off from Azure console. Hasura v2.x works fine with JIT enabled.

Step 3: Allow connections to your DB from Hasura Cloud

On the database dashboard, click on Connection security under Settings on the left navigation bar.

On Allow access to Azure services, click the Yes button. Then add a Firewall rule for Hasura.

Copy the IP address from the copy icon in the Hasura Cloud IP field on the project’s details view on Hasura Cloud.

Hasura Cloud IP field

Add the Hasura IP address that you copied:

Add Hasura IP on Azure

Then click Save on the top left.

Step 4: Construct the database connection URL

The structure of the database connection URL looks as follows:

postgresql://<user-name>:<password>@<public-ip>:<postgres-port>/<db>

On the database dashboard, click on Overview:

Construct the database connection string for Azure
  • user-name: If you have a separate database user, the user name will be their name. If you didn’t specify a user, use the Admin username (see screenshot above). Note: you need to escape the @. Replace it with %40.
  • password: If you have a separate database user, use their password. Otherwise, use the password that you chose when creating the database.
  • public-ip: On the screenshot above, the Server name is the public IP.
  • postgres-port: The default port for Postgres is 5432.
  • db: The DB is postgres by default unless otherwise specified.

Step 5: Finish connecting the database

Back on Hasura Console, enter the database URL that we retrieved in step 4:

Database setup

Then click Connect Database.

Note

For security reasons, it is recommended to set database URLs as env vars and using the env vars to connect to the databases in place of the raw database URLs.

Voilà. You are ready to start developing.

Hasura console

Next steps

You can check out our 30-Minute Hasura Basics Course and other GraphQL & Hasura Courses for a more detailed introduction to Hasura.

You can also click the gear icon to manage your Hasura Cloud project. (e.g. add collaborators, env vars or custom domains).

Project actions