GCP

This section provides a guide on deploying ParadeDB to a Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Compute Engine instance. Before proceeding, ensure that you have a Google Cloud account and optionally the gcloud SDK installed.

​

Launching a GCP Compute Engine Instance

Instance Type

The best setup can vary depending on your application use case, but we recommend balanced machines, like the n2 family. For testing out a e2-standard or similar will suffice.

Storage

We recommend you add storage to your instance using Persistent Disks. Generally, for indexing and search its recommended to use fast SSD storage. For starting out, general purpose storage will serve fine. However, if you are looking for a more performant setup, you can use performance-optimized disks like pd-ssd. The instance needs at least 16GB of storage to install ParadeDB, in addition to any amount of storage you expect to store within your PostgreSQL database.

Image

You can use any OS image, as long as you can install Docker and Docker-compose to it. We recommend using the latest Ubuntu LTS AMI.

After you have selected the right instance for your needs, launch the instance either via the GCP Console’s “Create Instance” button or use the gcloud SDK.

Networking

Configure firewall rules on the GCP console or CLI to allow TCP traffic to the port where ParadeDB will be exposed, by default 5432.

​

Installing ParadeDB

Step 1: Connect to the Instance

From your terminal or command prompt, use the gcloud SDK to SSH into the instance:

gcloud compute ssh --project=YOUR_PROJECT_ID --zone=YOUR_ZONE YOUR_INSTANCE_NAME

Step 2: Install Docker Engine on the Instance

The instructions below assume you are on a Debian-based image. If you picked a different OS image, you will need to use the appropriate package manager (i.e. yum, etc.). Update the installed packages and add the Docker repository:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common gnupg

# Add Docker's official GPG key:
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo apt-key add -

# Set up the Docker repository:
sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable"
sudo apt-get update

Install Docker:

sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io

Allow Docker to be used without root:

sudo groupadd docker
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

# Activate changes on groups
newgrp docker

Step 3: Run the ParadeDB image

Pull and run the ParadeDB Docker image:

docker run \
  --name paradedb \
  -e POSTGRES_USER=<user> \
  -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=<password> \
  -e POSTGRES_DB=<dbname> \
  -v paradedb_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data/ \
  -p 5432:5432 \
  -d \
  paradedb/paradedb:latest

Test the PostgreSQL server connection:

psql postgresql://your-user:your-password@your-instance-ip:5432/your-db

Ensure that your instance’s firewall rules allow connections on the port where PostgreSQL is running.

That’s it! You can now connect to your ParadeDB instance and start writing queries.