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PostgreSQL ​

Migrate LNbits from SQLite to PostgreSQL for production deployments.

LNbits uses SQLite by default, which works fine for small instances. For production use, migrate to PostgreSQL.

Why PostgreSQL? ​

  • Better concurrent performance
  • Proper ACID compliance under load
  • Required for high-traffic instances
  • CockroachDB also supported for distributed setups

Setup ​

1. Install PostgreSQL ​

bash
# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib

# macOS
brew install postgresql

2. Create database and user ​

bash
sudo -u postgres psql

CREATE DATABASE lnbits;
CREATE USER lnbits WITH PASSWORD 'your-secure-password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE lnbits TO lnbits;
\q

3. Configure LNbits ​

In your .env file:

bash
LNBITS_DATABASE_URL=postgres://lnbits:your-secure-password@localhost:5432/lnbits

4. Restart LNbits ​

LNbits auto-creates tables on startup. If migrating from SQLite, see the migration section below.

Migrating from SQLite ​

WARNING

Back up your SQLite data before migrating.

bash
# Back up current data
cp -r ./data ./data-backup

# Set the new database URL in .env
# LNBITS_DATABASE_URL=postgres://...

# Restart LNbits - it creates the new schema
# Then use the admin API or built-in tools to migrate data

CockroachDB ​

For distributed deployments:

bash
LNBITS_DATABASE_URL=cockroachdb://user:pass@localhost:26257/lnbits

Next steps ​