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

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib

# macOS
brew install postgresql

2. Create database and user

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:

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.

# 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:

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

Next steps

• Configuration - all environment variables
• Security - harden your instance

Related Pages

• Docker - container-based deployment
• Database - database configuration details
• Environment Variables - configure LNbits settings