How to automatically register a database in superset when deploying via Helm?

[victor98dl]

Greetings,
I am deploying Superset via Helm in order to connect it to a PostgreSQL database located in another namespace. I’ve already managed to perform the deployment, and i would like to know: is there a way to register the database automatically without having to use the GUI as shown in the tutorial (https://superset.apache.org/docs/configuration/databases
)?
Every time i bring up the test environment, i need to register the database again. Below is my customized values.
Thank you in advance.

values.yaml

[dosubot[bot]]

Hi @victor98dl! I'm Dosu and I’m helping the superset team.

You can automate database registration in Superset Helm deployments by using the extraConfigs section in your values.yaml. This lets you provide an import_datasources.yaml file that defines your database(s), which the init job will import automatically on startup—no GUI needed. Here’s how to set it up:

1. Disable the internal PostgreSQL by setting postgresql.enabled: false if you’re using an external database.

2. Configure your external database connection under supersetNode.connections (set db_host, db_port, db_user, db_name, and reference the password securely via a Kubernetes Secret).

3. Add an import_datasources.yaml under extraConfigs. For example:

   extraConfigs:
     import_datasources.yaml: |
       databases:
         - database_name: my-external-db
           sqlalchemy_uri: postgresql+psycopg2://username:password@host:5432/dbname
           allow_file_upload: true
           allow_ctas: true
           allow_cvas: true
           extra: "{}"
           tables: []

   You can use environment variables in the URI and inject them securely with extraSecretEnv or envFromSecrets if you don’t want to hardcode credentials.

4. On deployment or upgrade, the init job will detect this file and run superset import_datasources, registering the database automatically [source].

Tips:

• Make sure your YAML is valid and the sqlalchemy_uri is correct.
• If you use secrets for credentials, reference them in the URI as environment variables (e.g., postgresql+psycopg2://{{ .Values.db_user }}:${DB_PASS}@host:5432/dbname).
• The database user must have the necessary permissions.
• If you’re using SSL, append ?sslmode=require to your URI.

This approach ensures your database is registered every time you deploy or redeploy Superset, with no manual steps required [source].

For more details and examples, see the Superset Helm chart documentation.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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