Prisma setup on VPS
Hey, is it possible to use Prisma when my Next.js app and Postgres DB run on a VPS? How does Prisma connect to the DB in this case?
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Yes, it's absolutely possible to use Prisma with a Next.js app and PostgreSQL database running on the same VPS. This is actually a common setup for many applications.
Connecting Prisma to your database
When both your Next.js application and PostgreSQL database are on the same VPS, Prisma connects to the database just like in any other environment - through a connection string. The main difference is that you'll typically use
localhost or 127.0.0.1 as the host in your connection string.
Your connection string in the .env file would look something like this:
Where:
- USER is your database username
- PASSWORD is your database password
- DATABASE is your database name
Implementation considerations
When running on a VPS (which is a traditional server environment rather than serverless), you should:
1. Instantiate Prisma Client only once in your application to avoid connection pool exhaustion. This is different from serverless environments where you might need different approaches.
2. You don't need to worry about connection limits as much as in serverless environments. In a serverless environment, it's recommended to set the connection_limit parameter to 1, but this isn't necessary in a VPS setup Prisma + Next.js challenges.
Potential issues
If you encounter any issues with Prisma on your VPS, they might be related to the operating system. For example, one user reported issues with Ubuntu that were resolved by switching to CentOS deployment on VPS error.
Using with other database providers
While you can directly connect to your local PostgreSQL instance, you can also use Prisma with other database providers if needed. The knowledge sources mention that you can use Prisma with Prisma Postgres, Vercel Postgres, or any other PostgreSQL database.
The setup process remains essentially the same - you just need to provide the appropriate connection string in your .env file and ensure your Prisma schema is properly configured.
Let me know if you need more specific information about your VPS setup!
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