Create and manage databases

This page contains information about creating, listing, and deleting PostgreSQL databases on a Cloud SQL instance.

A newly-created instance has a postgres database.

For more information about PostgreSQL databases, see the PostgreSQL documentation.

Before you begin

Before completing the tasks on this page, you must have:

If you plan to use the psql client to create or manage your databases, you must have:

Create a database on the Cloud SQL instance

Console

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Cloud SQL Instances page.

    Go to Cloud SQL Instances

  2. To open the Overview page of an instance, click the instance name.
  3. Select Databases from the SQL navigation menu.
  4. Click Create database.
  5. In the New database dialog, specify the name of the database.
  6. Click Create.

gcloud

For reference information, see gcloud sql databases create.

gcloud sql databases create DATABASE_NAME \
--instance=INSTANCE_NAME

Terraform

To create a database, use a Terraform resource.

resource "google_sql_database" "database" {
  name     = "my-database"
  instance = google_sql_database_instance.instance.name
}

Apply the changes

To apply your Terraform configuration in a Google Cloud project, complete the steps in the following sections.

Prepare Cloud Shell

  1. Launch Cloud Shell.
  2. Set the default Google Cloud project where you want to apply your Terraform configurations.

    You only need to run this command once per project, and you can run it in any directory.

    export GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT=PROJECT_ID

    Environment variables are overridden if you set explicit values in the Terraform configuration file.

Prepare the directory

Each Terraform configuration file must have its own directory (also called a root module).

  1. In Cloud Shell, create a directory and a new file within that directory. The filename must have the .tf extension—for example main.tf. In this tutorial, the file is referred to as main.tf.
    mkdir DIRECTORY && cd DIRECTORY && touch main.tf
  2. If you are following a tutorial, you can copy the sample code in each section or step.

    Copy the sample code into the newly created main.tf.

    Optionally, copy the code from GitHub. This is recommended when the Terraform snippet is part of an end-to-end solution.

  3. Review and modify the sample parameters to apply to your environment.
  4. Save your changes.
  5. Initialize Terraform. You only need to do this once per directory.
    terraform init

    Optionally, to use the latest Google provider version, include the -upgrade option:

    terraform init -upgrade

Apply the changes

  1. Review the configuration and verify that the resources that Terraform is going to create or update match your expectations:
    terraform plan

    Make corrections to the configuration as necessary.

  2. Apply the Terraform configuration by running the following command and entering yes at the prompt:
    terraform apply

    Wait until Terraform displays the "Apply complete!" message.

  3. Open your Google Cloud project to view the results. In the Google Cloud console, navigate to your resources in the UI to make sure that Terraform has created or updated them.

Delete the changes

To delete your changes, do the following:

  1. To disable deletion protection, in your Terraform configuration file set the deletion_protection argument to false.
    deletion_protection =  "false"
  2. Apply the updated Terraform configuration by running the following command and entering yes at the prompt:
    terraform apply
  1. Remove resources previously applied with your Terraform configuration by running the following command and entering yes at the prompt:

    terraform destroy

REST v1

The following request uses the databases:insert method to create a new database on the specified instance.

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

  • project-id: The project ID
  • instance-id: The instance ID
  • database-name: The name of a database inside the Cloud SQL instance

HTTP method and URL:

POST https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id/databases

Request JSON body:

{
  "project": "project-id",
  "instance": "instance-id",
  "name": "database-name"
}

To send your request, expand one of these options:

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

REST v1beta4

The following request uses the databases:insert method to create a new database on the specified instance.

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

  • project-id: The project ID
  • instance-id: The instance ID
  • database-name: The name of a database inside the Cloud SQL instance

HTTP method and URL:

POST https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id/databases

Request JSON body:

{
  "project": "project-id",
  "instance": "instance-id",
  "name": "database-name"
}

To send your request, expand one of these options:

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

psql Client

For reference information, see CREATE DATABASE in the PostgreSQL documentation.

See the following topics in the PostgreSQL documentation for background and a list of supported character set values:

CREATE DATABASE database_name
  [[ ENCODING encoding ][ LC_COLLATE lc_collate ]];

For example:
CREATE DATABASE "example_db" WITH OWNER "example_user" ENCODING 'UTF8' LC_COLLATE = 'pl_PL.utf8' LC_CTYPE = 'pl_PL.utf8' TEMPLATE template0;

List your databases

To list all databases on an instance:

Console

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Cloud SQL Instances page.

    Go to Cloud SQL Instances

  2. To open the Overview page of an instance, click the instance name.
  3. Click Databases from the left side menu. The Databases page lists databases along with their collation type, character set, and database type.

gcloud

For reference information, see gcloud sql databases list.

gcloud sql databases list \
--instance=INSTANCE_NAME

REST v1

The following request uses the databases:list method to list the databases for an instance.

When you list the databases using the API, you see additional template databases and a system database that are not displayed by the console. You cannot delete or manage the system database.

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

  • project-id: The project ID
  • instance-id: The instance ID

HTTP method and URL:

GET https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id/databases

To send your request, expand one of these options:

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

REST v1beta4

The following request uses the databases:list method to list the databases for an instance.

When you list the databases using the API, you see additional template databases and a system database that are not displayed by the console. You cannot delete or manage the system database.

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

  • project-id: The project ID
  • instance-id: The instance ID

HTTP method and URL:

GET https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id/databases

To send your request, expand one of these options:

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

psql Client

For reference information, see list.

When you list the databases using the psql client, you see additional template databases and a system database that are not displayed by the console. You cannot delete or manage the system database.

\l

Delete a database

To delete a database on the Cloud SQL instance:

Console

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Cloud SQL Instances page.

    Go to Cloud SQL Instances

  2. To open the Overview page of an instance, click the instance name.
  3. Click Databases from the left side menu.
  4. In the database list, find the database you want to delete and click the trash can icon.
  5. In the Delete database dialog, enter the name of the database and then click Delete.

gcloud

For reference information, see gcloud sql databases delete.

gcloud sql databases delete DATABASE_NAME \
--instance=INSTANCE_NAME

REST v1

The following request uses the databases:delete method to delete the specified database.

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

  • project-id: The project ID
  • instance-id: The instance ID
  • database-name: The name of a database inside the Cloud SQL instance

HTTP method and URL:

DELETE https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id/databases/database-name

To send your request, expand one of these options:

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

REST v1beta4

The following request uses the databases:delete method to delete the specified database.

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

  • project-id: The project ID
  • instance-id: The instance ID
  • database-name: The name of a database inside the Cloud SQL instance

HTTP method and URL:

DELETE https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id/databases/database-name

To send your request, expand one of these options:

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

psql Client

For reference information, see DROP DATABASE in the PostgreSQL documentation.

DROP DATABASE [database_name];

What's next

Try it for yourself

If you're new to Google Cloud, create an account to evaluate how Cloud SQL performs in real-world scenarios. New customers also get $300 in free credits to run, test, and deploy workloads.

Try Cloud SQL free