# Connect a Lightsail container service to a Lightsail database
<a name="amazon-lightsail-connecting-container-service-to-database"></a>

An Amazon Lightsail container service is a highly scalable compute and networking resource on which you can deploy, run, and manage containers. For more information, see [Deploy and manage containers on Amazon Lightsail](amazon-lightsail-container-services.md).

A Lightsail database is a fully managed relational database that runs MySQL or PostgreSQL. For more information, see [Create and manage relational databases in Amazon Lightsail](amazon-lightsail-databases.md).

In this tutorial, you learn how to configure a Lightsail container service to connect to a Lightsail MySQL database. When you finish, you have a Lightsail container that stores its data in a Lightsail database.

This tutorial takes approximately 20–30 minutes to complete.

**Note**  
The resources you create in this tutorial might result in charges to your AWS account. Delete the resources after you finish to avoid ongoing charges. For more information, see [Step 5: Clean up resources](#amazon-lightsail-connecting-container-service-to-database-cleanup).

**Note**  
This tutorial uses Uptime Kuma, a third-party open-source monitoring tool, as an example.

## Step 1: Complete the prerequisites
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Complete the following prerequisites before you begin:

1. Create a Lightsail container service, for example `ls-container-service`. For more information, see [Creating Amazon Lightsail container services](amazon-lightsail-creating-container-services.md).

1. Create a Lightsail MySQL database, for example `ls-database`. The database must be in the same AWS Region as your container service. For more information, see [Creating a database in Amazon Lightsail](amazon-lightsail-creating-a-database.md).

## Step 2: Choose a container image
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This tutorial uses the Uptime Kuma public image as an example. Uptime Kuma is a lightweight open-source monitoring tool that tracks the uptime of websites, servers, and services. By default, Uptime Kuma uses a SQLite file stored inside the container. By configuring your container service to use a Lightsail database, you preserve your monitoring configuration, availability history, and incident logs data.

Uptime Kuma is a third-party open-source project maintained on GitHub. To review the project's license and documentation, see the [Uptime Kuma repository on GitHub](https://github.com/louislam/uptime-kuma).

If you want to use your own image, you can create your application on your local machine, and then push your image to your Lightsail container service. For more information, see [Pushing and managing container images on your Amazon Lightsail container services](amazon-lightsail-pushing-container-images.md).

## Step 3: Create a deployment with database configuration
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Complete the following procedure to create a deployment on your container service that uses the Uptime Kuma image and connects to your Lightsail database.

1. Sign in to the Lightsail console at [https://lightsail.aws.amazon.com/](https://lightsail.aws.amazon.com/).

1. In the left navigation pane, choose **Containers** to go to the container services home page and view your container services.

1. Choose the container service that you created in the prerequisites step, for example `ls-container-service`.  
![Container services home page in the Lightsail console.](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lightsail/latest/userguide/images/container-db-containers-home-page.png)

1. On the container service management page, choose the **Deployments** tab, and then choose **Create your first deployment**. For more information, see [Creating and managing deployments for your Amazon Lightsail container services](amazon-lightsail-container-services-deployments.md).  
![Deployments tab of a container service with no current deployment.](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lightsail/latest/userguide/images/container-db-deployments-tab.png)

1. Fill out the deployment configuration as follows:

   1. **Container name** – Enter a name for your container, for example `tutorialapp`. The container name doesn't have to match the container service name.
**Note**  
All containers within a deployment must have unique names and must contain only alphanumeric characters and hyphens. A hyphen can separate words but cannot be at the start or end of the name.

   1. **Source image** – Specify `louislam/uptime-kuma:1`.
**Note**  
If you want to use an image from your local machine, choose **Choose stored image**, and then select the image that you uploaded to your container service.

   1. **Launch command** – Skip this step. The Uptime Kuma image does not require an additional launch command for this tutorial.

   1. **Environment variables** – Choose **Add environment variables**, and then specify the variables that the container reads at runtime. Uptime Kuma requires the following environment variables to connect to a MySQL database. To find the database values, choose **Databases** in the left navigation pane of the Lightsail console, and then choose the database name (for example `ls-database`) to open the database management page.


<table>
<thead>
  <tr><th>Variable</th><th>Value</th><th>Location in the Lightsail console</th></tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
  <tr><td><code>PORT</code></td><td><code>3001</code></td><td>Not applicable</td></tr>
  <tr><td><code>UPTIME_KUMA_HOST</code></td><td><code>0.0.0.0</code></td><td>Not applicable</td></tr>
  <tr><td><code>DB_TYPE</code></td><td><code>mysql</code></td><td>Not applicable</td></tr>
  <tr><td><code>DB_PORT</code></td><td>Your database port</td><td>The <b>Port</b> value in the <b>Connection details</b> section</td></tr>
  <tr><td><code>DB_USER</code></td><td>Your database user name</td><td>The <b>User name</b> value in the <b>Database details</b> section</td></tr>
  <tr><td><code>DB_NAME</code></td><td>Your database name</td><td>The database name in the <b>Database details</b> section</td></tr>
  <tr><td><code>DB_HOST</code></td><td>Your database endpoint</td><td>The <b>Endpoint</b> value in the <b>Connection details</b> section</td></tr>
  <tr><td><code>DB_PASSWORD</code></td><td>Your database password</td><td>Choose <b>Show</b> next to the master password to reveal it</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>


      The following screenshot shows the location of these values on the database management page.  
![Database management page showing where to find the DB_NAME, DB_HOST, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, and DB_PORT values.](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lightsail/latest/userguide/images/container-db-database-variable-values.png)

      Using the values from your database management page, enter the environment variables as shown in the following screenshot.  
![Environment variables entered in the deployment configuration.](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lightsail/latest/userguide/images/container-db-environment-variables.png)

   1. **Open ports** – Choose **Add open ports**, and then open port `3001` with the **HTTP** protocol.  
![Open ports section with port 3001 configured for HTTP.](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lightsail/latest/userguide/images/container-db-open-ports.png)

   1. **Public endpoint** – Select the name of your container from the dropdown menu. The container in this tutorial is `tutorialapp`.  
![Public endpoint section with the tutorialapp container selected.](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lightsail/latest/userguide/images/container-db-public-endpoint.png)

1. Choose **Save and deploy**. Wait a few minutes for the deployment to finish. You can monitor the deployment status under **Deployment versions**. When the deployment is complete, the status changes to **Active**.  
![Deployment versions section showing an Active deployment.](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lightsail/latest/userguide/images/container-db-deployment-active.png)

## Step 4: Test your application with your Lightsail database
<a name="connecting-container-to-database-test-application"></a>

Your Uptime Kuma application now runs on your Lightsail container service and connects to your Lightsail database. To connect to your application, choose the **Public domain** link on your container service detail page. The link opens the Uptime Kuma setup page, where you create an account.

![Uptime Kuma dashboard showing a running monitor.](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lightsail/latest/userguide/images/container-db-kuma-dashboard.png)


After you sign up, Uptime Kuma redirects you to the dashboard. On the dashboard, you can create a new monitor. Uptime Kuma stores the monitor's data in your Lightsail database.

Now that Uptime Kuma is running, you can use it to monitor your applications. For example, you can [launch a Lightsail WordPress instance](amazon-lightsail-launch-and-configure-wordpress.md), and then [create and attach a static IP address](lightsail-create-static-ip.md) to that instance. You can then use Uptime Kuma to track the uptime of your WordPress site.

**Note**  
The default public IP address for your instance changes if you stop and start the instance. When you attach a static IP address, it stays the same even if you stop and start the instance, so your monitor continues to track the correct address. For more information, see [Create a static IP and attach it to an instance](lightsail-create-static-ip.md).

![Uptime Kuma add monitor page showing a static IP address configured to monitor a Lightsail WordPress instance.](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lightsail/latest/userguide/images/container-db-kuma-monitor.png)


To add a monitor for your WordPress instance, complete the following steps in the Uptime Kuma dashboard:

1. Choose **Add New Monitor**.

1. In the **URL** field, enter the static IP address of your WordPress instance using the format `http://{{ip-address}}`, for example `http://192.0.2.0`.

1. In the **Friendly Name** field, enter a name for the monitor, for example `TestMonitor`.

1. Choose **Save**. Uptime Kuma begins monitoring the uptime of your Lightsail WordPress instance.

## Step 5: Clean up resources
<a name="amazon-lightsail-connecting-container-service-to-database-cleanup"></a>

To avoid ongoing charges, delete the following resources you created in this tutorial when you no longer need them: the container service and the Lightsail database. If you also created a WordPress instance and a static IP address in Step 4, delete those as well.

1. Delete the container service. For more information, see [Deleting Amazon Lightsail container services](amazon-lightsail-deleting-container-services.md).

1. Delete the Lightsail database. For more information, see [Delete a Lightsail database and create a final snapshot](amazon-lightsail-deleting-your-database.md).

1. (Optional) If you created a WordPress instance in Step 4, delete it. For more information, see [Deleting an Amazon Lightsail instance](delete-an-amazon-lightsail-instance.md).

1. (Optional) If you created a static IP address in Step 4, delete it. For more information, see [Delete a static IP address in Amazon Lightsail](how-to-delete-static-ip.md).