Run QuestDB on Kubernetes

You can deploy QuestDB in a Kubernetes cluster using a StatefulSet and a persistent volume. We distribute QuestDB via Helm on ArtifactHub.

Prerequisites​

Get the QuestDB Helm chart​

Using the Helm client, add the official Helm chart repository:

helm repo add questdb https://helm.questdb.io/

Update the Helm index:

helm repo update

Run QuestDB​

Start a local cluster using minikube:

minikube start

Then install the chart:

helm install my-questdb questdb/questdb

Finally, use the Kubernetes CLI to get the pod name:

kubectl get pods

Result:

NAMEREADYSTATUSRESTARTSAGE
my-questdb-01/1Running19m59s

Querying QuestDB locally​

In order to run queries against your local instance of QuestDB, you can use port forwarding:

kubectl port-forward my-questdb-0 9000

The following ports may also be used:

Customizing the deployment​

The QuestDB Helm chart supports a variety of configuration options. Run the following to view all of them and any preconfigured defaults:

helm show values questdb/questdb

Using Kubernetes secrets​

QuestDB supports reading sensitive configuration values directly from mounted secret files using the _FILE suffix convention. This eliminates the need for shell scripts or init containers to inject secrets as environment variables.

For example, to configure the PostgreSQL wire protocol password from a Kubernetes secret:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: questdb-secrets
type: Opaque
data:
  pg-password: bXktc2VjcmV0LXBhc3N3b3Jk  # base64 encoded

---
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: StatefulSet
metadata:
  name: questdb
spec:
  serviceName: questdb
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: questdb
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: questdb
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: questdb
          image: questdb/questdb:latest
          env:
            - name: QDB_PG_PASSWORD_FILE
              value: /run/secrets/pg-password
          volumeMounts:
            - name: secrets
              mountPath: /run/secrets
              readOnly: true
      volumes:
        - name: secrets
          secret:
            secretName: questdb-secrets
            items:
              - key: pg-password
                path: pg-password
note

This example focuses on secret mounting and omits the volumeClaimTemplates needed for persistent storage. For production deployments, use the QuestDB Helm chart which handles storage configuration automatically.

For the full list of supported properties, see Secrets from files in the configuration reference.