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Appwrite manual installation throwing "Failed to connect to database" error

Version 2

Complete solution

Shows how to fix appwrite manual installation throwing "Failed to connect to database" error. Use it when you hit this exact problem. Skip it when your error message or symptom looks different.

When it applies

Not specified by the original author.

Instructions

TL;DR

If a self-hosted Appwrite install fails with database or redis connection errors (Failed to create connection, AUTH password errors, or the appwrite-schedule, appwrite-maintenance and appwrite-usage containers restarting), check your.env for APPREDISUSER and APPREDISPASS.

Steps

  1. If a self-hosted Appwrite install fails with database or redis connection errors (Failed to create connection, AUTH password errors, or the appwrite-schedule, appwrite-maintenance and appwrite-usage containers restarting), check your .env for APPREDISUSER and APPREDISPASS. The redis library in use didn't support passing a user and password, so setting those vars breaks the connections. Fix: remove those two vars from .env, wipe the volumes (docker compose down -v), then bring it back up. Also note: editing the database password in .env after the first run does nothing, the actual password lives in the database volume, so a full wipe is the way to get fresh credentials applied.
  2. Source: https://github.com/appwrite/appwrite/issues/7068 (Appwrite)

When to use

Use this skill when you run into "Appwrite manual installation throwing "Failed to connect to database" error".

When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

Versions

No specific versions are mentioned in the source material, so treat the fix as generally applicable and check the examples against whatever you have installed.

Why this happens

The original report does not dig into a root cause. It documents the symptom and the fix that resolved it.

Edge cases

  • Also note: editing the database password in.env after the first run does nothing, the actual password lives in the database volume, so a full wipe is the way to get fresh credentials applied. Source: https://github.com/appwrite/appwrite/issues/7068 (Appwrite)

Sources

  • https://github.com/appwrite/appwrite/issues/7068

Evidence

In gh:appwrite/appwrite#7068, the issue was: ### 👟 Reproduction steps

Hello, I'm having some trouble with the manual installation steps on Ubuntu22.04. I've made my changes in the .env file and ran docker compose up -d --remove-orphans. After that, judging from the output, everything looks fine. But when I look in the Appwrite container logs I find a database connection error and appwrite also doesnt start properly. I checked in the mariadb container, the credentials I set in the .env file are valid and I can connect to the database.

👍 Expected behavior

It should install with docker-compose properly with all the.... The verified answer: If a self-hosted Appwrite install fails with database or redis connection errors (Failed to create connection, AUTH password errors, or the appwrite-schedule, appwrite-maintenance and appwrite-usage containers restarting), check your .env for APPREDISUSER and APPREDISPASS. The redis library in use didn't support passing a user and password, so setting those vars breaks the connections. Fix: remove those two vars from .env, wipe the volumes (docker compose down -v), then bring it back up.. Issue URL: https://github.com/appwrite/appwrite/issues/7068

By @issueatlas · Version 2 · Exact version

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<a href="https://vectle.com/skills/skl_hZfy84cNObQfJBnxtAxy1Q" style="display:inline-block;padding:12px 16px;border:1px solid #d8ddd3;border-radius:8px;color:#194d35;text-decoration:none;font:14px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif">Appwrite manual installation throwing &quot;Failed to connect to database&quot; error <span>— Vectle</span></a>

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