Create a database

Use the influxctl database create command to create a database in your InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated cluster.

1. If you haven’t already, download and install the influxctl CLI, and then configure an influxctl connection profile for your cluster.

2. Run the influxctl database create command and provide the following:

   • Optional: Database retention period Default is infinite (0).
   • Optional: Database table (measurement) limit. Default is 500.
   • Optional: Database column limit. Default is 250.
   • Optional: InfluxDB tags to use in the partition template. Limit is 7 total tags or tag buckets.
   • Optional: InfluxDB tag buckets to use in the partition template. Limit is 7 total tags or tag buckets.
   • Optional: A Rust strftime date and time string that specifies the time format in the partition template and determines the time interval to partition by. Default is %Y-%m-%d.
   • Database name (see Database naming restrictions)

influxctl database create \
  --retention-period 
30d
 \
  --max-tables 
500 \
  --max-columns 250 \
  --template-tag 
TAG_KEY_1
 \
  --template-tag 
TAG_KEY_2
 \
  --template-tag-bucket 
TAG_KEY_3
,
100
 \
  --template-tag-bucket 
TAG_KEY_4
,
300
 \
  --template-timeformat '%Y-%m-%d' \
  
DATABASE_NAME

Replace the following in your command:

• DATABASE_NAME: your InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated database
• TAG_KEY_1, TAG_KEY_2, TAG_KEY_3, and TAG_KEY_4: tag keys from your data

Database attributes

• Retention period syntax (influxctl CLI)
• Custom partitioning (influxctl CLI)
• Database naming restrictions
• InfluxQL DBRP naming convention
• Table and column limits

Retention period syntax (influxctl CLI)

Use the --retention-period flag to define the retention period for the database. The retention period value is a time duration value made up of a numeric value plus a duration unit. For example, 30d means 30 days. A zero duration (0d) retention period is infinite and data won’t expire. The retention period value cannot be negative or contain whitespace.

Custom partitioning (influxctl CLI)

InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated lets you define a custom partitioning strategy for each database. A partition is a logical grouping of data stored in Apache Parquet format in the InfluxDB v3 storage engine. By default, data is partitioned by day, but, depending on your schema and workload, customizing the partitioning strategy can improve query performance.

Use the --template-tag, --template-tag-bucket, and --template-timeformat flags to define partition template parts used to generate partition keys for the database.

For more information, see Manage data partitioning.

This example uses cURL to send a Management HTTP API request, but you can use any HTTP client.

1. If you haven’t already, follow the instructions to install cURL for your system.

2. In your terminal, use cURL to send a request to the following InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated console endpoint:

   POST https://console.influxdata.com/api/v0/accounts/ACCOUNT_ID/clusters/CLUSTER_ID/databases

   In the URL, provide the following credentials:

   • ACCOUNT_ID: The ID of the account that the cluster belongs to (see how to list cluster details).
   • CLUSTER_ID: The ID of the cluster that you want to manage (see how to list cluster details).

   Provide the following request headers:

   • Accept: application/json to ensure the response body is JSON content
   • Content-Type: application/json to indicate the request body is JSON content
   • Authorization: Bearer and a Management API token for your cluster (see how to create a management token for Management API requests).

   In the request body, provide the following parameters:

   • Optional: Database retention period in nanoseconds. Default is 0 (infinite).
   • Optional: Database table (measurement) limit. Default is 500.
   • Optional: Database column limit. Default is 250.
   • Optional: InfluxDB tags to use in the partition template. Limit is 7 total tags or tag buckets.
   • Optional: InfluxDB tag buckets to use in the partition template. Limit is 7 total tags or tag buckets.
   • Optional: A Rust strftime date and time string that specifies the time format in the partition template and determines the time interval to partition by. Default is %Y-%m-%d.
   • Database name (see Database naming restrictions).

The following example shows how to use the Management API to create a database with custom partitioning:

curl \
   --location "https://console.influxdata.com/api/v0/accounts/
ACCOUNT_ID
/clusters/
CLUSTER_ID
/databases" \
   --request POST
   --header "Accept: application/json" \
   --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
   --header "Authorization: Bearer 
MANAGEMENT_TOKEN
" \
   --data '{
     "name": "'
DATABASE_NAME
'",
     "maxTables": 
500
,
     "maxColumnsPerTable": 
250
,
     "retentionPeriod": 
2592000000000
,
     "partitionTemplate": [
       {
         "type": "tag",
         "value": "
TAG_KEY_1
"
       },
       {
         "type": "tag",
         "value": "
TAG_KEY_2
"
       },
       {
         "type": "bucket",
         "value": {
           "tagName": "
TAG_KEY_3
",
           "numberOfBuckets": 
100
         }
       },
       {
         "type": "bucket",
         "value": {
           "tagName": "
TAG_KEY_4
",
           "numberOfBuckets": 
300
         }
       },
       {
         "type": "time",
         "value": "%Y-%m-%d"
       }
     ]
   }'

Replace the following in your request:

• ACCOUNT_ID: the ID of the InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated account to create the database for
• CLUSTER_ID: the ID of the InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated cluster to create the database for
• MANAGEMENT TOKEN: a management token for your InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated cluster
• DATABASE_NAME: your InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated database
• TAG_KEY_1, TAG_KEY_2, TAG_KEY_3, and TAG_KEY_4: tag keys from your data

Database attributes

• Retention period syntax (Management API)
• Custom partitioning (Management API)
• Database naming restrictions
• InfluxQL DBRP naming convention
• Table and column limits

Retention period syntax (Management API)

Use the retentionPeriod property to specify the retention period for the database. The retention period value is an integer (<int32>) that represents the number of nanoseconds. For example, 2592000000000 means 30 days. A zero (0) retention period is infinite and data won’t expire. The retention period value cannot be negative or contain whitespace.

Example retention period values

• 0: infinite/none
• 259200000000000: 3 days
• 2592000000000000: 30 days
• 31536000000000000: 1 standard year (365 days)

Custom partitioning (Management API)

InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated lets you define a custom partitioning strategy for each database. A partition is a logical grouping of data stored in Apache Parquet format in the InfluxDB v3 storage engine. By default, data is partitioned by day, but, depending on your schema and workload, customizing the partitioning strategy can improve query performance.

Use the partitionTemplate property to define an array of partition template parts used to generate partition keys for the database.

For more information, see Manage data partitioning.