CouchDB

Learn about running secure, Managed CouchDB Databases on Aptible

Available Versions

As of October 31, 2024, CouchDB is no longer be offered on Aptible.

Logging in to the CouchDB interface (Fauxton)

To maximize security, Aptible enables authentication in CouchDB, and requires valid users. While this is unquestionably a security best practice, a side effect of requiring authentication in CouchDB is that you can’t access the management interface.

Indeed, if you navigate to the management interface on a CouchDB Database where authentication is enabled, you won’t be served login form… because any request, including one for the login form, requires authentication! (more on the CouchDB Blog).

That said, you can easily work around this. Here’s how. When you access your CouchDB Database (either through a Database Endpoint or through a Database Tunnel), open your browser’s console, and run the following code. Make sure to replace USERNAME and PASSWORD on the last line with the actual username and password from your Database Credentials.

This code will log you in, then redirect you to Fauxton, the CouchDB management interface.

(function (name, password) {
  // Don't use a relative URL in fetch: if the user accessed the page by
  // setting a username and password in the URL, that would fail (in fact, it
  // will break Fauxton as well).
  var rootUrl = window.location.href.split("/").slice(0, 3).join("/");
  var basic = btoa(`${name}:${password}`);

  window
    .fetch(rootUrl + "/_session", {
      method: "POST",
      credentials: "include",
      headers: {
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
        Authorization: `Basic ${basic}`,
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({ name, password }),
    })
    .then((r) => {
      if (r.status === 200) {
        return (window.location.href = rootUrl + "/_utils/");
      }
      return r.text().then((t) => {
        throw new Error(t);
      });
    })
    .catch((e) => {
      console.log(`login failed: ${e}`);
    });
})("USERNAME", "PASSWORD");

Configuration

CouchDB Databases can be configured with the CouchDB HTTP API. Changes made this way will persist across Database restarts.

Connection Security

Aptible CouchDB Databases support connections via the following protocol:

• For CouchDB version 2.1: TLSv1.2