Skip to content
Docs

PostgreSQL

Connect Adverity Atlas to a PostgreSQL database using a read-only user.

Prerequisites

A user or role that can read the data you want to query. Adverity Atlas only issues read queries against your tables, it does not create, modify, or drop them, so read access is all it needs.

Create a read-only role:

CREATE ROLE atlas_reader LOGIN PASSWORD '...';
GRANT CONNECT ON DATABASE your_db TO atlas_reader;
GRANT USAGE ON SCHEMA public TO atlas_reader;
GRANT SELECT ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA public TO atlas_reader;
ALTER DEFAULT PRIVILEGES IN SCHEMA public
  GRANT SELECT ON TABLES TO atlas_reader;

What Adverity Atlas reads

A sync lists the objects in each schema you bind and records what kind each one is. Profiling then runs aggregate queries over the types it can profile, and those field statistics are what Chat and the glossary work from. An object that is discovered but not profiled is still queryable, it just carries no statistics.

Object type

Discovered and queryable

Profiled

Tables

Yes

Yes

Views

Yes

No

Materialized views

Yes

Yes

Querying and profiling need the same access: SELECT on the objects you want available. Profiling adds no privilege of its own, it reads the same objects with aggregate queries. The Connection test on the wizard’s Test step proves exactly that access, in the order a sync needs it: connect, list the schemas, list the tables in the target schema, and read a row.

Authentication methods

PostgreSQL has a single method: a database username and password. The wizard’s Auth method step says so rather than offering a choice, reading “This connector uses a single authentication method. Continue to enter credentials.”

Best for: Any PostgreSQL database. Point it at a read-only role rather than an application or superuser account, so the connection can only ever read.

Credentials:

Field

Description

Username

e.g. postgres

Required

Password

Stored encrypted.

Required

Setup

  1. Go to Settings > Data Governance > Data Sources. Under Add Connection, choose PostgreSQL. The Add a data source wizard opens and runs in five steps.

  2. Source, confirm PostgreSQL is selected and click Continue.

  3. Auth method, this connector uses a single authentication method, so click Continue.

  4. Authenticate, fill in the Configuration and Credentials fields and click Save credentials, then click Continue.

  5. Test, Adverity Atlas tests the connection as soon as you arrive and shows the result under Connection test. Continue unlocks once the test passes. After fixing a failure, click Test again. Back discards the saved credentials and returns you to Authenticate, with the configuration still filled in.

  6. Review & create, enter a Name, choose a Sync schedule, and pick a Mode: Active (sync runs on schedule and agents can query this source), Development (sync runs, but agents cannot query it yet), or Disabled (no automated operations). Then click Create data source.

The Connection test runs the full connection diagnostic: it authenticates, lists the visible schemas, lists the tables in the target schema, and reads a row. You cannot continue to Review & create until every check passes, so a wrong credential or a missing grant is resolved here rather than becoming an unhealthy source afterwards. A failed check reports the warehouse’s own error, and the grant that is missing where Adverity Atlas can work it out, see Connection diagnostics. A test that could not run at all says “The connection test could not run. Try again in a moment.”

Adverity Atlas verifies the connection as soon as the source is created, and starts the first sync when verification succeeds and the mode allows it. Schema discovery and field profiling run from that sync.

Tip

If someone else holds the credentials, use Share a one-time link under Or ask someone else on the Authenticate step. They submit the credentials through that link and see the connection test run on their page too. If it fails, Provide credentials again lets them correct what they entered. Your wizard moves on to Test once they submit, so the secret never passes through you.

Connection fields

These appear under Configuration on the wizard’s Authenticate step.

Field

Description

Host

e.g. localhost

Required

Port

e.g. 5432

Optional

Database

e.g. my_database

Required

SSL Mode

e.g. prefer

Optional

Troubleshooting

Symptom

Likely cause

Connection refused

Check host and port, and that the database accepts connections from the Adverity Atlas network.

SSL required

Set SSL Mode to require when the server enforces TLS.

No tables visible

The role lacks USAGE on the schema or SELECT on its tables.

Profiling fails for one table with the warehouse’s permission error

The role cannot read any column of that table. A table where only some columns are denied (column-level grants) still profiles, with the denied columns left without statistics.

What’s next?

Was this page helpful?