Ivory is an open-source database cluster management tool built around the concept of a Keeper — a generic management layer responsible for cluster manipulations. A Keeper can be a standalone agent running beside the database or a management system embedded directly in the database engine. As an example - Patroni the Keeper implementation for PostgreSQL.
It is designed for developers and DBAs who want a single UI to operate, troubleshoot, and deploy high-availability database clusters — without dropping into the CLI for every task.
Ivory can run as a local tool on your laptop or as a shared service on a VM for team use.
Ivory started as a Postgres/Patroni tool. We're working towards a more pluggable architecture, where support for other databases and HA tools could be added as a plugin, instead of being baked into the core. v2 is the first step of that rework:
| Version | |
|---|---|
| v1 | Hard-wired to Patroni and Postgres, with Postgres-centric node management and no mobile support. |
| v2 | Pluggable Keeper and database engines — the goal is to manage different databases by implementing a simple plugin for each, instead of baking their behaviour into the core. Node management is now VM-centric, with nodes modeled as Hardware + Software behind a generic Platform abstraction (on-prem Docker over SSH today, Kubernetes/OpenShift planned). The UI is now mobile friendly, so you can check on and operate your clusters from your phone. |
| Keeper | Database | Stage | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patroni | Postgres | STABLE | The Keeper Ivory was originally built around |
| Postgres | Postgres | BETA | Not everyone needs HA — sometimes you just want to manage a plain Postgres |
| ETCD | ETCD | ALPHA | Patroni relies on etcd as a DCS, so managing it directly made sense too |
| Redis | Redis | ALPHA | A widely used cache/store that often sits right next to the databases Ivory already manages |
| ClickHouse | ClickHouse | ALPHA | A popular analytics database and a natural next step for Ivory's plugin set |
| ZooKeeper | ZooKeeper | ALPHA | ClickHouse needs real ZooKeeper protocol, not etcd, to coordinate replication — deployable as its own ensemble and usable as the external DCS other keepers point at |
| MongoDB | MongoDB | ALPHA | A widely used document store with its own native replica-set HA, a natural fit next to Ivory's other native (non-orchestrated) keepers |
P.S. these particular databases weren't picked from a grand roadmap — they're mainly what the maintainer runs day to day, and Ivory exists to simplify that routine first. Broader support grows from there.
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Cluster management
- Keep all clusters in one place — register by hand, auto-detect from a single node address, or deploy fresh
- Monitor real-time cluster health: node roles, replication lag, pending restarts, warnings
- Perform HA operations: switchover, failover, reinitialise, restart, reload, pause/resume
- View and patch database configuration per node
Node operations
- Deploy new database containers on remote hosts over SSH — no agent needed
- Control the full container lifecycle: up, start, stop, restart, down, logs
- Manage Keeper directly per node: switchover, failover, reinitialise, restart, pause, configure
- Monitor real-time VM metrics (CPU, memory, network) per node
- Stream live logs from any file on the remote host or from a container
Database troubleshooting
- Start the docker container
- v1 (latest)
- 🐳 Docker Hub
docker run -p 80:80 --restart always veegres/ivory - 📦 GitHub Container registry
docker run -p 80:80 --restart always ghcr.io/veegres/ivory
- 🐳 Docker Hub
- v2 (alpha) — check the
Releases page for the current tag
- 🐳 Docker Hub
docker run -p 80:80 --restart always veegres/ivory:v2.0.0-alpha.1 - 📦 GitHub Container registry
docker run -p 80:80 --restart always ghcr.io/veegres/ivory:v2.0.0-alpha.1
- 🐳 Docker Hub
- v1 (latest)
- Go to http://localhost:80
- Complete the initial setup wizard (authentication, secret key)
- Add your first cluster — three options:
- Manual — provide all node addresses yourself
- Auto-detect — give one node address and Ivory discovers the rest
- Deploy — provision a brand-new cluster on remote hosts
- Start monitoring
Ivory now provides Backup/Restore functionality for migrating your data between versions. You can backup your configuration (clusters, queries, permissions) from the Settings page and restore it in a new version. The backup format is backward compatible and designed to work across different versions.
Alternatively, you can mount the data directory between containers (see instructions below), though this approach typically works only for patch releases. For minor and major version updates, always check the backward compatibility page and prefer using the Backup/Restore feature for safer migration.
All Ivory data is located inside /opt/ivory/data directory. Ivory has a docker volume, it means that you won't lose it
if your container is going to be rebooted. But you need to consider mounting this directory to your local disk if you
want to save the data between different containers
--mount type=bind,source=YOUR_LOCAL_PATH,target=/opt/ivory/data, or you can mount volume of the old container to the
new one by docker flag --volumes-from
Ivory can work with or without authentication. It will ask you to configure it during the initial setup. Ivory supports multiple authentication methods:
- Basic - Simple username and password authentication
- LDAP - Integration with LDAP directories
- OIDC/SSO - Single Sign-On via OpenID Connect
You can safely provide your secrets to Ivory for SSO and LDAP configuration. Ivory encrypts all secrets using your secret word. Therefore, make sure to select the appropriate application configuration in your SSO provider. As well, Ivory requires the profile or email scopes from the SSO provider in order to retrieve user information.
Additionally, Ivory includes a comprehensive permission system that allows you to control access at a granular level (view/manage clusters, execute queries, manage configurations, etc.). You can manage user permissions from the Settings page after authentication is enabled.
Usually you don't want to use authentication when working with Ivory locally, but it is recommended when deploying it in shared environments or VMs.
Ivory offers a special environment variable, IVORY_URL_PATH, designed for use when running the service behind a
reverse proxy under a sub-path. It's important to note that the path must start with a leading slash, such as /ivory.
Example: docker run -p 80:80 -env IVORY_URL_PATH=/ivory --restart always veegres/ivory
You need to specify two environment variables IVORY_CERT_FILE_PATH and IVORY_CERT_KEY_FILE_PATH. Because it is a
docker environment, you need to mount these files first and then provide these variables with paths. Recommended path
inside container is /opt/certs. Note that Ivory changes port to 443 when you have provided both paths. Example: docker run -p 443:443 --mount type=bind,source=YOUR_CERTS_PATH,target=/opt/certs --env IVORY_CERT_FILE_PATH=/opt/certs/YOUR_CERT_NAME.crt --env IVORY_CERT_KEY_FILE_PATH=/opt/certs/YOUR_KEY_NAME.key --restart always veegres/ivory
If you're interested in contributing to the Ivory project, consider these options: