Installation

EHRbase-rs is a single static binary that connects to a PostgreSQL 18 database. There is no application server to install and no runtime to provision — you choose how to run the binary and where the database lives. This part covers the three supported paths and the full configuration surface.

• Docker Compose — the fastest way to run the server plus a preconfigured PostgreSQL 18, for development and evaluation. Includes an optional observability overlay.
• Kubernetes & Helm — the production path: a hardened, non-root, default-deny workload that connects to an externally managed PostgreSQL 18.
• From source — building the binary yourself with the pinned Rust toolchain.
• Configuration reference — every EHRBASE_* environment variable, grouped by area, with types, defaults, and meaning.

Whichever path you take, the server is configured entirely through EHRBASE_* environment variables (with optional mounted TOML files for values that do not fit cleanly in env, such as a Basic-auth user store or an OIDC block). The database schema is created and updated by the binary’s migrations, which run automatically at boot.

Note

A Clinical Data Repository stores PHI. In production the database must be an externally managed, backed-up, point-in-time-recoverable PostgreSQL 18 — never a throwaway sidecar. The Kubernetes chart deliberately ships no in-cluster database for this reason.