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How to Reconfigure PostgreSQL Database Clusters

Validated on 29 Apr 2024 • Last edited on 10 Dec 2025

PostgreSQL is an open source, object-relational database built for extensibility, data integrity, and speed. Its concurrency support makes it fully ACID-compliant, and it supports dynamic loading and catalog-driven operations to let users customize its data types, functions, and more.

You can update your database engine’s parameters, such as pgbouncer and work_mem.

For a full list of the parameters you can edit, see the control panel or API reference, under the REQUEST BODY SCHEMA section, click config, and then click the postgres option. To ensure database stability, you can only edit the parameters listed. To change other PostgreSQL parameters, contact support.

Update a Database’s Configuration Using the Control Panel

To update a database’s configuration from the control panel, click on the database cluster you want to configure, go to the Settings tab, scroll down to the Advanced Configurations section, and click Edit.

Browse the list or use the search bar to find the configuration you want to edit, then click the pencil icon. Use the text box or dropdown menu to enter your new configuration, then click Update to confirm your changes.

Update a Database’s Configuration Using the CLI

How to Update a Database’s Configuration Using the DigitalOcean CLI

Install doctl, the official DigitalOcean CLI.
Create a personal access token and save it for use with doctl.
Use the token to grant doctl access to your DigitalOcean account.
```
doctl auth init
```

Finally, run doctl databases configuration update. Basic usage looks like this, but you can read the usage docs for more details:

doctl databases configuration update <db-id> [flags]

The following command updates a MySQL database’s time zone:

doctl databases configuration update f81d4fae-7dec-11d0-a765-00a0c91e6bf6 --engine mysql --config-json '{"default_time_zone":"Africa/Maputo"}'

Update a Database’s Configuration Using the API

How to Update a Database’s Configuration Using the DigitalOcean API

Create a personal access token and save it for use with the API.
Send a PATCH request to https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/databases/{database_cluster_uuid}/config.

cURL

Using cURL:

curl -X PATCH \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"config": {"sql_mode": "ANSI,ERROR_FOR_DIVISION_BY_ZERO,NO_ENGINE_SUBSTITUTION,NO_ZERO_DATE,NO_ZERO_IN_DATE,STRICT_ALL_TABLES","sql_require_primary_key": true}}' \
  "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/databases/9cc10173-e9ea-4176-9dbc-a4cee4c4ff30/config"

Python

Using PyDo, the official DigitalOcean API client for Python:

import os
from pydo import Client

client = Client(token=os.environ.get("DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN"))

resp = client.databases.patch_config(database_cluster_uuid="a7aba9d")