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How to launch MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, & Apache Airflow in your Course using SN Labs

The Skills Network Toolbox is a built-in extension that helps you efficiently and easily interact with a number of technologies inside the Skills Network Cloud IDE. Some of these features include the ability to launch MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, & Apache Airflow from the click of a button. Additionally, the admin tools phpMyAdmin (for MySQL), pgAdmin (for PostgreSQL), mongo-express (for MongoDB), and Airflow Webserver (for Apache Airflow) are available in these environments. 

To open the Toolbox, click the Skills Network logo on the left sidebar. You will see a number of dropdowns that you can explore. Click on your selected database or application within the dropdown and hit the Start button to launch it.

Troubleshooting

  1. Stop all your applications with the Stop button, until every application has an Inactive or Error status. Close all the tabs in the main area of the IDE. Refresh your browser tab and try again.
  2. Start your applications manually with the following instructions under Launching Manually
  3. Submit a support ticket using the blue Support/Feedback button on the right of your window.

Launching Manually

1. Open the Terminal

From the Menu at the top, select Terminal > New Terminal. This will open a Terminal at the bottom of the screen.

2. Enter the "start" command in the Terminal

In the terminal enter one of the following commands:

  • start_postgres - Starts postgres database and pgadmin
  • start_mysql - Starts mysql database and phpmyadmin
  • start_mongo - Starts mongo database and mongo
  • start_cassandra - Starts cassandra database
  • start_airflow - Starts airflow services (This will boot up airflow and an accompanying PostgresSQL container for you to use)

3. Read and follow the outputting instructions


Wait for the command to complete and it should display:
  • Username
  • Password (this is randomized everytime you launch a new Theia tool)
  • URL for admin console
  • CommandLine example to connect to the database

WARNING: At the time of writing, the data you add and schema changes changes you make to these databases will not persist for more than a few hours. This means that we recommend completing your labs in one sitting, because the work you do may not be available if you come back to the lab or start it again. 

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