---
title: "Preparing a database for installation of Lacuna PSC"
description: "Preparing a SQL Server or PostgreSQL database and its connection string for an on-premises Lacuna PSC installation, including collation and db_owner user."
canonical: "https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/en-us/articles/psc/on-premises/prepare-database"
locale: "en"
product: "PSC"
last_updated: "2026-10-12"
---

# Preparing a database for installation of Lacuna PSC

In order to install a [on-premises installation](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/en-us/articles/psc/on-premises) of [Lacuna PSC](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/en-us/articles/psc), you will need a connection string for one of the following database engines:

* [SQL Server](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/en-us/articles/psc/on-premises/prepare-database#sql-server)
* [PostgreSQL](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/en-us/articles/psc/on-premises/prepare-database#postgres)

## SQL Server

To use SQL Server, you will need a database having:

* Collation: `Latin1_General_100_CI_AI` or `Latin1_General_CI_AI`
* Credentials corresponding to a user with `db_owner` role

> **Note**
>
> If you prefer to run Lacuna PSC without granting `db_owner` to the application user, see [this article](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/en-us/articles/psc/on-premises/unprivileged-db-user)

> **Warning**
>
> The collation of the database **must** be one of the collations specified above. Creating the database with a different collation will likely cause the installation to fail!

If you need help preparing the database, follow the steps in this article.

> **Note**
>
> You do not need to follow these specific instructions. If you wish to prepare the database differently, for instance using advanced
> features such as log shipping or mirroring, you may do so, as long as the collation and role memberships are observed.

To create the database, use the following T-SQL query (optionally changing the database name):

```sql
USE master;
CREATE DATABASE Psc COLLATE Latin1_General_100_CI_AI;
GO
```

Create a user and grant it the `db_owner` role:

```sql
USE master;
CREATE LOGIN PscAdm WITH PASSWORD = 'XXXXX';
GO

USE Psc;
CREATE USER PscAdm FOR LOGIN PscAdm;
EXEC sp_addrolemember 'db_owner', 'PscAdm';
GO
```

The connection string would then be:

```text
Data Source=.;Initial Catalog=Psc;User ID=PscAdm;Password=XXXXX
```

> **Note**
>
> This connection string assumes the database server is installed on the same server as the web app. If this is not true,
> the value after `Data Source=` would have to be changed.

## PostgreSQL

Starting on [version 1.1.0](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/en-us/articles/psc/changelog#v1-1-0) of Lacuna PSC, PostgreSQL is also supported. Any version currently supported of PostgreSQL
is also supported ([which at the moment means version 11 or greater](https://www.postgresql.org/support/versioning/)).

Start by creating the database and a user for the application (optionally changing the names of the database and user):

```text
postgres=# CREATE DATABASE psc;
CREATE DATABASE
postgres=# CREATE USER psc WITH PASSWORD 'XXXXX';
CREATE ROLE
```

Next, connect to the newly created database and set the permissions for the `public` schema:

```text
postgres=# \connect psc
You are now connected to database "psc" as user "postgres".
psc=# REVOKE ALL ON SCHEMA public FROM PUBLIC;
REVOKE
psc=# GRANT ALL ON SCHEMA public TO psc;
GRANT
psc=# CREATE SCHEMA hangfire;
CREATE
psc=# GRANT ALL ON SCHEMA hangfire TO psc;
GRANT
```

> **Note**
>
> For now, only using a user with full schema access is supported. Please contact us if you need to run Lacuna PSC with less privileges.

The connection string would then be (assuming you didn't change the database and user names):

```text
Host=localhost;Database=psc;Username=psc;Password=XXXXX
```

> **Note**
>
> This connection string assumes the database server is installed on the same server as the web app. If this is not true,
> the value after `Host=` would have to be changed.

## See also

* [Running Lacuna PSC without db_owner privileges](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/en-us/articles/psc/on-premises/unprivileged-db-user)