shorty/docs/reset-db-password.md

Resetting the Kutt PostgreSQL password

If you lost the stack env vars (e.g. after deleting the Portainer stack) and need to use the existing database with a new password, you have two options.

Default DB user/db name from compose: kutt / kutt (or whatever you set in DB_USER / DB_NAME).
Data path on host: /mnt/config/docker/kutt/postgres (from docker-compose.portainer.yml).

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Option A: Fresh start (delete all Kutt data)

Use this if you don’t need existing links/users.

1. On the host, remove the Postgres data directory:

   sudo rm -rf /mnt/config/docker/kutt/postgres
   

2. In Portainer, (re-)create the stack and set env vars, including a new DB_PASSWORD.
3. Deploy. Postgres will initialise a new database with the new password.

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Option B: Keep data, force-set a new password

Use this if you want to keep existing Kutt data but don’t know the current password.
Stop the stack first (so nothing is using the Postgres data volume).

1. On the host, temporarily allow local connections without a password:

   cd /mnt/config/docker/kutt/postgres
   cp pg_hba.conf pg_hba.conf.bak
   echo 'local all all trust' > pg_hba.conf
   echo 'host all all 127.0.0.1/32 trust' >> pg_hba.conf
   echo 'host all all ::1/128 trust' >> pg_hba.conf
   

2. Start a temporary Postgres container (it will use the modified pg_hba.conf):

   docker run -d --name pg-reset \
     -v /mnt/config/docker/kutt/postgres:/var/lib/postgresql/data \
     postgres:16-alpine
   sleep 5
   

3. Set the new password (replace kutt if you use a different DB_USER, and set YOUR_NEW_PASSWORD):

   docker exec pg-reset psql -U postgres -c "ALTER USER kutt PASSWORD 'YOUR_NEW_PASSWORD';"
   

4. Stop the temporary container and restore pg_hba.conf:

   docker stop pg-reset && docker rm pg-reset
   cd /mnt/config/docker/kutt/postgres
   mv pg_hba.conf.bak pg_hba.conf
   

5. In Portainer, create/redeploy the stack and set DB_PASSWORD (and other env vars) to the same YOUR_NEW_PASSWORD.