Build a TypeScript App with CockroachDB and TypeORM

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This tutorial shows you how run a simple application built with TypeORM.

Step 1. Start CockroachDB

Choose your installation method

You can install a CockroachDB Serverless cluster using either the CockroachDB Cloud Console, a web-based graphical user interface (GUI) tool, or ccloud, a command-line interface (CLI) tool.

Create a free cluster

Note:

Organizations without billing information on file can only create one CockroachDB Basic cluster.

If you haven't already, sign up for a CockroachDB Cloud account.
Log in to your CockroachDB Cloud account.
On the Clusters page, click Create cluster.
On the Select a plan page, select Basic.
On the Cloud & Regions page, select a cloud provider (GCP or AWS) in the Cloud provider section.
In the Regions section, select a region for the cluster. Refer to CockroachDB Cloud Regions for the regions where CockroachDB Basic clusters can be deployed. To create a multi-region cluster, click Add region and select additional regions.
Click Next: Capacity.
On the Capacity page, select Start for free. Click Next: Finalize.
On the Finalize page, click Create cluster.

Your cluster will be created in a few seconds and the Create SQL user dialog will display.

Create a SQL user

The Create SQL user dialog allows you to create a new SQL user and password.

Enter a username in the SQL user field or use the one provided by default.
Click Generate & save password.
Copy the generated password and save it in a secure location.
Click Next.

Currently, all new SQL users are created with admin privileges. For more information and to change the default settings, see Manage SQL users on a cluster.

Get the connection information

The Connect to cluster dialog shows information about how to connect to your cluster.

Select Parameters only from the Select option dropdown.
Copy the connection information for each parameter displayed and save it in a secure location.

Follow these steps to create a CockroachDB Serverless cluster using the ccloud CLI tool.

Note:

The ccloud CLI tool is in Preview.

Install `ccloud`

Choose your OS:

You can install ccloud using either Homebrew or by downloading the binary.

Use Homebrew

Install Homebrew.
Install using the ccloud tap:
```
brew install cockroachdb/tap/ccloud
```

Download the binary

In a terminal, enter the following command to download and extract the ccloud binary and add it to your PATH:

curl https://binaries.cockroachdb.com/ccloud/ccloud_darwin-amd64_0.6.12.tar.gz | tar -xJ && cp -i ccloud /usr/local/bin/

Use the ARM 64 binary if you have an M-series Mac:

curl https://binaries.cockroachdb.com/ccloud/ccloud_darwin-arm64_0.6.12.tar.gz | tar -xJ && cp -i ccloud /usr/local/bin/

In a terminal, enter the following command to download and extract the ccloud binary and add it to your PATH:

curl https://binaries.cockroachdb.com/ccloud/ccloud_linux-amd64_0.6.12.tar.gz | tar -xz && cp -i ccloud /usr/local/bin/

In a PowerShell window, enter the following command to download and extract the ccloud binary and add it to your PATH:

$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"; [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12; $ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'; $null = New-Item -Type Directory -Force $env:appdata/ccloud; Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://binaries.cockroachdb.com/ccloud/ccloud_windows-amd64_0.6.12.zip -OutFile ccloud.zip; Expand-Archive -Force -Path ccloud.zip; Copy-Item -Force ccloud/ccloud.exe -Destination $env:appdata/ccloud; $Env:PATH += ";$env:appdata/ccloud"; # We recommend adding ";$env:appdata/ccloud" to the Path variable for your system environment. See https://docs.microsoft.com/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/about/about_environment_variables#saving-changes-to-environment-variables for more information.

Run `ccloud quickstart` to create a new cluster, create a SQL user, and retrieve the connection string.

The easiest way of getting started with CockroachDB Cloud is to use ccloud quickstart. The ccloud quickstart command guides you through logging in to CockroachDB Cloud, creating a new CockroachDB Serverless cluster, and connecting to the new cluster. Run ccloud quickstart and follow the instructions:

ccloud quickstart

The ccloud quickstart command will open a browser window to log you in to CockroachDB Cloud. If you are new to CockroachDB Cloud, you can register using one of the single sign-on (SSO) options, or create a new account using an email address.

The ccloud quickstart command will prompt you for the cluster name, cloud provider, and cloud provider region, then ask if you want to connect to the cluster. Each prompt has default values that you can select, or change if you want a different option.

Select Parameters only then copy the connection parameters displayed and save them in a secure location.

? How would you like to connect? Parameters only
Looking up cluster ID: succeeded
Creating SQL user: succeeded
Success! Created SQL user
 name: maxroach
 cluster: 37174250-b944-461f-b1c1-3a99edb6af32
Retrieving cluster info: succeeded
Connection parameters
 Database:  defaultdb
 Host:      blue-dog-147.6wr.cockroachlabs.cloud
 Password:  ThisIsNotAGoodPassword
 Port:      26257
 Username:  maxroach

If you haven't already, download the CockroachDB binary.
Run the cockroach start-single-node command:
```
$ cockroach start-single-node --advertise-addr 'localhost' --insecure
```
This starts an insecure, single-node cluster.

Take note of the following connection information in the SQL shell welcome text:

CockroachDB node starting at 2021-08-30 17:25:30.06524 +0000 UTC (took 4.3s)
build:               CCL v21.1.6 @ 2021/07/20 15:33:43 (go1.15.11)
webui:               http://localhost:8080
sql:                 postgresql://root@localhost:26257?sslmode=disable

You'll use the sql connection string to connect to the cluster later in this tutorial.

Warning:

The --insecure flag used in this tutorial is intended for non-production testing only. To run CockroachDB in production, use a secure cluster instead.

Step 2. Get the code

Clone the code's GitHub repository:
```
$ git clone git@github.com:cockroachlabs/example-app-typescript-typeorm.git
```
Navigate to the repo directory and install the application dependencies:
```
$ cd example-app-typescript-typeorm
```
```
$ npm install
```

Step 3. Configure your CockroachDB connection

Open the datasource.ts file, and comment out the ssl: true, extra and options configuration properties.

In the datasource.ts file, uncomment ssl: { rejectUnauthorized: false }.

Warning:

Only use ssl: { rejectUnauthorized: false } in development, for insecure connections.

The DataSource configuration should look similar to the following:

export const AppDataSource = new DataSource({
    type: "cockroachdb",
    url: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
    ssl: { rejectUnauthorized: false }, // For insecure connections only
    synchronize: true,
    logging: false,
    entities: ["src/entity/**/*.ts"],
    migrations: ["src/migration/**/*.ts"],
    subscribers: ["src/subscriber/**/*.ts"],
})

Set the DATABASE_URL environment variable to the connection string provided in the cockroach welcome text:
```
export DATABASE_URL="postgresql://root@localhost:26257/defaultdb?sslmode=disable"
```

Set the DATABASE_URL environment variable to a CockroachDB connection string compatible with TypeORM.
```
export DATABASE_URL="<connection-string>"
```
TypeORM accepts the following format for CockroachDB Standard connection strings:
```
postgresql://<username>:<password>@<host>:<port>/<database>
```

Step 4. Run the code

Start the application:

$ npm start

You should see the following output in your terminal:

Inserting a new account into the database...
Saved a new account.
Printing balances from account 1db0f34a-55e8-42e7-adf1-49e76010b763.
[
  Account { id: '1db0f34a-55e8-42e7-adf1-49e76010b763', balance: 1000 }
]
Inserting a new account into the database...
Saved a new account.
Printing balances from account 4e26653a-3821-48c8-a481-47eb73b3e4cc.
[
  Account { id: '4e26653a-3821-48c8-a481-47eb73b3e4cc', balance: 250 }
]
Transferring 500 from account 1db0f34a-55e8-42e7-adf1-49e76010b763 to account 4e26653a-3821-48c8-a481-47eb73b3e4cc.
Transfer complete.
Printing balances from account 1db0f34a-55e8-42e7-adf1-49e76010b763.
[
  Account { id: '1db0f34a-55e8-42e7-adf1-49e76010b763', balance: 1000 }
]
Printing balances from account 4e26653a-3821-48c8-a481-47eb73b3e4cc.
[
  Account { id: '4e26653a-3821-48c8-a481-47eb73b3e4cc', balance: 250 }
]

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Build a TypeScript App with CockroachDB and TypeORM

Step 1. Start CockroachDB

Choose your installation method

Create a free cluster

Create a SQL user

Get the connection information

Install `ccloud`

Use Homebrew

Download the binary

Run `ccloud quickstart` to create a new cluster, create a SQL user, and retrieve the connection string.

Step 2. Get the code

Step 3. Configure your CockroachDB connection

Step 4. Run the code

What's next?

Build a TypeScript App with CockroachDB and TypeORM

Step 1. Start CockroachDB

Choose your installation method

Create a free cluster

Create a SQL user

Get the connection information

Install ccloud

Use Homebrew

Download the binary

Run ccloud quickstart to create a new cluster, create a SQL user, and retrieve the connection string.

Step 2. Get the code

Step 3. Configure your CockroachDB connection

Step 4. Run the code

What's next?

Install `ccloud`

Run `ccloud quickstart` to create a new cluster, create a SQL user, and retrieve the connection string.