Configuration

Memgraph has a set of configuration options that can be fine-tuned for specific needs.

The main Memgraph configuration file is available at the /etc/memgraph/memgraph.conf. The file contains a set of default configuration values and key-value pairs that can be modified to suit your specific needs.

Each configuration setting is in the form: --setting-name=value.

You can check the current configuration by using the following query:

SHOW CONFIG;

Changing configuration

The memgraph.conf file is the persistency for configuration. Changing the configuration settings depends on the way you are using Memgraph and the configuration settings you want to change.

Most of the configuration changes need to happen before Memgraph is started. Still, a set of configuration settings can be changed during runtime.

Changing the configuration settings for Memgraph differs if you are using Memgraph with Docker, Docker Compose, or if it was installed on the native Linux.

Pass the configuration flags

The most simple way to change the configuration with Docker is by passing the configuration options within the docker run command. For example, if you want to limit memory usage for the whole instance to 50 MiB and set the log level to TRACE, pass the configuration argument like this.

docker run -p 7687:7687 -p 7444:7444 memgraph/memgraph --memory-limit=50 --log-level=TRACE

Update the configuration file

Another way of updating the default configuration is by updating the configuration file on the running instance, but such action requires restart so the update is applied. Here are the steps to change the default configuration file:

Start Memgraph

Start Memgraph with a docker run command.

Find container ID

Open a new terminal and find the CONTAINER ID of the Memgraph Docker container using the following command:

docker ps

Enter the container

Enter the Docker container with the following command:

docker exec -it -u 0 <CONTAINER ID> bash

Install the text editor of your choice

For example, if you want to use vim run:

apt-get update && apt-get install -y vim

Edit the configuration file

The file is located at /etc/memgraph/memgraph.conf.

Restart the instance

Run the following command:

docker restart <CONTAINER ID>

Provide additional configuration file

To achieve a different configuration on startup, you can also provide the path to the additional configuration file which will override the default one. The file should contain the configuration settings in the form --setting-name=value. Still, if any configuration settings are set as arguments, they will override the settings in the additional configuration file as well. Providing the path to the additional configuration file requires more steps than setting the configuration via arguments. That’s because the file you’re pointing to must be located within the container before the container is running. To provide the additional configuration file, follow these steps:

Create a container

Create a Docker container with the --flag-file argument pointing to the location where you’ll save the additional configuration file. The file must be saved within the container, ideally in the /etc/memgraph folder, where the default configuration file is stored.

docker create --name memgraph_container -p 7687:7687 -p 7444:7444 memgraph/memgraph --flag-file=/etc/memgraph/my.conf

Besides the --flag-file flag, you can set the environment variable MEMGRAPH_CONFIG to achieve the same.

Copy the additional configuration file

docker cp my.conf memgraph_container:/etc/memgraph/my.conf

Start the container

docker start memgraph_container

Pass the configuration flags

The most simple way to change the configuration with Docker Compose is by passing the configuration options within the command line in the docker-compose.yml file.

For example, if you want to limit memory usage for the whole instance to 50 MiB and set the log level to TRACE, pass the configuration argument like this.

services:
  memgraph:
    image: "memgraph/memgraph"
    ports:
      - "7687:7687"
      - "7444:7444"
    volumes:
      - mg_lib:/var/lib/memgraph
      - mg_log:/var/log/memgraph
    command: ["--log-level=TRACE", "--memory-limit=50"]
volumes:
  mg_lib:
  mg_log:
  mg_etc:

Update the configuration file

Start Memgraph

Start Memgraph with a docker-compose up command.

Find container ID

Open a new terminal and find the CONTAINER ID of the Memgraph Docker container using the following command:

docker ps

Enter the container

Enter the Docker container with the following command:

docker exec -it -u 0 <CONTAINER ID> bash

Install the text editor of your choice

For example, if you want to use vim run:

apt-get update && apt-get install -y vim

Edit the configuration file

The file is located at /etc/memgraph/memgraph.conf.

Restart the instance

Once you’ve added the environment variables, restart the instance using Docker Compose. Place yourself in the terminal in the folder containing the docker-compose.yml file and run the following command:

docker-compose restart

This will restart the containers with the updated environment variables.

Provide additional configuration file

Create a container

In your Docker Compose file, Add the --flag-file argument pointing to the location where you’ll save the additional configuration file. The file must be saved within the container, ideally in the /etc/memgraph folder, where the default configuration file is stored.

docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml create

Besides the --flag-file flag, you can set the environment variable MEMGRAPH_CONFIG to achieve the same.

Find container ID

Open a new terminal and find the CONTAINER_ID of the Memgraph Docker container using the following command:

docker ps -a

Copy the additional configuration file

docker cp my.conf <CONTAINER_ID>:/etc/memgraph/my.conf

Start the container

docker-compose up

Update the configuration file

Once Memgraph is installed on your Linux machine, check the status with:

systemctl status memgraph

If the instance is in a running state, stop the Memgraph instance by running the following command:

sudo systemctl stop memgraph

The configuration file is available at /etc/memgraph/memgraph.conf. Open the configuration file with your favorite text editor. Modify it, save the changes, and start the instance by running the following command:

sudo systemctl start memgraph

Provide additional configuration file

To achieve a different configuration on startup, you can also provide the path to the additional configuration file which will override the default one. The file should contain the configuration settings in the form --setting-name=value. To provide the path to the additional configuration file, set the environment variable MEMGRAPH_CONFIG to the correct path.

Change configuration during runtime

Memgraph contains settings that can be modified during runtime using a Cypher query. Some runtime settings are persisted between multiple runs, while others will fallback to the value of the command-line argument.

Setting name	Description	Persistent between runs
organization.name	Name of the organization using the instance of Memgraph (used for verifying the license key).	yes
enterprise.license	License key for Memgraph Enterprise.	yes
server.name	Bolt server name.	yes
query.timeout	Maximum allowed query execution time. Value of 0 means no limit.	yes
log.level	Minimum log level. Allowed values: TRACE, DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, CRITICAL.	no
log.to_stderr	Log messages go to `stderr` in addition to `logfiles`.	no
cartesian-product-enabled	Enforces cartesian product operator during query matching.	no
hops_limit_partial_results	If set to `true`, partial results are returned when the hops limit is reached. If set to `false`, an exception is thrown when the hops limit is reached. The default value is `true`.	yes
timezone	IANA timezone identifier string setting the instance’s timezone.	yes
storage.snapshot.interval	Define periodic snapshot schedule via cron expression (crontab format, an Enterprise feature) or as a period in seconds. Set to empty string to disable.	no

All settings can be fetched by calling the following query:

SHOW DATABASE SETTINGS;

To check the value of a single setting, you can use a slightly different query:

SHOW DATABASE SETTING "setting.name";

If you want to change a value for a specific setting, following query should be used:

SET DATABASE SETTING "setting.name" TO "some-value";

Multitenancy and configuration

If you are using a multi-tenant architecture, all isolated databases share identical configurations. At the moment, there is no way to specify a per-database configuration.

List of configuration flags

Audit log

This section contains the list of flags that are used to configure the audit logging.

Flag	Description
`--audit-enabled`	Enables audit logging.
`--audit-buffer-size`	Controls the in-memory buffer size used for audit logs.
`--audit-buffer-flush-interval-ms`	Controls the time interval (in milliseconds) used for flushing the in-memory buffer to disk.

Auth module

This section contains the list of flags that are used to configure the external auth module authentication and authorization mechanisms used by Memgraph.

Flag	Description
`--auth-module-mappings`	Associates auth schemes to external modules. A mapping is structured as follows: `<scheme>:<absolute path to module>` and individual entries are separated with `;`. If the mapping contains whitespace, enclose the flag value with quotation marks.
`--auth-module-executable`	[DEPRECATED] Path to the executable that should be used for user authentication/authorization. Replaced by `--auth-module-mappings=basic` from Memgraph 2.18.
`--auth-module-timeout-ms`	Specifies the maximum time that Memgraph will wait for a response from the external auth module.
`--auth-password-permit-null`	Can be set to false to disable null passwords.
`--auth-password-strength-regex`	The regular expression that should be used to match the entire entered password to ensure its strength. The syntax for regular expressions is derived from a modified version of the ECMAScript regular expression grammar.
`--auth-user-or-role-regex`	Set to the regular expression that each user or role name must fulfill. The syntax for regular expressions is derived from a modified version of the ECMAScript regular expression grammar.

Bolt

This section contains the list of flags that are used to configure the Bolt protocol used by Memgraph.

Flag	Description	Type
`--bolt-address=0.0.0.0`	IP address on which the Bolt server should listen.	`[string]`
`--bolt-cert-file`	Certificate file which should be used for the Bolt server.	`[string]`
`--bolt-key-file`	Key file which should be used for the Bolt server.	`[string]`
`--bolt-num-workers`	Number of workers used by the Bolt server. By default, this will be the number of processing units available on the machine.	`[int32]`
`--bolt-port=7687`	Port on which the Bolt server should listen.	`[int32]`
`--bolt-server-name-for-init=Neo4j/v5.11.0 compatible graph database server - Memgraph`	Server name which the database should send to the client in the Bolt INIT message.	`[string]`
`--bolt-session-inactivity-timeout=1800`	Time in seconds after which inactive Bolt sessions will be closed.	`[int32]`

Memgraph does not limit the maximum amount of simultaneous sessions. Transactions within all open sessions are served with a limited number of Bolt workers simultaneously.

Experimental features

This section contains the list of flags that are used to configure experimental features in Memgraph.

Flag	Description
`--experimental-enabled`	Enables experimental capabilities within Memgraph. Currently, `text-search` is allowed value.

High availability

This section contains the list of flags that are used to configure highly available cluster in Memgraph.

Flag	Description	Type
`--coordinator-id`	Raft server id on coordinator instance.	`[int32]`
`--coordinator-port`	Raft server’s port on coordinator instance.	`[uint32]`
`--management-port`	Port on which replication instances receive messages from coordinator .	`[uint32]`
`--instance-health-check-frequency-sec=1`	The interval between two health checks that coordinator does on replication instances.	`[uint32]`
`—instance-down-timeout-sec=5	Number of seconds that need to pass before replication instance is considered down. Must be greater or equal to the `--instance-health-check-frequency-sec`.	`[uint32]`
`--nuraft-log-file`	Path to the file where NuRaft logs are saved.	`[string]`
`--coordinator-hostname`	Coordinator’s instance hostname. Used only in `SHOW INSTANCES` query.	`[string]`

Query

This section contains the list of flags that are used to configure query execution in Memgraph.

Flag	Description	Type
`--cartesian-product-enabled=true`	Enforces whether cartesian product matching is going to be used in the plans.	`[bool]`
`--query-callable-mappings-path=/etc/memgraph/apoc_compatibility_mappings.json`	Path to the JSON file that contains possible alias mappings for query procedures in the form of key-value pairs.	`[string]`
`--query-cost-planner=true`	Use the cost-estimating query planner. When enabled (`true`), Memgraph generates multiple query plans, selecting the one with the lowest cost. If disabled (`false`), it creates a single plan that is executed.	`[bool]`
`--query-execution-timeout-sec=600`	Maximum allowed query execution time. Queries exceeding this limit will be aborted. Value of 0 means no limit.	`[uint64]`
`--query-max-plans=1000`	Maximum number of generated plans for a query.	`[uint64]`
`--query-modules-directory=/usr/lib/memgraph/query_modules`	Directory where modules with custom query procedures are stored. NOTE: Multiple comma-separated directories can be defined.	`[string]`
`--query-plan-cache-max-size=1000`	Maximum number of query plans to cache.	`[int32]`
`--query-vertex-count-to-expand-existing=10`	Maximum count of indexed vertices which provoke indexed lookup and then expand to existing, instead of a regular expand. Default is 10, to turn off use -1.	`[int64]`
`--query-log-directory=/var/log/memgraph/session_trace`	Location to store log files for session tracing.	`[string]`

Storage

This section contains the list of flags that are used to configure storage usage in Memgraph.

Flag	Description	Type
`--storage-delta-on-identical-property-update=true`	Controls whether a delta object will be created if a property is updated with the same value.	`[bool]`
`--storage-gc-cycle-sec=30`	Storage garbage collector interval (in seconds).	`[uint64]`
`--storage-python-gc-cycle-sec=180`	Interval for manual complete garbage collection in Python (in seconds).	`[uint64]`
`--storage-items-per-batch=1000000`	The number of edges and vertices stored in a batch in a snapshot file.	`[uint64]`
`--storage-parallel-schema-recovery=false`	Controls whether the indices and constraints creation can be done in a multithreaded fashion during recovery.	`[bool]`
`--storage-properties-on-edges=true`	Controls whether edges have properties.	`[bool]`
`--storage-recovery-thread-count`	The number of threads used to recover persisted data from disk. Defaults to using system’s maximum thread count.	`[uint64]`
`--storage-snapshot-interval-sec=300`	Storage snapshot creation interval (in seconds). Set to 0 to disable periodic snapshot creation.	`[uint64]`
`--storage-snapshot-interval="300`”	Define periodic snapshot schedule via cron expression or as a period in seconds. Set to empty string to disable.	`[string]`
`--storage-snapshot-on-exit=true`	Controls whether the storage creates another snapshot on exit.	`[bool]`
`--storage-snapshot-retention-count=3`	The number of snapshots that should always be kept.	`[uint64]`
`--storage-parallel-snapshot-creation=false`	Controls whether the snapshot creation can be done in a multi-threaded fashion.	`[bool]`
`--storage-snapshot-thread-count`	The number of threads used to create snapshots. Defaults to using system’s maximum thread count.	`[uint64]`
`--storage-wal-enabled=true`	Controls whether the storage uses write-ahead-logging. To enable WAL, periodic snapshots must be enabled.	`[bool]`
`--storage-wal-file-flush-every-n-tx=100000`	Issue a ‘fsync’ call after this amount of transactions are written to the WAL file. Set to 1 for fully synchronous operation.	`[uint64]`
`--storage-wal-file-size-kib=20480`	Minimum file size of each WAL file.	`[uint64]`
`--storage-mode=IN_MEMORY_TRANSACTIONAL`	The storage mode Memgraph will run on startup. Can be IN_MEMORY_TRANSACTIONAL, IN_MEMORY_ANALYTICAL or ON_DISK_TRANSACTIONAL.	`[string]`
`--storage-enable-schema-metadata=false`	Facilitates the utilization of a specialized cache designed to store specific metadata related to the database.	`[bool]`
`--storage-enable-edges-metadata=false`	Utilizes additional memory to store metadata related to edges. This metadata is used to speed up id based lookups on edges.	`[bool]`
`--storage-automatic-label-index-creation-enabled=false`	Enables automatic creation of indices on labels. Only usable in IN_MEMORY_TRANSACTIONAL mode.	`[bool]`
`--storage-automatic-edge-type-index-creation-enabled=false`	Enables automatic creation of indices on edge types. Only usable in IN_MEMORY_TRANSACTIONAL mode.	`[bool]`
`--storage-property-store-compression-enabled=false`	Controls whether the properties should be compressed in the storage.	`[bool]`
`--storage-property-store-compression-level=mid`	Controls property store compression level. Allowed values: low, mid, high	`[string]`
`--storage-access-timeout-sec=1`	Storage access timeout in seconds. Used to fine-tune the responsiveness and guard against queries indefinitely waiting.	`[uint64]`

Streams

This section contains the list of flags that are used to configure stream connections in Memgraph.

Flag	Description	Type
`--kafka-bootstrap-servers`	List of Kafka brokers as a comma separated list of broker `host` or `host:port`.	`[string]`
`--pulsar-service-url`	The service URL that will allow Memgraph to locate the Pulsar cluster.	`[string]`
`--stream-transaction-conflict-retries=30`	Number of times to retry a conflicting transaction of a stream.	`[uint32]`
`--stream-transaction-retry-interval=500`	The interval to wait (measured in milliseconds) before retrying to execute again a conflicting transaction.	`[uint32]`

Other

This section contains the list of all other relevant flags used within Memgraph.

Flag	Description	Type
`--allow-load-csv=true`	Controls whether LOAD CSV clause is allowed in queries.	`[bool]`
`--also-log-to-stderr=false`	Log messages go to stderr in addition to logfiles.	`[bool]`
`--data-directory=/var/lib/memgraph`	Path to directory in which to save all permanent data.	`[string]`
`--data-recovery-on-startup=true`	Facilitates recovery of one or more individual databases and their contents during startup. Replaces `--storage-recover-on-startup`	`[bool]`
`--debug-query-plans=false`	Enable DEBUG logging of potential query plans.	`[string]`
`--delta-chain-cache-threshold=128`	The minimum number of deltas worth caching when rebuilding a certain object’s state. Useful when executing parallel transactions dependant on changes of a frequently changed graph object, to lower CPU usage. Must be a positive non-zero integer.	`[uint64]`
`--flag-file`	Path to the additional configuration file, overrides the default configuration settings.	`[string]`
`--help`	Show help on all flags and exit. The default values is `false`.	`[bool]`
`--help-xml`	Produce an XML version of help and exit. The default values is `false`.	`[bool]`
`--init-file`	Path to the CYPHERL file which contains queries that need to be executed before the Bolt server starts, such as creating users.	`[string]`
`--init-data-file`	Path to the CYPHERL file, which contains queries that need to be executed after the Bolt server starts.	`[string]`
`--isolation-level=SNAPSHOT_ISOLATION`	Isolation level used for the transactions. Allowed values: SNAPSHOT_ISOLATION, READ_COMMITTED, READ_UNCOMMITTED.	`[string]`
`--log-file=/var/log/memgraph/memgraph.log`	Path to where the log should be stored. If set to an empty string (`--log-file=`), no logs will be saved.	`[string]`
`--log-level=WARNING`	Minimum log level. Allowed values: TRACE, DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, CRITICAL.	`[string]`
`--memory-limit=0`	Total memory limit in MiB. Set to 0 to use the default values which are 100% of the physical memory if the swap is enabled and 90% of the physical memory otherwise.	`[uint64]`
`--metrics-address`	Host for HTTP server for exposing metrics.	`[string]`
`--metrics-port`	Port for HTTP server for exposing metrics.	`[uint64]`
`--memory-warning-threshold=1024`	Memory warning threshold, in MB. If Memgraph detects there is less available RAM it will log a warning. Set to 0 to disable.	`[uint64]`
`--monitoring-address="0.0.0.0"`	IP address where the Memgraph’s monitoring WebSocket server should listen.	`[string]`
`--monitoring-port=7444`	Port on which the Memgraph’s monitoring WebSocket server should listen.	`[int32]`
`--password-encryption-algorithm=bcrypt`	Algorithm used for password encryption. Defaults to BCrypt. Allowed values: `bcrypt`, `sha256`, `sha256-multiple` (SHA256 with multiple iterations)	`[string]`
`--replication-replica-check-frequency-sec`	The time duration in seconds between two replica checks/pings. If < 1, replicas will not be checked at all and the replica will never be recovered. The MAIN instance allocates a new thread for each REPLICA.	`[uint64]`
`--replication-restore-state-on-startup=true`	Set to `true` when initializing an instance to restore the replication role and configuration upon restart.	`[bool]`
`--schema-info-enabled=false`	Set to `true` to enable run-time schema info tracking.	`[bool]`
`--telemetry-enabled=true`	Set to true to enable telemetry. We collect information about the running system (CPU and memory information), information about the database runtime (vertex and edge counts and resource usage), and aggregated statistics about some features of the database (e.g. how many times a feature is used) to allow for an easier improvement of the product.	`[bool]`

Environment variables

This section contains the list of environment variables that can be used to configure Memgraph.

Before the running of Memgraph, you can set the following environment variables:

Variable	Description	Type
MEMGRAPH_USER	Specifies the username for connecting to Memgraph. If the user does not exist, a new one is created with this username. Manual entry of credentials is always necessary when accessing Memgraph using Memgraph Lab.	`[string]`
MEMGRAPH_PASSWORD	Specifies the password for the user. If creating a new user, this password is assigned. For existing users, this setting does not change the password. Manual entry of credentials is always necessary when accessing Memgraph using Memgraph Lab.	`[string]`
MEMGRAPH_PASSFILE	Path to the file that contains the username and password for creating a user. Data in the file should be in the format `username:password`. If your username or password contains `:`, add `\` before it, for example, `us\:ername:password`.	`[string]`
MEMGRAPH_CONFIG	Path to the additional configuration file.	`[string]`
MEMGRAPH_MANAGEMENT_PORT	Port on which data instance management servers or the coordinator management server will be started.	`[int]`
MEMGRAPH_COORDINATOR_PORT	Port on which Raft servers will be started.	`[int]`
MEMGRAPH_COORDINATOR_ID	Unique ID of the Raft server.	`[int]`
MEMGRAPH_NURAFT_LOG_FILE	Path to the file where NuRaft logs are saved.	`[string]`
MEMGRAPH_COORDINATOR_HOSTNAME	Instance’s hostname. Used as output of the `SHOW INSTANCES` query.	`[string]`
MEMGRAPH_HA_CLUSTER_INIT_QUERIES	Path to the file with queries to initialize the HA cluster.	`[string]`
MEMGRAPH_BOLT_PORT	Bolt port used for Bolt server.	`[int]`
MEMGRAPH_EXPERIMENTAL_ENABLED	List of experimental features which the user wants to use.	`[string]`
MEMGRAPH_ENTERPRISE_LICENSE	Memgraph enterprise license key.	`[string]`
MEMGRAPH_ORGANIZATION_NAME	Organization name to which Memgraph license key was issued.	`[string]`

In order to apply the environment variables with Memgraph, you can follow the steps below:

To set the environment variable when running Memgraph with Docker, use the following syntax:

docker run -p 7687:7687 -p 7444:7444 -e MEMGRAPH_USER=newUser -e MEMGRAPH_PASSWORD=pass memgraph/memgraph

The above command will start Memgraph in Docker container and create a user with username newUser and password pass.

In order to apply the environment variables in when running it with Docker Compose, add environment variables in your docker-compose.yml file:

    services:
      memgraph:
        image: "memgraph/memgraph"
        ports:
          - "7687:7687"
          - "7444:7444"
        volumes:
          - mg_lib:/var/lib/memgraph
          - mg_log:/var/log/memgraph
        command: ["--log-level=TRACE"]
        enviroment:
          - MEMGRAPH_USER=memgraph
          - MEMGRAPH_PASSWORD=memgraph
    volumes:
      mg_lib:
      mg_log:
      mg_etc:

Once you’ve added the environment variables, restart the instance using Docker Compose. First, bring the services down. Place yourself in the terminal in the folder containing the docker-compose.yml file and run the following command:

docker-compose down

Then bring them back up:

docker-compose up -d

This will restart the containers with the updated environment variables.

In order to apply the environment variables in Memgraph, open a service file in your favorite text editor and add the following lines:

    [Service]
    Environment="MEMGRAPH_USER=memgraph"
    Environment="MEMGRAPH_PASSWORD=memgraph"

The service file should be located at /lib/systemd/system/memgraph.service.

After you have added the environment variables, reload the systemd:

systemctl daemon-reload

After that you can restart or start the Memgraph instance:

systemctl start memgraph

The enviroment variables will be applied to the Memgraph instance, and user will be created.

Use `init` flags with Docker

With init-file and init-data-file configuration flags, you can execute queries from a CYPHERL file that need to be executed before or immediately after the Bolt server starts. The CYPHERL file the init-file flag points to is usually used to create users and set their passwords allowing only authorized users to access the data in the first run. The CYPHERL file the init-data-file points to is usually used to populate the database.

If you will run Memgraph with Docker, make sure that the init-file and init-data-file configuration flags are referring to the files inside the container before Memgraph starts. Files can’t be directly copied into a container before it’s started because the filesystem of the container doesn’t exist until it’s actually running. However, you can tackle this by using a Dockerfile.

In this guide you will learn how to:

Use the init-file flag with Docker
Use the init-data-file flag with Docker

💡

If an exception occurs during the execution of init script the queries will continue with execution.

Use the `init-file` flag with Docker

Create all necessary files

First, create a local directory called my_init_test with auth.cypherl and Dockerfile inside it.

Below is the content of the auth.cypherl file:

CREATE USER memgraph1 IDENTIFIED BY '1234';

The Dockerfile should be defined like this:

FROM memgraph/memgraph:latest
 
USER root
 
COPY auth.cypherl /usr/lib/memgraph/auth.cypherl
 
USER memgraph

The above Dockerfile builds an image based on memgraph/memgraph:latest image. For other images, check Memgraph’s Docker Hub. Then, it switches to the user root to be able to copy the local file to the container where Memgraph will be run. Due to the permissions set, it is recommended to copy it to /usr/lib/memgraph/ or any subfolder within that folder. In the end, the user is switched back to memgraph.

Build the Docker image

Open the terminal, place yourself in the my_init_test directory and build the image called my_image with the following command:

docker build -t my_image .

Run the Docker image

Once you’ve built the Docker image, you can run it with the init-file flag set to the appropriate value:

docker run -it -p 7687:7687 -p 7444:7444 my_image --init-file=/usr/lib/memgraph/auth.cypherl

To check all available flags in Memgraph, refer to the configuration reference guide.

Connect to Memgraph

To verify that everything is set up correctly, run Memgraph Lab and connect to Memgraph. You’ll notice that you have to connect manually and input the correct username and password. This happened because auth.cypherl file was run before the Bolt server started. You can also run the SHOW CONFIG query:

Notice how the current value of init_file is updated with the path to the CYPHERL file inside the container.

Use the `init-data-file` flag with Docker

Create all necessary files

First, create a local directory called my_init_test with data.cypherl and Dockerfile inside it.

Below is the content of the data.cypherl file:

CREATE INDEX ON :__mg_vertex__(__mg_id__);
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`Person` {__mg_id__: 0, `name`: "Peter"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`Team` {__mg_id__: 1, `name`: "Engineering"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`Repository` {__mg_id__: 2, `name`: "Memgraph"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`Repository` {__mg_id__: 3, `name`: "MAGE"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`Repository` {__mg_id__: 4, `name`: "GQLAlchemy"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`Company` {__mg_id__: 5, `name`: "Memgraph"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`File` {__mg_id__: 6, `name`: "welcome_to_engineering.txt"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`Storage` {__mg_id__: 7, `name`: "Google Drive"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`Storage` {__mg_id__: 8, `name`: "Notion"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`File` {__mg_id__: 9, `name`: "welcome_to_memgraph.txt"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`Person` {__mg_id__: 10, `name`: "Carl"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`Folder` {__mg_id__: 11, `name`: "engineering_folder"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`Person` {__mg_id__: 12, `name`: "Anna"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`Folder` {__mg_id__: 13, `name`: "operations_folder"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`Team` {__mg_id__: 14, `name`: "Operations"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`File` {__mg_id__: 15, `name`: "operations101.txt"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`File` {__mg_id__: 16, `name`: "expenses2022.csv"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`File` {__mg_id__: 17, `name`: "salaries2022.csv"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`File` {__mg_id__: 18, `name`: "engineering101.txt"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`File` {__mg_id__: 19, `name`: "working_with_github.txt"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`File` {__mg_id__: 20, `name`: "working_with_notion.txt"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`Team` {__mg_id__: 21, `name`: "Marketing"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`Person` {__mg_id__: 22, `name`: "Julie"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`Account` {__mg_id__: 23, `name`: "Facebook"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`Account` {__mg_id__: 24, `name`: "LinkedIn"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`Account` {__mg_id__: 25, `name`: "HackerNews"});
CREATE (:__mg_vertex__:`File` {__mg_id__: 26, `name`: "welcome_to_marketing.txt"});
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 0 AND v.__mg_id__ = 1 CREATE (u)-[:`IS_PART_OF`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 0 AND v.__mg_id__ = 5 CREATE (u)-[:`IS_PART_OF`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 0 AND v.__mg_id__ = 9 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_ACCESS_TO`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 0 AND v.__mg_id__ = 14 CREATE (u)-[:`IS_PART_OF`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 1 AND v.__mg_id__ = 2 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_ACCESS_TO`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 1 AND v.__mg_id__ = 3 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_ACCESS_TO`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 1 AND v.__mg_id__ = 4 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_ACCESS_TO`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 1 AND v.__mg_id__ = 6 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_ACCESS_TO`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 1 AND v.__mg_id__ = 11 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_ACCESS_TO`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 5 AND v.__mg_id__ = 1 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_TEAM`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 5 AND v.__mg_id__ = 21 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_TEAM`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 5 AND v.__mg_id__ = 14 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_TEAM`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 6 AND v.__mg_id__ = 7 CREATE (u)-[:`IS_STORED_IN`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 6 AND v.__mg_id__ = 8 CREATE (u)-[:`IS_STORED_IN`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 9 AND v.__mg_id__ = 12 CREATE (u)-[:`CREATED_BY`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 10 AND v.__mg_id__ = 1 CREATE (u)-[:`IS_PART_OF`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 10 AND v.__mg_id__ = 5 CREATE (u)-[:`IS_PART_OF`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 10 AND v.__mg_id__ = 9 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_ACCESS_TO`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 11 AND v.__mg_id__ = 7 CREATE (u)-[:`IS_STORED_IN`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 11 AND v.__mg_id__ = 18 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_ACCESS_TO`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 11 AND v.__mg_id__ = 19 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_ACCESS_TO`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 11 AND v.__mg_id__ = 20 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_ACCESS_TO`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 12 AND v.__mg_id__ = 14 CREATE (u)-[:`IS_PART_OF`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 13 AND v.__mg_id__ = 15 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_ACCESS_TO`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 13 AND v.__mg_id__ = 16 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_ACCESS_TO`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 13 AND v.__mg_id__ = 17 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_ACCESS_TO`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 13 AND v.__mg_id__ = 7 CREATE (u)-[:`IS_STORED_IN`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 14 AND v.__mg_id__ = 13 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_ACCESS_TO`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 21 AND v.__mg_id__ = 23 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_ACCESS_TO`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 21 AND v.__mg_id__ = 24 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_ACCESS_TO`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 21 AND v.__mg_id__ = 25 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_ACCESS_TO`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 21 AND v.__mg_id__ = 26 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_ACCESS_TO`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 22 AND v.__mg_id__ = 21 CREATE (u)-[:`IS_PART_OF`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 22 AND v.__mg_id__ = 5 CREATE (u)-[:`IS_PART_OF`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 22 AND v.__mg_id__ = 9 CREATE (u)-[:`HAS_ACCESS_TO`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 26 AND v.__mg_id__ = 7 CREATE (u)-[:`IS_STORED_IN`]->(v);
MATCH (u:__mg_vertex__), (v:__mg_vertex__) WHERE u.__mg_id__ = 26 AND v.__mg_id__ = 8 CREATE (u)-[:`IS_STORED_IN`]->(v);
DROP INDEX ON :__mg_vertex__(__mg_id__);
MATCH (u) REMOVE u:__mg_vertex__, u.__mg_id__;

These Cypher queries will create the Identity and access management dataset available in Memgraph Lab. You can get this CYPHERL file by exporting the dataset from the Memgraph Lab.

The Dockerfile should be defined like this:

FROM memgraph/memgraph:latest
 
USER root
 
COPY data.cypherl /usr/lib/memgraph/data.cypherl
 
USER memgraph

Build the Docker image

Open the terminal, place yourself in the my_init_test directory and build the image called my_image with the following command:

docker build -t my_image .

Run the Docker image

Once you’ve built the Docker image, you can run it with the init-data-file flag set to the appropriate value:

docker run -it -p 7687:7687 -p 7444:7444 my_image --init-data-file=/usr/lib/memgraph/data.cypherl

Connect to Memgraph

To verify that everything is set up correctly, run Memgraph Lab, connect to Memgraph, and run the SHOW CONFIG query:

Notice how the database is already populated and the current value of init_data_file is updated with the path to the CYPHERL file inside the container.

Backup and restore Debugging

Configuration

Changing configuration

Pass the configuration flags

Update the configuration file

Start Memgraph

Find container ID

Enter the container

Install the text editor of your choice

Edit the configuration file

Restart the instance

Provide additional configuration file

Create a container

Copy the additional configuration file

Start the container

Pass the configuration flags

Update the configuration file

Start Memgraph

Find container ID

Enter the container

Install the text editor of your choice

Edit the configuration file

Restart the instance

Provide additional configuration file

Create a container

Find container ID

Copy the additional configuration file

Start the container

Update the configuration file

Provide additional configuration file

Change configuration during runtime

Multitenancy and configuration

List of configuration flags

Audit log

Auth module

Bolt

Experimental features

High availability

Query

Storage

Streams

Other

Environment variables

Use init flags with Docker

Use the init-file flag with Docker

Create all necessary files

Build the Docker image

Run the Docker image

Connect to Memgraph

Use the init-data-file flag with Docker

Create all necessary files

Build the Docker image

Run the Docker image

Connect to Memgraph

Use `init` flags with Docker

Use the `init-file` flag with Docker

Use the `init-data-file` flag with Docker