SQL Admin API

Redpanda SQL: Administration & Operations

Oxla is a distributed columnar analytical database with a PostgreSQL wire-compatible interface. There is no REST admin API. Administration is performed through three mechanisms: (1) a YAML configuration file loaded at startup, (2) OXLA__ environment-variable overrides, and (3) a ConnectRPC-based HTTP admin service (default port 9090) that currently exposes runtime log-level control. A Prometheus metrics endpoint runs on port 8080.

Clients connect to Oxla via the PostgreSQL wire protocol on port 5432. SQL-level administration (roles, grants, system tables) is covered in the sql skill.

Quickstart

Single-node via Docker (minimal config)

# Run a single Oxla node with local storage and all defaults
docker run --rm -it \
  -p 5432:5432 \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  -p 9090:9090 \
  -e OXLA__LEADER_ELECTION__LEADER_NAME=oxla_node_1 \
  -e OXLA__STORAGE__OXLA_HOME=/oxla/data \
  -e OXLA__LOGGING__LEVEL=INFO \
  778696301129.dkr.ecr.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/oxla-devel:latest

Single-node with S3 storage

docker run --rm -it \
  -p 5432:5432 \
  -e OXLA__LEADER_ELECTION__LEADER_NAME=oxla_node_1 \
  -e OXLA__STORAGE__OXLA_HOME=s3://my-bucket/oxla_home \
  -e OXLA__STORAGE__S3__ENDPOINT=https://s3.amazonaws.com \
  -e AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1 \
  -e AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE \
  -e AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY \
  778696301129.dkr.ecr.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/oxla-devel:latest

Three-node cluster (Docker Compose)

# The reference three-node compose requires AWS credentials (uses `?err` substitution).
# Export them before running:
export AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1
export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=<key>
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=<secret>

docker compose \
  -f tests/blackbox/configurations/three_nodes.yml \
  -f tests/blackbox/configurations/three_nodes_ports.yml \
  up

Override a config value via env var

# YAML path: network.postgresql.port → env var: OXLA__NETWORK__POSTGRESQL__PORT
docker run ... -e OXLA__NETWORK__POSTGRESQL__PORT=5433 ...

# Change log level to DEBUG
docker run ... -e OXLA__LOGGING__LEVEL=DEBUG ...

Mount a custom config file

# Place your config.yml in /path/to/config/ and mount it
docker run --rm -it \
  -p 5432:5432 \
  -v /path/to/config:/oxla/startup_config \
  778696301129.dkr.ecr.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/oxla-devel:latest

Health check and log-level management via the admin API

# Health check (plain HTTP GET; returns "OK" with 200)
curl http://localhost:9090/healthz

# Get current log level (ConnectRPC, JSON encoding)
curl -s -X POST http://localhost:9090/oxla.admin.v1.LoggingService/GetLogLevel \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{}'

# Set log level to DEBUG
curl -s -X POST http://localhost:9090/oxla.admin.v1.LoggingService/SetLogLevel \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"level": "LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG"}'

# Set log level back to INFO
curl -s -X POST http://localhost:9090/oxla.admin.v1.LoggingService/SetLogLevel \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"level": "LOG_LEVEL_INFO"}'

Scrape Prometheus metrics

curl http://localhost:8080/metrics

Connect with psql

psql -h localhost -p 5432 -U oxla -d oxla
# default password: oxla (set by access_control.initial_password)

Configuration Model

Oxla uses a layered configuration system:

1. Compiled defaults (built into the binary)
2. Config file — partial YAML at /oxla/startup_config/config.yml (only fields you specify are applied; missing fields use defaults)
3. Environment variables — OXLA__ prefix, always take precedence over the config file

The YAML path separator in env var names is __ (double underscore). Example:

If no config file is present at startup, Oxla generates one from env-var overrides at /oxla/startup_config/config.yml. To use a specific config file path, set OXLA_CONFIG_FILE=path/to/config.yml. An empty path (OXLA_CONFIG_FILE=) signals Oxla to use compiled defaults only.

Unknown OXLA__ env vars cause a degraded-state warning but do not prevent startup.

Ports

Admin API (ConnectRPC, port 9090)

The admin API is an HTTP server using the ConnectRPC protocol. It accepts both application/proto (binary protobuf) and application/json content types.

URL pattern: POST /<package>.<ServiceName>/<MethodName>

Health check: GET /healthz returns 200 OK with body OK.

Currently implemented service: oxla.admin.v1.LoggingService with two RPCs:

• GetLogLevel — returns the current runtime log level
• SetLogLevel — changes the runtime log level without restart

Log levels (from logging.proto): LOG_LEVEL_NONE, LOG_LEVEL_FATAL, LOG_LEVEL_ERROR, LOG_LEVEL_WARNING, LOG_LEVEL_INFO, LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG, LOG_LEVEL_VERBOSE

The admin API can be TLS-secured independently of the PostgreSQL port. See the Admin gRPC and Runtime reference.

Storage Backends

Set storage.oxla_home (or OXLA__STORAGE__OXLA_HOME) to a path or URI:

For S3, set AWS_DEFAULT_REGION, AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY as standard AWS env vars. For a custom S3-compatible endpoint (e.g., MinIO), also set OXLA__STORAGE__S3__ENDPOINT.

Lakehouse, Streaming & Security Differentiators

Oxla's differentiators in its analytical-database domain are configured through SQL connection objects and cluster config (none require a separate license key — Oxla ships as a single binary):

• Apache Iceberg REST catalogs — CREATE ICEBERG CATALOG name STORAGE conn WITH (uri=..., auth_type='oauth2'|'basic'|'aws_sigv4', ...). Gated by feature_flags.allow_iceberg_queries (default false) for direct SELECT. This is Oxla's analog of Redpanda's Iceberg Topics open-table-format differentiator. See lakehouse-and-streaming.md.
• Transparent Redpanda/Kafka — CREATE REDPANDA CATALOG (or KAFKA) WITH (initial_brokers=..., schema_registry_url=..., ...) and CREATE TABLE catalog=>tbl WITH (topic='...', schema_lookup_policy='LATEST'|'SCHEMA_ID', error_handling_policy='FAIL'|'FILL_NULL'|'DROP_RECORD'). A Kafka catalog can link an Iceberg catalog via USING CATALOG. See lakehouse-and-streaming.md.
• Object-storage connections — CREATE STORAGE name TYPE = S3|GCS|ABS WITH (...). Reusable, credential-bearing connections referenced by Iceberg catalogs. See lakehouse-and-streaming.md.
• OIDC/JWT auth, SCRAM passwords, centralized access control, AES-256-GCM secret encryption (OXLA_ENCRYPTION_KEY). See auth-and-security.md.

Reference Directory

• configuration.md: The YAML config file section by section — network ports, heartbeat, leader election, storage backends, metrics, access control, memory, SSL, OIDC, logging. The OXLA__ env-var override scheme and the public vs internal parameter classification.
• cluster-and-deploy.md: Cluster topology (cluster_name, host_name, leader vs worker nodes, inter-node ports), single-node and multi-node Docker Compose deployment patterns, environment-variable wiring from the reference configurations, and the Ansible playbooks (ansible/devcluster_deploy.yml, ansible/devcluster_deploy_aws.yml) and Terraform module (terraform/devcluster/) for deploying to real servers and EC2.
• admin-grpc-and-runtime.md: The ConnectRPC admin server on port 9090 — LoggingService (GetLogLevel/SetLogLevel), the /healthz endpoint, TLS/mTLS for the admin API, the Prometheus metrics endpoint on port 8080, and memory/OOM controls.
• lakehouse-and-streaming.md: Oxla's lakehouse and streaming integration surfaces — object-storage connections (CREATE STORAGE TYPE S3/GCS/ABS with full per-type option keys), Apache Iceberg REST catalogs (CREATE ICEBERG CATALOG with oauth2/basic/aws_sigv4 auth, TLS options, feature_flags.allow_iceberg_queries), and transparent Redpanda/Kafka integration (CREATE REDPANDA/KAFKA CATALOG, topic-backed tables, schema_lookup_policy/error_handling_policy/struct_mapping_policy/confluent_wire_protocol, and the USING CATALOG Iceberg link). All option keys grounded in src/sqlparser and src/catalog. No separate license key required.
• auth-and-security.md: Authentication and security — access-control modes (access_control.mode), SCRAM-SHA-256 passwords, OIDC/JWT bearer auth (all oidc.* keys), centralized access control (feature_flags.centralized_access_control.*), and AES-256-GCM at-rest encryption of connection secrets via OXLA_ENCRYPTION_KEY (hex, ≤64 chars, cycled to a 256-bit key).

Scripts and Resources

• scripts/set_log_level.sh: Saves the current log level, sets a new one (default: DEBUG), waits for you to press Enter, then restores the original. Usage: ./scripts/set_log_level.sh [LEVEL] [ADMIN_URL]
• resources/docker-compose-local.yml: Self-contained single-node Oxla with local storage — no AWS credentials required. Run with: docker compose -f resources/docker-compose-local.yml up