Linux Deployments

This page describes in detail how you can achieve the following tasks:

• Use an external PostgreSQL server instead of the built-in database
• Configure HTTPS communication for the web server
• Install MetaDefender Storage Security on a different disk

Use an external database

Production deployments of MetaDefender Storage Security should ensure high availability and/or load-balancing at the database level by using an external PostgreSQL (or any compatible service) instead of the built-in database that is included with the basic installation.

How to setup an external PostgreSQL in MetaDefender Storage Security

The following steps should be performed before initializing MetaDefender Storage Security for the first time (i.e before the mdss -u init command from the Installation Methods).

1. Ensure that your external PostgreSQL is properly configured and ready to accept remote connections

Note: it is recommended to setup access control for your external database as well as taking the necessary network security measures to ensure that only the server running MetaDefender Storage Security can access the database.

2. Locate the configuration file created by the installer in /etc/mdss/customer.env
3. Add the following configuration line:

POSTGRES_USER=user

POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password

POSTGRES_DB=dbName

POSTGRESQL_URL=Host=postgres;Port=5432;Username=user;Password=password;Database=dbName

4. Please check the connection string documentation for more information. Make sure you add "mdss" as the target database as shown in the example above.
5. Save the file.
6. Initialize MetaDefender Storage Security by running the following command:

sudo mdss -u init

7. Return to the steps in Installation Methods and continue the installation.

PostgreSQL SSL Configuration

To enable SSL/TLS certificate validation for the PostgreSQL connection, update the POSTGRESQL_URL variable in the customer.env file.

File Location

By default, the customer.env file is located at:

C:\Program Files\OPSWAT\MetaDefender Storage Security\config

The installer creates this file automatically.

Configuring POSTGRESQL_URL

The POSTGRESQL_URL variable can include additional parameters for SSL/TLS. By default SSL Mode is set to "prefer".

POSTGRESQL_URL=Host=postgres;Port=5432;Username=user;Password=password;Database=dbName;SSL Mode=VerifyFull;Root Certificate=<path to root CA certificate>

SSL Mode Options

• prefer (default): Attempts to connect using SSL. If SSL fails, falls back to unencrypted. No certificate validation.

• require: Requires SSL encryption. Certificate validation is skipped — allows self-signed, expired, or otherwise invalid certifications.

• verify-full: Requires SSL and performs full certificate validation, including hostname match and trusted CA.

Important Notes

• If certificate validation is required, use verify-full and provide a valid CA-signed certificate via the Root Certificate parameter.

• If using a self-signed or otherwise invalid certificate, use require, which skips validation but still encrypts the connection.

• The Root Certificate must point to the CA file if using verify-ca or verify-full.

How to modify it

Set the parameter in your customer.env file. Please find here more details on how to update the configuration file.

PostgreSQL advanced setup

For special use cases you may need to backup your database or restore it. MetaDefender Storage Security allows you to do this by using the following commands

sudo mdss -u export_db

Running this command will create a dump file in /etc/mdss/db_[...].tar this file can be use afterwards as a restore file using the import command:

sudo mdss -u import_db

Configure HTTPS communication for the web server

Production deployments should ensure that any HTTP traffic between clients (browsers or other API client) and MetaDefender Storage Security is encrypted using HTTPS.

Click here for detailed instructions on how to setup a certificate for NGINX web server.

Install MetaDefender Storage Security on a different disk

The following steps should be performed before initializing MetaDefender Storage Security for the first time (i.e before the mdss -u init command from the Linux Installation).

1. First make sure Docker is not running and the default directory is clean
2. Remove existing images and volumes

sudo docker rm -f $(docker ps -aq); docker rmi -f $(docker images -q)

3. Stop Docker

sudo systemctl stop docker

4. Remove the default Docker location

sudo rm -rf /var/lib/docker

5. Create a new empty directory in the default location

sudo mkdir /var/lib/docker

6. Create a new empty directory on the new partition

sudo mkdir /<PATH_TO_NEW_LOCATION>

7. Mount the new location in the default directory

sudo mount --rbind //<PATH_TO_NEW_LOCATION> /var/lib/docker

8. Start back the docker service

sudo systemctl start docker

9. Initialize MetaDefender Storage Security by running the following command:

sudo mdss -u init