Database Migrations

This page describes database migrations necessary to update existing databases to newer versions of Nominatim.

SQL statements should be executed from the postgres commandline. Execute psql nominatim to enter command line mode.

3.2.0 -> 3.3.0

New database connection string (DSN) format

Previously database connection setting (CONST_Database_DSN in settings/*.php) had the format

• (simple) pgsql://@/nominatim
• (complex) pgsql://johndoe:secret@machine1.domain.com:1234/db1

The new format is

• (simple) pgsql:dbname=nominatim
• (complex) pgsql:dbname=db1;host=machine1.domain.com;port=1234;user=johndoe;password=secret

Natural Earth country boundaries no longer needed as fallback

DROP TABLE country_naturalearthdata;

Finally, update all SQL functions:

./utils/setup.php --create-functions --enable-diff-updates --create-partition-functions

Configurable Address Levels

The new configurable address levels require a new table. Create it with the following command:

./utils/update.php --update-address-levels

3.1.0 -> 3.2.0

New reverse algorithm

The reverse algorithm has changed and requires new indexes. Run the following SQL statements to create the indexes:

CREATE INDEX idx_placex_geometry_reverse_lookupPoint
  ON placex USING gist (geometry)
  WHERE (name is not null or housenumber is not null or rank_address between 26 and 27)
    AND class not in ('railway','tunnel','bridge','man_made')
    AND rank_address >= 26 AND indexed_status = 0 AND linked_place_id is null;
CREATE INDEX idx_placex_geometry_reverse_lookupPolygon
  ON placex USING gist (geometry)
  WHERE St_GeometryType(geometry) in ('ST_Polygon', 'ST_MultiPolygon')
    AND rank_address between 4 and 25 AND type != 'postcode'
    AND name is not null AND indexed_status = 0 AND linked_place_id is null;
CREATE INDEX idx_placex_geometry_reverse_placeNode
  ON placex USING gist (geometry)
  WHERE osm_type = 'N' AND rank_search between 5 and 25
    AND class = 'place' AND type != 'postcode'
    AND name is not null AND indexed_status = 0 AND linked_place_id is null;

You also need to grant the website user access to the country_osm_grid table:

GRANT SELECT ON table country_osm_grid to "www-user";

Replace the www-user with the user name of your website server if necessary.

You can now drop the unused indexes:

DROP INDEX idx_placex_reverse_geometry;

Finally, update all SQL functions:

./utils/setup.php --create-functions --enable-diff-updates --create-partition-functions

3.0.0 -> 3.1.0

Postcode Table

A new separate table for artificially computed postcode centroids was introduced. Migration to the new format is possible but not recommended.

Create postcode table and indexes, running the following SQL statements:

CREATE TABLE location_postcode
  (place_id BIGINT, parent_place_id BIGINT, rank_search SMALLINT,
   rank_address SMALLINT, indexed_status SMALLINT, indexed_date TIMESTAMP,
   country_code varchar(2), postcode TEXT,
   geometry GEOMETRY(Geometry, 4326));
CREATE INDEX idx_postcode_geometry ON location_postcode USING GIST (geometry);
CREATE UNIQUE INDEX idx_postcode_id ON location_postcode USING BTREE (place_id);
CREATE INDEX idx_postcode_postcode ON location_postcode USING BTREE (postcode);
GRANT SELECT ON location_postcode TO "www-data";
drop type if exists nearfeaturecentr cascade;
create type nearfeaturecentr as (
  place_id BIGINT,
  keywords int[],
  rank_address smallint,
  rank_search smallint,
  distance float,
  isguess boolean,
  postcode TEXT,
  centroid GEOMETRY
);

Add postcode column to location_area tables with SQL statement:

ALTER TABLE location_area ADD COLUMN postcode TEXT;

Then reimport the functions:

./utils/setup.php --create-functions --enable-diff-updates --create-partition-functions

Create appropriate triggers with SQL:

CREATE TRIGGER location_postcode_before_update BEFORE UPDATE ON location_postcode
    FOR EACH ROW EXECUTE PROCEDURE postcode_update();

Finally populate the postcode table (will take a while):

./utils/setup.php --calculate-postcodes --index --index-noanalyse

This will create a working database. You may also delete the old artificial postcodes now. Note that this may be expensive and is not absolutely necessary. The following SQL statement will remove them:

DELETE FROM place_addressline a USING placex p
 WHERE a.address_place_id = p.place_id and p.osm_type = 'P';
ALTER TABLE placex DISABLE TRIGGER USER;
DELETE FROM placex WHERE osm_type = 'P';
ALTER TABLE placex ENABLE TRIGGER USER;