Cleanest way to implement central-webhook

[JoacoG]

Hello. I just started learning about ODK. I have an almost "vanilla" configuration. I don't use a custom PostgreSQL database, just the default one provided by ODK.

The project implementation prior v1.0.0 did not require a custom database, but now I think I need to implement one to install the psql-http extension.

The thing is, the helper image provided in this repo is PostgreSQL 18, but the ODK docs say they only use and test PostgreeSQL 14, even if this version is not strictly required.

I don't know much about databases or which problems could arise from using PostgreSQL 18, so I'm being extremely cautious.

Do you recommend just using the helper image provided or should I create my own custom image?

[spwoodcock]

Hey, the docs could be a but clearer on this, sorry about that 😃

I made a pre-built image from Postgres 14 through to 18 available:

• ghcr.io/hotosm/postgres:14-http
• ghcr.io/hotosm/postgres:15-http
• ...
• ghcr.io/hotosm/postgres:18-http

It should be possible to use ghcr.io/hotosm/postgres:14-http in your case.

Definitely don't use a Postgres 18 container on top of an existing Postgres 14 database, as it wont work (I should add a warning for this). In order to do that, versions have to be upgraded incrementally (but ODK handles that for you with their upgrade notes over time, so dont worry about doing it yourself).

All that said, I provide an compose.webhook.yaml file that should make things simple. We need to have better documentation for that in the README. From the official central repo, it should be something like:

docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f ../central-webhook/compose.webhook.yaml up -d

This will run the standard setup, but override to add the webhook service, and change the database container image.

[spwoodcock]

Should be able to! I just havent had time to prod test any of the changes from 1.0.0, instead relying on the automated tests only

[JoacoG]

I tested in v2025.3.1 and doing that does not work. Trigger is not created, I get this error in PostgreSQL logs.

I cannot test in latest version of ODK (v2025.4.0) right now.

[spwoodcock]

Ah right, that makes sense it would fail to modify the database if the Central database is not initialised (on a new server install).

We need to wait until the database migrations complete, before the webhook is started.

I quickly added c48a505
untested, but it's the best I can do for now.

[JoacoG]

I tested and it installed the trigger, but I just realized that the central-webhook container is fetching v0.2.0.

I changed that to v1.0.2 and now it does not create the trigger.

I looked at central-webhook logs and I see this.

And also, in the Dockerfile of central-webhook. I think the container is not using the new CLI correctly.

Maybe the webhook URLs should be set in central-webhook folder .env file and used in Dockerfile for the CLI flags.

[spwoodcock]

Yep you are totally right! PR welcome 🙏

[rvventuri]

I’ve run into similar webhook issues in production before. Everything showed as “completed”, but the events never reached the destination.

Using Sigryn as an intermediate layer helped a lot, since it gives real visibility into webhook delivery, attempts, and failures instead of relying only on the provider’s status.

[spwoodcock]

Nice, thanks for the info!

Would love if someone has time to dig into this and debug. I'm sure its a reasonably simple fix & a PR would be welcome 🙏

[maarciniegasa]

Thank you @spwoodcock for development.

When I try to deploy central-webhook using:

docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f /path/to/central-webhook/compose.webhook.yml up -d

I notice that the database changes, making it impossible to access my server. To implement this in my existing database, I believe I need to install the pgsql-http extension. However, I would like to know if it's possible to get a detailed, step-by-step guide on how to achieve this.

[spwoodcock]

Thanks for the question / clarifying =)

Using the custom database images shouldn't change anything to the official images (they are based on the official images + http extension).

However, it does sound like something happened to prevent you using the image. Just to check, are you definitely using the v14 image, to match the current version ODK Central uses?

If you really need to install the http extension into your current db, you can use https://github.com/pramsey/pgsql-http?tab=readme-ov-file#installation, but note that on container restart the extension will be wiped

[maarciniegasa]

Thank you for you prompt reply. These are the postgres services in my docker-compose.yml file in the central folder:

When I execute the command indicated below, the following service are displaying:

But, when I intent login in my odk central server i can't do it:

I understand that this process should not change my original database.

[spwoodcock]

I forgot to make a new release based on the updates! 🤦‍♂️

Let me do that before testing - my apologies

[spwoodcock]

But either way, I think the issue you are facing is unrelated and won't be solved by an update.

I would recommend viewing the logs of the database container. Next inspecting the contents of the database, to see what is there. Debug info is needed to debug 😁

[spwoodcock]

Hey all, I just made some updates to the logic and the README 😄

Hopefully all is working as intended now, but as mentioned before I'm a bit pushed for time to fix future issues.

Worst case, you can revert to v0.3.0, as that was always working fine for me.

Please let me know if anyone gets time to test the latest changes in their system, and report and issues if any 🙏

Thanks for your support!!

[spwoodcock]

I forgot to make the new release!

Available as 1.1.0 😄

https://github.com/hotosm/central-webhook/releases/tag/1.1.0