XTDB on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS by cloudimg
by cloudimg
Immutable, bitemporal SQL database with time travel, over the PostgreSQL wire protocol
XTDB on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
XTDB is an open source immutable, bitemporal SQL database for application development, time travel reporting and data compliance. Every row it stores carries two time dimensions automatically: the system time that records when a fact was written, and the valid time that records when the fact is true in the real world. This bitemporality is built in, so you get full history, point in time reporting and audit trails using standard SQL:2011 temporal syntax, without maintaining trigger tables, soft delete flags or shadow history tables of your own. Because XTDB speaks the PostgreSQL wire protocol, you query it with psql, JDBC and the Postgres drivers you already use, extended with clauses such as FOR VALID_TIME AS OF and FOR ALL SYSTEM_TIME.
An internal database appliance, secure by default
This image ships XTDB as a single node standalone server with local disk storage, managed by systemd. It is built as an internal database appliance: the PostgreSQL wire endpoint and the health endpoint both bind to the loopback interface, and the recommended firewall opens only the SSH port, so the database is never reachable directly from the internet. You connect to it securely over an SSH tunnel or from within your own virtual network, and the paired deployment guide walks through both.
No credential and no data baked into the image
The data directory is reset before the image is captured, so the image carries no data and no node identity, and every virtual machine initialises a fresh node on first boot with its own local storage. Nothing is shared between machines and no credential is baked into the image; access is gated by your own SSH key.
A bitemporal demo you can query immediately
A small bitemporal demo dataset, an employee salary history with several valid time revisions, is seeded automatically on first boot, so you can run point in time and full history queries and see time travel working the moment the machine boots. The paired guide walks through reading your connection details, opening an SSH tunnel, running temporal queries with psql, inserting bitemporal data and connecting a client.
Licensing
XTDB is licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 and is free. There is no per core or per database software fee. The cloudimg charge covers packaging, security patching, image maintenance and 24/7 support. Every deployment is paired with a step by step deployment guide.