# Properties

> Configure database engine settings and parameters.

Properties
----------

Database properties let you configure engine-specific settings for your managed database. These are the equivalent of tuning your `my.cnf` (MySQL) or `postgresql.conf` (PostgreSQL) without managing config files yourself.

### Viewing Properties

1. Navigate to your database
2. Go to the **Properties** tab

You'll see a list of configurable properties with their current values and descriptions.

### Updating a Property

1. Find the property you want to change
2. Update the value
3. Click **Save**

Some property changes take effect immediately. Others may require a brief restart, which is handled automatically.

### Common MySQL Properties

- **max_connections** - Maximum number of simultaneous connections
- **innodb_buffer_pool_size** - Memory allocated for InnoDB buffer pool
- **slow_query_log** - Enable logging of slow queries
- **long_query_time** - Threshold (in seconds) for slow query logging
- **wait_timeout** - Seconds the server waits for activity on a connection before closing it

### Common PostgreSQL Properties

- **max_connections** - Maximum number of simultaneous connections
- **shared_buffers** - Memory allocated for shared buffer cache
- **work_mem** - Memory used for query operations (sorts, hashes)
- **log_min_duration_statement** - Log queries slower than this threshold (in milliseconds)
- **idle_in_transaction_session_timeout** - Terminate sessions idle in a transaction

### Best Practices

- **Don't change settings unless needed** - The defaults work well for most workloads
- **Change one setting at a time** - This makes it easier to identify the impact of each change
- **Monitor after changes** - Check the Monitoring tab to see the effect of your changes
- **Document your changes** - Keep track of what you changed and why

### Next Steps

- [Monitoring](/documentation/managed-databases/monitoring) - Monitor the effect of property changes
- [Scaling](/documentation/managed-databases/scaling) - Upgrade your plan for more resources