---
title: influxctl database create
description: >
  The `influxctl database create` command creates a new database in an InfluxDB cluster.
menu:
  influxdb_clustered:
    parent: influxctl database
weight: 301
related:
  - /influxdb/clustered/admin/custom-partitions/define-custom-partitions/
  - /influxdb/clustered/admin/custom-partitions/partition-templates/
---

The `influxctl database create` command creates a new database with a specified
retention period in an {{< product-name omit=" Clustered" >}} cluster.

The retention period defines the maximum age of data retained in the database,
based on the timestamp of the data.
The retention period value is a time duration value made up of a numeric value
plus a duration unit. For example, `30d` means 30 days.
A zero duration retention period is infinite and data will not expire.
The retention period value cannot be negative or contain whitespace.

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##### Valid durations units include

- **m**: minute
- **h**: hour
- **d**: day
- **w**: week
- **mo**: month
- **y**: year

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##### Example retention period values

- `0d`: infinite/none
- `3d`: 3 days
- `6w`: 6 weeks
- `1mo`: 1 month (30 days)
- `1y`: 1 year
- `30d30d`: 60 days
- `2.5d`: 60 hours

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{{< /flex >}}

#### Custom partitioning

You can override the default partition template (`%Y-%m-%d`) of the database
with the `--template-tag` and `--template-time` flags when you create the database.
Provide a time format using [Rust strftime](/influxdb/clustered/admin/custom-partitions/partition-templates/#time-part-templates)
and include specific tags to use in the partition template.
Be sure to follow [partitioning best practices](/influxdb/clustered/admin/custom-partitions/best-practices/).

## Usage

```sh
influxctl database create [--retention-period 0s] <DATABASE_NAME>
```

## Arguments

| Argument          | Description            |
| :---------------- | :--------------------- |
| **DATABASE_NAME** | InfluxDB database name |

## Flags

| Flag |                      | Description                                                          |
| :--- | :------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|      | `--retention-period` | Database retention period (default is 0s or infinite)                |
|      | `--max-tables`       | Maximum tables per database (default is 500, 0 uses default)         |
|      | `--max-columns`      | Maximum columns per table (default is 250, 0 uses default)           |
|      | `--template-tag`     | Tag to add to partition template (can include multiple of this flag) |
|      | `--template-time`    | Timestamp format for partition template (default is `%Y-%m-%d`)      |
| `-h` | `--help`             | Output command help                                                  |

{{% caption %}}
_Also see [`influxctl` global flags](/influxdb/clustered/reference/cli/influxctl/#global-flags)._
{{% /caption %}}

## Examples

- [Create a database with an infinite retention period](#create-a-database-with-an-infinite-retention-period)
- [Create a database with a 30-day retention period](#create-a-database-with-a-30-day-retention-period)
- [Create a database with non-default table and column limits](#create-a-database-with-non-default-table-and-column-limits)
- [Create a database with a custom partition template](#create-a-database-with-a-custom-partition-template)

### Create a database with an infinite retention period

```sh
influxctl database create mydb
```

### Create a database with a 30-day retention period

```sh
influxctl database create \
  --retention-period 30d \
  mydb
```

### Create a database with non-default table and column limits

```sh
influxctl database create \
  --max-tables 200 \
  --max-columns 150 \
  mydb
```

### Create a database with a custom partition template

The following example creates a new `mydb` database and applies a partition
template that partitions by two tags (`room` and `sensor-type`) and by week using
the time format `%Y wk:%W`:

```sh
influxctl database create \
  --template-tag room \
  --template-tag sensor-type \
  --template-time '%Y wk:%W' \
  mydb
```

_For more information about custom partitioning, see
[Manage data partitioning](/influxdb/clustered/admin/custom-partitions/)._