Milvus Manager provides end-to-end visual management for databases and Collections. It allows you to create databases and Collections, define fields and indexes, insert sample data, and perform vector searches. This topic explains how to manage databases and Collections with Milvus Manager.
Prerequisites
A Milvus instance is required. If you do not have one, see Create a Milvus Instance.
Before you begin
Go to the Milvus Manager page.
Log on to the Alibaba Cloud Vector Search Service Milvus Edition console.
In the navigation pane on the left, click Instance List, and then select the target instance to open its details page.
At the top of the instance details page, click the Milvus Manager tab to connect to the Milvus instance. For more information, see Connect to a Milvus instance with Milvus Manager.
In the left navigation pane, click Databases to open the database management page.
The navigation tree on the left lets you browse and manage all databases and their Collections in the instance.
Database management
The Milvus Manager overview page displays information about the instance, such as the number of databases and Collections. You can also create and delete databases on this page.
Create a database
On the overview page, click Create Database. In the dialog box that appears, enter a database name and click Confirm.
Delete a database
The default database (default) cannot be deleted.
Before you delete a database, make sure that all Collections within it have been deleted.
You must manually enter the database name to confirm the deletion.
View database details
On the overview page, click a database name to open its details page and view Collection information.
Collection management
A Collection is the core unit in Milvus for storing vector data. Milvus Manager provides end-to-end capabilities for managing Collections.
Collection list
The database details page lists all Collections in the current database. The list includes the following information:
Parameter | Description |
Name | The name of the Collection. You can search or filter by name. |
Status | Loaded or not loaded. |
Approximate Entity count | The total number of Entities in the Collection. Note When a Collection is not loaded, this count may include deleted Entities and is for reference only. |
Description | A description of the Collection. |
Alias | The configured aliases. |
Creation time | The time when the Collection was created. |
Actions | Release, Copy, Delete. |
The following buttons are at the top of the page:
+ Collection: Create a new Collection.
+ External Collection: Create an External Collection (an Alibaba Cloud DLF Paimon table).
Import File: Import data files in bulk.
Search by name: Filter Collections by name.
Collection operations
Actions | Prerequisite | Description |
Load | Requires an index on all vector fields. | Loads the Collection into memory for searching. |
Release | The Collection is loaded. | Releases the Collection from memory. |
Delete | None | Permanently deletes the Collection and all its data. |
Rename | None | Changes the name of the Collection. |
Copy | None | Copies the Collection's configuration to create a new one. |
Details | None | Opens the Collection details page to view information such as the Schema and data. |
Create a collection
On the Collection list page, click + Collection. In the creation panel that appears, configure the following settings:
Basic information:
Name: The name for the Collection.
Description: A description for the Collection.
Schema definition:
Primary key type: Supports Int64 and VarChar.
Enable auto ID: If enabled, the system automatically generates primary key values.
Field name: A custom field name.
Field type: The data type of the field, such as FloatVector or BinaryVector.
Dimension: The dimension of the vector field.
Advanced settings:
Consistency: Supported levels: Bounded, Strong, Session, and Eventually.
Enable dynamic Schema: Allows inserting fields not defined in the Schema. These fields are stored as dynamic metadata in the
$metafield.Load Collection after creation: If enabled, automatically creates an AUTOINDEX for vector fields and loads the Collection.
Collection details
Click a Collection name to go to its details page, which organizes functions into the following tabs:
Tab | Description |
Schema | View and manage the field definitions and indexes of the Collection. |
Vector search | Perform a vector similarity search to debug and validate retrieval results. |
Data | View and manage the Entity data in the Collection. Supports importing CSV and JSON files with a size limit of 2 MB. |
Partitions | Manage the Collection's partitions. You can create partitions and search for them by name. The default partition cannot be deleted. |
Segments | View information about the underlying segments. Supports compact and flush operations. |
Properties | View and modify the configurable properties for the Collection. You can also reset them from this page. |
Schema
This tab displays the complete Schema definition for the Collection and allows you to manage indexes (create and delete them). The Schema definition includes the following information:
Basic information: Name, Description, Approximate Entity Count, Status, Replica Number, Features, Auto ID, Consistency, Creation Time.
Schema table:
Parameter | Description |
Field name | The name of the field, such as |
Field type | The data type of the field, such as |
Index | The name of the index, such as |
Index parameters | The index configuration parameters, such as |
Default value | The default value for the field. |
Description | A description of the field. |
Actions | Actions such as creating or deleting an index. |
Vector search
This tab provides a visual interface for running vector similarity searches, which is useful for debugging and validating retrieval results.
Data
This tab lets you view, edit, and manage the Entity data in the Collection.
Currently, you can import data from CSV and JSON files, with a file size limit of 2 MB.
Partitions
This tab lets you visually manage the Collection's partitions, including creating new partitions and searching for them by name.
The default partition cannot be deleted.
Segments
This tab lets you view and manage the underlying segments in the Collection, which is useful for advanced observability and performance tuning. It supports the following operations:
Compact: Merges and compacts data segments to optimize storage and query performance.
Flush: Persists data from memory to disk.
Properties
This tab displays the configurable properties for the Collection. An empty value indicates that a property has not been explicitly set for this Collection. You can configure and reset properties on this page.
External Collection management
External Collection is an innovative feature of Alibaba Cloud Milvus that lets you seamlessly link data from DLF lake tables. This allows you to query vector data within DLF efficiently, without duplicating the original data. For more information, see Manage External Collections.