diff --git a/deploy/awx-operator.yaml b/deploy/awx-operator.yaml
index 346da8eb..edceaffb 100644
--- a/deploy/awx-operator.yaml
+++ b/deploy/awx-operator.yaml
@@ -170,5 +170,27 @@ spec:
             deployment_type:
               type: string
               pattern: "^(tower|awx)(-)?.*$"
+            external_database:
+              type: bool
+              description: |
+                If true you must supply a secret containing the location and credentials for
+                connecting to the external database by a user who has permission to create
+                and apply a schema.
+
+                The secret should have the name: <custom resource name>-postgres-configuration and
+                should look like:
+
+                apiVersion: v1
+                kind: Secret
+                metadata:
+                  name: <crname>-postgres-configuration
+                  namespace: <target namespace>
+                stringData:
+                  address: <external ip or url resolvable by the cluster>
+                  port: <external port, this usually defaults to 5432>
+                  database: <desired database name>
+                  username: <username to connect as>
+                  password: <password to connect with>
+                type: Opaque
           required:
             - deployment_type