diff --git a/packages/nocodb/src/__tests__/unit/rest/dbConfig.ts b/packages/nocodb/src/__tests__/unit/rest/dbConfig.ts
index 6e0eaf5bc4..4d6882ba79 100644
--- a/packages/nocodb/src/__tests__/unit/rest/dbConfig.ts
+++ b/packages/nocodb/src/__tests__/unit/rest/dbConfig.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,33 @@
 import NcConfigFactory from '../../../lib/utils/NcConfigFactory';
 
-const dbName = `test_meta`;
+const sakilaTableNames = [
+  'actor',
+  'address',
+  'category',
+  'city',
+  'country',
+  'customer',
+  'film',
+  'film_actor',
+  'film_category',
+  'film_text',
+  'inventory',
+  'language',
+  'payment',
+  'rental',
+  'staff',
+  'store',
+  'actor_info',
+  'customer_list',
+  'film_list',
+  'nicer_but_slower_film_list',
+  'sales_by_film_category',
+  'sales_by_store',
+  'staff_list',
+];
+
+const dbName = 'test_meta';
+const sakilaDbName = 'sakila';
 process.env[`DATABASE_URL`] = `mysql2://root:password@localhost:3306/${dbName}`;
 
 const dbConfig = NcConfigFactory.urlToDbConfig(
@@ -21,4 +48,4 @@ dbConfig.meta = {
   },
 } as any;
 
-export { dbConfig, dbName };
+export { dbConfig, dbName, sakilaTableNames, sakilaDbName };
diff --git a/packages/nocodb/src/__tests__/unit/rest/server.ts b/packages/nocodb/src/__tests__/unit/rest/server.ts
index 28f35866db..8bfc4b5c24 100644
--- a/packages/nocodb/src/__tests__/unit/rest/server.ts
+++ b/packages/nocodb/src/__tests__/unit/rest/server.ts
@@ -1,37 +1,30 @@
 import { Noco } from '../../../lib';
 import express from 'express';
-import { dbConfig, dbName } from './dbConfig';
-import Model from '../../../lib/models/Model';
-import Project from '../../../lib/models/Project';
+import { dbConfig, dbName, sakilaDbName, sakilaTableNames } from './dbConfig';
 import { orderedMetaTables } from '../../../lib/utils/globals';
 
 const knex = require('knex');
 
 const clearAllMetaTables = async (knexClient) => {
-  const projects = await Project.list({});
-  const userCreatedTableNames = [];
-  await Promise.all(
-    projects.map(async (project) => {
-      await project.getBases();
-      const base = project.bases && project.bases[0];
-      if (!base) return;
-
-      const models = await Model.list({
-        project_id: project.id,
-        base_id: base.id,
-      });
-      models.forEach((model) => {
-        userCreatedTableNames.push(model.table_name);
-      });
-    })
+  await knexClient.raw(`use ${sakilaDbName}`);
+  const tablesInSakilaQueryRes = await knexClient.raw(`SHOW TABLES;`);
+  const tablesInSakila = tablesInSakilaQueryRes[0].map(
+    (table) => Object.values(table)[0]
   );
 
   await Promise.all(
-    userCreatedTableNames.map(async (tableName) => {
-      await knexClient.raw(`DROP TABLE ${tableName}`);
-    })
+    tablesInSakila
+      .filter((tableName) => !sakilaTableNames.includes(tableName))
+      .map(async (tableName) => {
+        try {
+          await knexClient.raw(`DROP TABLE ${sakilaDbName}.${tableName}`);
+        } catch (e) {
+          console.error(e);
+        }
+      })
   );
 
+  await knexClient.raw(`use ${dbName}`);
   await knexClient.raw('SET FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS = 0');
   for (const tableName of orderedMetaTables) {
     try {
diff --git a/packages/nocodb/src/__tests__/unit/rest/tests/helpers/project.ts b/packages/nocodb/src/__tests__/unit/rest/tests/helpers/project.ts
index ff70be3647..8628a5d463 100644
--- a/packages/nocodb/src/__tests__/unit/rest/tests/helpers/project.ts
+++ b/packages/nocodb/src/__tests__/unit/rest/tests/helpers/project.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,27 @@
 import request from 'supertest';
+import { sakilaDbName } from '../../dbConfig';
+
+const externalProjectConfig = {
+  title: 'sakila',
+  bases: [
+    {
+      type: 'mysql2',
+      config: {
+        client: 'mysql2',
+        connection: {
+          host: 'localhost',
+          port: '3306',
+          user: 'root',
+          password: 'password',
+          database: sakilaDbName,
+        },
+      },
+      inflection_column: 'camelize',
+      inflection_table: 'camelize',
+    },
+  ],
+  external: true,
+};
 
 const defaultProjectValue = {
   title: 'Title',
@@ -19,6 +42,16 @@ const createSharedBase = async (app, token, project, sharedBaseArgs = {}) => {
     });
 };
 
+const createExternalProject = async (app, token) => {
+  const response = await request(app)
+    .post('/api/v1/db/meta/projects/')
+    .set('xc-auth', token)
+    .send(externalProjectConfig);
+
+  const project = response.body;
+  return project;
+};
+
 const createProject = async (app, token, projectArgs = defaultProjectValue) => {
   const response = await request(app)
     .post('/api/v1/db/meta/projects/')
@@ -29,4 +62,4 @@ const createProject = async (app, token, projectArgs = defaultProjectValue) => {
   return project;
 };
 
-export { createProject, createSharedBase };
+export { createProject, createSharedBase, createExternalProject };
diff --git a/packages/nocodb/src/__tests__/unit/rest/tests/tableRow.test.ts b/packages/nocodb/src/__tests__/unit/rest/tests/tableRow.test.ts
index a0a62345a4..aa6e47623c 100644
--- a/packages/nocodb/src/__tests__/unit/rest/tests/tableRow.test.ts
+++ b/packages/nocodb/src/__tests__/unit/rest/tests/tableRow.test.ts
@@ -4,11 +4,12 @@ import request from 'supertest';
 import server from '../server';
 import { createUser } from './helpers/user';
 import { createTable } from './helpers/table';
-import { createProject } from './helpers/project';
+import { createExternalProject } from './helpers/project';
 import { createRow } from './helpers/row';
 import { createColumn } from './helpers/column';
 import { ColumnType, isSystemColumn } from 'nocodb-sdk';
 import Column from '../../../../lib/models/Column';
+import Model from '../../../../lib/models/Model';
 
 function tableTest() {
   let app;
@@ -32,7 +33,7 @@ function tableTest() {
     const response = await createUser(app, { roles: 'editor' });
     token = response.token;
 
-    project = await createProject(app, token);
+    project = await createExternalProject(app, token);
     table = await createTable(app, token, project);
     const columnsData = [
       {
@@ -174,6 +175,15 @@ function tableTest() {
       throw new Error('Wrong sort');
     }
   });
+
+  it('Get actors', async () => {
+    const actorTable = await Model.getByIdOrName({
+      project_id: project.id,
+      base_id: project.bases[0].id,
+      table_name: 'actor',
+    });
+    console.log(actorTable);
+  });
 }
 
 export default function () {