Pre-Flight Check
- These instructions are intended specifically for installing PostgreSQL on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.
- I’ll be working from a Liquid Web Core Managed Ubuntu 12.04 LTS server, and I’ll be logged in as root.
Step 1: Install PostgreSQL
First, you’ll follow a simple best practice: ensuring the list of available packages is up to date before installing anything new.
apt-get -y update
Then it’s a matter of just running one command for installation via apt-get:
apt-get -y install postgresql postgresql-contrib
Postgres should now be installed and ready to use.
Step 2: Switch to the Default PostgreSQL User
As part of the installation Postgres adds the system user postgres and is setup to use “ident” authentication. Roles internal to Postgres (which are similar to users) match with a system user account.
Let’s switch into that system user:
su – postgres
And then connect to the PostgreSQL terminal (in the postgres role):
psql
That’s it! You’re connected and ready to run commands in PostgreSQL as the postgres role. In future (Sept 2014) articles we’ll delve into creating new roles, changing a role’s password, creating/deleting databases, backups, etc.
