RRC-Cybersecurity-Software-Linux/Postgresql.md

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IT Foundations

Postgresql

Postgresql is a popular open-source relational database, and is widely available on Linux.

Note: A graphical interface for postgresql is something that will need to be installed separately, the only way to interact with the database that is installed by default is the psql command. To install the pgAdmin GUI program see pgAdmin below.

Install

All linux distributions package postgresql and you can just install the relevant package. Some common examples are below:

Arch

sudo pacman -S postgresql

Debian/Mint/Ubuntu

sudo apt install postgresql

Fedora

sudo dnf install postgresql-server

Setup

First make sure postgres is running:

systemctl status postgresql.service

If not, start it with:

sudo systemctl start postgresql.service

If you want it to start on boot, you can enable it with:

sudo systemctl enable postgresql.service

To stop it from starting on boot, replace enable with disable.

Initially the postgres database user will not have a password to allow access. To access the database run the following:

sudo -u postgres psql

From here you can do initial setup.

For a simple setup where you just want to access from a client like pgAdmin, you can set a password for the postgres user with the following query:

ALTER USER postgres WITH PASSWORD 'new_password';

When done you can exit with the \q command.

pgAdmin

pgAdmin is a graphical interface to configure and query postgresql.

Install

Most linux distributions don't include pgAdmin from their default repositories, but we can either use pgAdmin's official repositories, or it is available as a flatpak:

Flatpak (universal)

If you wish to install through flatpak ensure flatpak is setup, see Flatpak for details if not.

If you have a graphical software manager/store it should be available there, to install via command-line:

flatpak install org.pgadmin.pgadmin4

Arch (AUR Package)

yay -S pgadmin4-desktop-bin

Debian/Ubuntu

# Install the public key for the repository (if not done previously):
curl -fsS https://www.pgadmin.org/static/packages_pgadmin_org.pub | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/packages-pgadmin-org.gpg

# Create the repository configuration file:
sudo echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/packages-pgadmin-org.gpg] https://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/pgadmin/pgadmin4/apt/$(lsb_release -cs) pgadmin4 main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pgadmin4.list

# Refresh package list
apt update

# Install pgAdmin
sudo apt install pgadmin4-desktop libnss3 libgbm-dev libasound2-dev 

Fedora

# Add the pgadmin repository
sudo rpm -i https://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/pgadmin/pgadmin4/yum/pgadmin4-fedora-repo-2-1.noarch.rpm

# Install pgAdmin
sudo yum install pgadmin4-desktop

Linux Mint

# Install the public key for the repository (if not done previously):
curl -fsS https://www.pgadmin.org/static/packages_pgadmin_org.pub | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/packages-pgadmin-org.gpg

# Create the repository configuration file:
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/packages-pgadmin-org.gpg] https://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/pgadmin/pgadmin4/apt/noble pgadmin4 main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pgadmin4.list

# Refresh package list
apt update

# Install pgAdmin
sudo apt install pgadmin4-desktop libnss3 libgbm-dev libasound2-dev

Setup

First you will need to register your running server:

In the General tab enter a name for your postgres server, then in the connection tab enter localhost for Hostname/address and enter the password for the postgres user:

Now click save and pgAdmin should be ready to use as normal!