PostgreSQL Install-Windows
A number of folks have asked me to create a post of a PostgreSQL installation on Windows. So, here is my step-by-step PostgreSQL 9.3 installation, and you can go further and learn how to setup your own PostgreSQL database schema.
Download PostgreSQL Database
You can start the download of PostgreSQL from this site. It leads you to the EnterpriseDB site, where you can download the prepackaged software.
Install PostgreSQL 9.3 on Windows
These steps walk you through installing PostgreSQL and the the pgJDBC v9.3, psqlODBC (32 bit), and psqlODBC (64 bit) packages.
- The first thing you need to do is launch the PostgreSQL file from download folder.
- After launching the downloaded file, you see an Open File – Security Warning dialog message. Click the Run button to run the PostgreSQL executable file.
- The first dialog screen is the Setup – PostgreSQL dialog, which welcomes you and prompts you to start the installtion of PostgreSQL. Click the Next button to continue.
- The Installation Directory dialog sets the location for the PostgreSQL server. Click the Next button to continue.
- The Data Directory dialog sets the location for the PostgreSQL server’s data repository. Click the Next button to continue.
- The first Setup dialog sets the database’s superuser password. Click the Next button to continue.
- The second Setup dialog sets the database’s listener port, which is Port
5432by default. Click the Next button to continue.
- The third Setup dialog sets the database’s default Locale. Click the Next button to continue.
- The Ready to Install dialog lets you start the installation. Click the Next button to continue.
- The Installing dialog lets you montor the unpacking of programs for the installation. You need not click any buttons to continue.
- The Completing the PostgreSQL Setup Wizard dialog advises you that you’ve completed the setup. Checking the Stack Builder check box lets you download and install additional tools, drivers, and applications. Click the Next button to continue.
- This is Welcome dialog to the Stack Builder. Click the Next button to continue.
- This is dialog lets you select applications that you would like to install. Click the plus symbol for the Database Drivers option to continue.
- In the modified dialog, click the pgJDBC v9.3, psqlODBC (32 bit), and psqlODBC (64 bit) check boxes. Then, click the Next button to continue.
- This dialog tells you the pgJDBC v9.3, psqlODBC (32 bit), and psqlODBC (64 bit) installed packages. Click the Next button to continue.
- This dialog lays a downloading progress bar while loading the additional packages. You don’t need to do anything to continue.
- This dialog lays a downloading progress bar while loading the additional packages. Click the Next button to continue.
- The Setup pgJDBC dialog welcomes you to the setup wizard. Click the Next button to continue.
- The Installation Directory dialog lets you set the pgJDBC installation directory. Click the Next button to continue.
- The Ready to Install dialog lets you install the pgJDBC package. Click the Next button to install it.
- The Setup dialog confirms you’ve installed the add-on packages. Click the Finish button to complete the installation.
Configure psqlODBC on Windows
These steps walk you through configuring the psqlODBC packages.
- The Setup dialog helps you configure the psqlODBC package. Click the Next button to install it.
- The Installation Directory dialog lets you set the psqlODBC installation directory. Click the Next button to continue.
- The Ready to Install dialog lets you install the psqlODBC package. Click the Next button to install it.
- The Ready to Install dialog lets you install the psqlODBC package. Click the Next button to install it.
- The Installing psqlODBC dialog displays a dialog while installing the psqlODBC package(s). You need not click anything, the dialog dismisses itself when complete.
- The Installing psqlODBC dialog displays a dialog while installing the psqlODBC package(s). You need not click anything, the dialog dismisses itself when complete.
- The Stack Builder dialog displays a message that everything is installed. Click the Finish button when complete.
Connect to the Default PostgreSQL database
You have two options for connecting to the PostgreSQL database. One uses the GUI pgAdmin III console and the other uses the command line.
Connect through pgAdmin III to the PostgreSQL Database
- In Windows, navigate to through the Start to the pgAdmin III menu option.
- After launching pgAdmin III, you’ll see the pgAdmin II console, displayed at left.
- Right click on the PostgreSQL 9.3 (localhost:5432) item in the Object browser and click the Connect menu choice from the floating menu.
- Enter the password you chose when installing the PostgreSQL Server, and click the OK button.
Connect through the Command-line to the PostgreSQL Database
These steps show you how to connect through the PostgreSQL Command Line Interface (CLI) – psql. psql is like Oracle’s sqlplus, MySQL’s mysql, and Microsoft SQL Server’s sqlcmd CLI interfaces. By default, the PostgreSQL binary directory is not in your default %PATH% environment variable, so you need to add it. I recommend an environment file because in a test situation you may not want to use it all the time.
Create the following directory for the environment file:
C:\Data\PostgreSQL\env |
You can create an environment file with any text editor or do it at the command line, like this:
COPY CON postgresqlenv.bat SET PATH=%PATH%;C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\9.3\bin;. ^Z |
Then, you can source the environment file like this:
C:\> postgresql.bat |
Now, you can connect to the default database provided you understand that PostgreSQL Stack Builder set some values that differ from the defaults if you installed it manually. Specifically, they set the default value of the database to postgres and default value of the user to postgres.
That means you can connect with the following, provided you remember the password you used during installation:
C:\> psql -d postgres -U postgres |
You should see the following when you connect:
C:\> psql -d postgres -U postgres Password for user postgres: psql (9.3.3) WARNING: Console code page (437) differs from Windows code page (1252) 8-bit characters might not work correctly. See psql reference page "Notes for Windows users" for details. Type "help" for help. |
You can now submit interactive SQL statements or run batch files, like:
postgres=# SELECT 'Hello World!'; |
It displays:
?COLUMN? -------------- Hello World! (1 ROW) |
Adding a column alias to the string literal gives a more readable formatted output:
postgres=# SELECT 'Hello World!' AS "String Literal"; |
It displays:
String Literal ---------------- Hello World! (1 ROW) |
PostgreSQL’s CLI Help
You have the ability to do a lot with the PostgreSQL psql CLI. The general command to discover help is help, and it displays the following:
postgres=# help You are USING psql, the command-line interface TO PostgreSQL. TYPE: \copyright FOR distribution terms \h FOR help WITH SQL commands \? FOR help WITH psql commands \g OR terminate WITH semicolon TO EXECUTE query \q TO quit |
You quit PostgreSQL with a \q command:
postgres=# \q |
You can find more help with the \HELP or the \? commands:
\HELP |
It displays the following:
Available help: ABORT CLUSTER DEALLOCATE END ALTER AGGREGATE COMMENT DECLARE EXECUTE ALTER COLLATION COMMIT DELETE EXPLAIN ALTER CONVERSION COMMIT PREPARED DISCARD FETCH ALTER DATABASE COPY DO GRANT ALTER DEFAULT PRIVILEGES CREATE AGGREGATE DROP AGGREGATE INSERT ALTER DOMAIN CREATE CAST DROP CAST LISTEN ALTER EVENT TRIGGER CREATE COLLATION DROP COLLATION LOAD ALTER EXTENSION CREATE CONVERSION DROP CONVERSION LOCK ALTER FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER CREATE DATABASE DROP DATABASE MOVE ALTER FOREIGN TABLE CREATE DOMAIN DROP DOMAIN NOTIFY ALTER FUNCTION CREATE EVENT TRIGGER DROP EVENT TRIGGER PREPARE ALTER GROUP CREATE EXTENSION DROP EXTENSION PREPARE TRANSACTION ALTER INDEX CREATE FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER DROP FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER REASSIGN OWNED ALTER LANGUAGE CREATE FOREIGN TABLE DROP FOREIGN TABLE REFRESH MATERIALIZED VIEW ALTER LARGE OBJECT CREATE FUNCTION DROP FUNCTION REINDEX ALTER MATERIALIZED VIEW CREATE GROUP DROP GROUP RELEASE SAVEPOINT ALTER OPERATOR CREATE INDEX DROP INDEX RESET ALTER OPERATOR CLASS CREATE LANGUAGE DROP LANGUAGE REVOKE ALTER OPERATOR FAMILY CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW DROP MATERIALIZED VIEW ROLLBACK ALTER ROLE CREATE OPERATOR DROP OPERATOR ROLLBACK PREPARED ALTER RULE CREATE OPERATOR CLASS DROP OPERATOR CLASS ROLLBACK TO SAVEPOINT ALTER OPERATOR CREATE INDEX DROP INDEX RESET ALTER OPERATOR CLASS CREATE LANGUAGE DROP LANGUAGE REVOKE ALTER OPERATOR FAMILY CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW DROP MATERIALIZED VIEW ROLLBACK ALTER ROLE CREATE OPERATOR DROP OPERATOR ROLLBACK PREPARED ALTER RULE CREATE OPERATOR CLASS DROP OPERATOR CLASS ROLLBACK TO SAVEPOINT ALTER SCHEMA CREATE OPERATOR FAMILY DROP OPERATOR FAMILY SAVEPOINT ALTER SEQUENCE CREATE ROLE DROP OWNED SECURITY LABEL ALTER SERVER CREATE RULE DROP ROLE SELECT ALTER TABLE CREATE SCHEMA DROP RULE SELECT INTO ALTER TABLESPACE CREATE SEQUENCE DROP SCHEMA SET ALTER TEXT SEARCH CONFIGURATION CREATE SERVER DROP SEQUENCE SET CONSTRAINTS ALTER TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY CREATE TABLE DROP SERVER SET ROLE ALTER TEXT SEARCH PARSER CREATE TABLE AS DROP TABLE SET SESSION AUTHORIZATION ALTER TEXT SEARCH TEMPLATE CREATE TABLESPACE DROP TABLESPACE SET TRANSACTION ALTER TRIGGER CREATE TEXT SEARCH CONFIGURATION DROP TEXT SEARCH CONFIGURATION SHOW ALTER TYPE CREATE TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY DROP TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY START TRANSACTION ALTER USER CREATE TEXT SEARCH PARSER DROP TEXT SEARCH PARSER TABLE ALTER USER MAPPING CREATE TEXT SEARCH TEMPLATE DROP TEXT SEARCH TEMPLATE TRUNCATE ALTER VIEW CREATE TRIGGER DROP TRIGGER UNLISTEN ANALYZE CREATE TYPE DROP TYPE UPDATE BEGIN CREATE USER DROP USER VACUUM CHECKPOINT CREATE USER MAPPING DROP USER MAPPING VALUES CLOSE CREATE VIEW DROP VIEW WITH |
You can find more help with the \HELP or the \? commands:
\? |
It displays the following:
General
\copyright show PostgreSQL usage and distribution terms
\g [FILE] or ; execute query (and send results to file or |pipe)
\gset [PREFIX] execute query and store results in psql variables
\h [NAME] help on syntax of SQL commands, * for all commands
\q quit psql
\watch [SEC] execute query every SEC seconds
Query Buffer
\e [FILE] [LINE] edit the query buffer (or file) with external editor
\ef [FUNCNAME [LINE]] edit function definition with external editor
\p show the contents of the query buffer
\r reset (clear) the query buffer
\s [FILE] display history or save it to file
\w FILE write query buffer to file
Input/Output
\copy ... perform SQL COPY with data stream to the client host
\echo [STRING] write string to standard output
\i FILE execute commands from file
\ir FILE as \i, but relative to location of current script
\o [FILE] send all query results to file or |pipe
\qecho [STRING] write string to query output stream (see \o)
Informational
(options: S = show system objects, + = additional detail)
\d[S+] list tables, views, and sequences
\d[S+] NAME describe table, view, sequence, or index
\da[S] [PATTERN] list aggregates
\db[+] [PATTERN] list tablespaces
\dc[S+] [PATTERN] list conversions
\dC[+] [PATTERN] list casts
\dd[S] [PATTERN] show object descriptions not displayed elsewhere
\ddp [PATTERN] list default privileges
\dD[S+] [PATTERN] list domains
\det[+] [PATTERN] list foreign tables
\des[+] [PATTERN] list foreign servers
\deu[+] [PATTERN] list user mappings
\dew[+] [PATTERN] list foreign-data wrappers
\df[antw][S+] [PATRN] list [only agg/normal/trigger/window] functions
\dF[+] [PATTERN] list text search configurations
\dFd[+] [PATTERN] list text search dictionaries
\dFp[+] [PATTERN] list text search parsers
\dFt[+] [PATTERN] list text search templates
\dg[+] [PATTERN] list roles
\di[S+] [PATTERN] list indexes
\dl list large objects, same as \lo_list
\dL[S+] [PATTERN] list procedural languages
\dm[S+] [PATTERN] list materialized views
\dn[S+] [PATTERN] list schemas
\do[S] [PATTERN] list operators
\dO[S+] [PATTERN] list collations
\dp [PATTERN] list table, view, and sequence access privileges
\drds [PATRN1 [PATRN2]] list per-database role settings
\ds[S+] [PATTERN] list sequences
\dt[S+] [PATTERN] list tables
\dT[S+] [PATTERN] list data types
\du[+] [PATTERN] list roles
\dv[S+] [PATTERN] list views
\dE[S+] [PATTERN] list foreign tables
\dx[+] [PATTERN] list extensions
\dy [PATTERN] list event triggers
\l[+] [PATTERN] list databases
\sf[+] FUNCNAME show a function's definition
\z [PATTERN] same as \dp
Formatting
\a toggle between unaligned and aligned output mode
\C [STRING] set table title, or unset if none
\f [STRING] show or set field separator for unaligned query output
\H toggle HTML output mode (currently off)
\pset NAME [VALUE] set table output option
(NAME := {format|border|expanded|fieldsep|fieldsep_zero|footer|null|
numericlocale|recordsep|recordsep_zero|tuples_only|title|tableattr|pager})
\t [on|off] show only rows (currently off)
\T [STRING] set HTML <table> tag attributes, or unset if none
\x [on|off|auto] toggle expanded output (currently off)
Connection
\c[onnect] {[DBNAME|- USER|- HOST|- PORT|-] | conninfo}
connect to new database (currently "studentdb")
\encoding [ENCODING] show or set client encoding
\password [USERNAME] securely change the password for a user
\conninfo display information about current connection
Operating System
\cd [DIR] change the current working directory
\setenv NAME [VALUE] set or unset environment variable
\timing [on|off] toggle timing of commands (currently off)
\! [COMMAND] execute command in shell or start interactive shell
Variables
\prompt [TEXT] NAME prompt user to set internal variable
\set [NAME [VALUE]] set internal variable, or list all if no parameters
\unset NAME unset (delete) internal variable
Large Objects
\lo_export LOBOID FILE
\lo_import FILE [COMMENT]
\lo_list
\lo_unlink LOBOID large object operations |
Have fun exploring PostgreSQL. You can click here to learn how to setup your own tablespace, database, and user. As always, I hope this helps those looking to discover how to install and use PostgreSQL.
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