PostgreSQL is a popular open-source relational database management system (RDBMS). It is available in both binary and source code distributions. This article will show you how to install PostgreSQL from source on a Linux system.

Prerequisites

Before you can install PostgreSQL from source, you will need to have the following prerequisites installed on your system:

• A Linux distribution, such as Ubuntu, Fedora, or CentOS
• A compiler, such as GCC or Clang
• A development library, such as GNU Development Tools (GDT) or LLVM
• A text editor, such as Vim or Emacs

Installing PostgreSQL from Source

To install PostgreSQL from source, follow these steps:

1. Download the PostgreSQL source code from the PostgreSQL website.
2. Extract the PostgreSQL source code archive.
3. Change to the PostgreSQL source code directory.
4. Run the ./configure script to configure PostgreSQL for your system.
5. Run the make command to build PostgreSQL.
6. Run the make install command to install PostgreSQL on your system.

Configuring PostgreSQL

The ./configure script allows you to configure PostgreSQL for your system. The following are some of the options that you can configure:

• The data directory: This is the directory where PostgreSQL will store its data files.
• The port number: This is the port number that PostgreSQL will listen on.
• The user name and password for the PostgreSQL superuser: The PostgreSQL superuser is a special user that has complete control over the PostgreSQL database cluster.

Building PostgreSQL

The make command builds PostgreSQL from source. This may take a few minutes to complete.

Installing PostgreSQL

The make install command installs PostgreSQL on your system. This will create a number of files and directories, including:

• The PostgreSQL binaries: These are the executable files that you will use to interact with PostgreSQL.
• The PostgreSQL libraries: These are the libraries that are used by the PostgreSQL binaries.
• The PostgreSQL documentation: This is the documentation for PostgreSQL.

Starting PostgreSQL

To start PostgreSQL, run the following command:

pg_ctl start

This will start the PostgreSQL server. You can then connect to PostgreSQL using a client application, such as psql.

Stopping PostgreSQL

To stop PostgreSQL, run the following command:

pg_ctl stop

This will stop the PostgreSQL server.

Restarting PostgreSQL

To restart PostgreSQL, run the following command:

pg_ctl restart

This will stop and then start the PostgreSQL server.

Backing Up PostgreSQL

To back up PostgreSQL, run the following command:

pg_dumpall > backup.sql

This will create a SQL dump of the PostgreSQL database cluster. You can then use this SQL dump to restore PostgreSQL to a different system.

Restoring PostgreSQL

To restore PostgreSQL from a backup, run the following command:

psql -U postgres -d postgres -f backup.sql

This will restore the PostgreSQL database cluster from the SQL dump.

I hope this article has helped you to install PostgreSQL from source. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below.