Getting Started

This page follows the idea of the official PostgreSQL Tutorial – Getting started: first connection and basic operations.

What is PostgreSQL?

PostgreSQL is an open-source relational database supporting SQL, ACID, complex queries, foreign keys, triggers, views, stored procedures, and many extensions. See the official preface for more.

Install and start

• Binary: See Chapter 16 – Installation.
• Source: See Chapter 17 – Installation from Source.

After installation, start the server and ensure the default port (5432) and pg_hba.conf allow your client.

First connection

Using psql or any PostgreSQL client (e.g. DBeaver, pgAdmin):

psql -h localhost -p 5432 -U postgres -d postgres

Basic example

CREATE DATABASE mydb;
-- In psql: \c mydb

CREATE TABLE users (
  id   SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT NOT NULL,
  created_at TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT now()
);

INSERT INTO users (name) VALUES ('Alice'), ('Bob');
SELECT * FROM users;

For more SQL and administration, use the official documentation and our PostgreSQL Docs Overview.