To install PostgreSQL on your Virtual Private Server, connect to your server via Telnet or SSH as root and run the following command:

% vinstall pgsql

The PostgreSQL installation includes all the necessary PostgreSQL files, initializes a database with the same name as your user name, and activates the postmaster daemon. Several wrapper scripts are available for all PostgreSQL commands. The wrapper scripts are automatically created when PostgreSQL is installed.

PostgreSQL is installed in a version-specific directory (~/usr/local/pgsql-7.X.X) and a symlink named pgsql is created that points to that directory.

Configuration

If you choose to configure PostgreSQL, add the following lines to your shell startup file, according to which shell your Virtual Private Server is running.

NOTE: To find out which shell your server is running, type:

% echo $SHELL

  • /bin/csh - If you are using /bin/csh or one of its variants, then add the following lines to the ~/.cshrc file on your Virtual Private Server.

    setenv PGDATA /usr/local/pgsql/data
setenv PGLIB /usr/local/pgsql/lib
set path = (/usr/local/pgsql/bin $path)

  • /bin/sh & /bin/bash - If you are using the Bourne shell (/bin/sh or /bin/bash) then add the following lines to the ~/.profile file on your server:

    PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/pgsql/bin
PGDATA=/usr/local/pgsql/data
PGLIB=/usr/local/pgsql/lib
export PGDATA PGLIB

The psql Client

The main tool for using PostgreSQL is the psql client. To start psql use this command:

% psql

The psql client will start up and you will be able to type in SQL code and ask for help.

NOTE: You may see the following error:

Connection to database '(null)' failed.
FATAL: PQsetdb: Unable to determine a Postgres username!

To resolve this, simply use the following command:

% vpwd_mkdb ~/etc/passwd

This program will read your password file at ~/etc/passwd and create a Berkeley DB format file. PostgreSQL uses this new file to look up user names and account information.

Multi-Language Abilities in PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL allows for a number of languages by enabling specific character-sets in the databases. When you create a database in PostgreSQL, you can use the -E flag to enable support for a specific character set.

% initdb -E SET

The following is a list of the available character sets and the SET name to use to enable support for it.

SET

 

Description

 
SQL_ASCII

 

ASCII

 
EUC_JP

 

Japanese EUC

 
EUC_CN

 

Chinese EUC

 
EUC_KR

 

Korean EUC

 
EUC_TW

 

Taiwanese EUC

 
UNICODE

 

Unicode(UTF-8)

 
MULE_INTERNAL

 

Mule Internal Code

 
LATIN1 ISO 8859-1

 

English and some Europe Lang

 
LATIN2 ISO 8859-2

 

English and some Europe Lang

 
LATIN3 ISO 8859-3

 

English and some Europe Lang

 
LATIN4 ISO 8859-4

 

English and some Europe Lang

 
LATIN5 ISO 8859-5

 

English and some Europe Lang

 
KOI8

 

KOI8-R(U)

 
WIN

 

Windows CP1251

 
ALT

 

Windows CP866

Removing PostgreSQL

To remove PostgreSQL from your server, connect to it via SSH prompt, as root and do the following:

% vuninstall pgsql

Edit your ~/etc/rc file, removing the line that contains postmaster.

Run the ps command, like this:

% ps -x

Determine the process ID of the PostgreSQL daemon and use kill to stop the PostgreSQL daemon:

% kill PROCESS-ID

Please note: the information on this page applies to ITS web hosting plans. It may or may not apply to other environments. If you are looking for a feature described here, or better support from your hosting provider, please consider hosting your site with ITS!

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