Howto Install PostgreSQL 8.4 Database Server on CentOS, Fedora, Red Hat

By

JR

– Published: January 21, 2010 – Last Updated: August 27, 2010Posted in: CentOS, Featured, Fedora, Linux, Most Popular, Red Hat (RHEL), SQL, Servers

This is quick guide howto install PostgreSQL 8.4 (current stable 8.4.4) database server on CentOS, Fedora and Red Hat. Fedora 12, Fedora 13, CentOS 5.5 and Red Hat (RHEL) 5.5 has PostgreSQL 8.4 database server as default so extra repositories is not needed. Personally, I like to use Postgres own repositories, because the latest version of PostgreSQL may be quickly and easily installed. The following commands run as root and postgres user, so “su -” or “sudo -i” first.

Install PostgreSQL 8.4 Database Server Using PostgreSQL’s repositories

Install PostgreSQL repository:

## CentOS
rpm -Uvh http://yum.pgsqlrpms.org/reporpms/8.4/pgdg-centos-8.4-2.noarch.rpm
 
## Fedora
rpm -Uvh http://yum.pgsqlrpms.org/reporpms/8.4/pgdg-fedora-8.4-2.noarch.rpm
 
## Red Hat
rpm -Uvh http://yum.pgsqlrpms.org/reporpms/8.4/pgdg-redhat-8.4-2.noarch.rpm

Install postgresql and postgresql-server packages from PostgreSQL’s repositories:

yum install postgresql postgresql-server postgresql-contrib

Alternative PostgreSQL 8.4 Install Method for Fedora 12, Fedora 13, CentOS 5.5, Red Hat (RHEL) 5.5

Install postgresql and postgresql-server packages on CentOS 5.5 and Red Hat (RHEL) 5.5:

yum install postgresql84 postgresql84-server postgresql84-contrib

Install postgresql and postgresql-server packages on Fedora 12 and Fedora 13:

yum install postgresql postgresql-server postgresql-contrib

Configure PostgreSQL 8.4 Database Server

Initialize the cluster first with initdb command:

service postgresql initdb
## OR ##
/etc/init.d/postgresql initdb

Edit /var/lib/pgsql/data/postgresql.conf file:

nano -w /var/lib/pgsql/data/postgresql.conf

Set PostgreSQL server to listen all addresses and Change PostgreSQL port (default is 5432). Add/Uncomment/Edit following lines:

listen_addresses = '*'
port = 5432

Edit /var/lib/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf file:

nano -w /var/lib/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf

Add (example) your local network with md5 passwords:

# Local networks
host	all	all	xx.xx.xx.xx/xx	md5
# Example
host	all	all	10.20.4.0/24	md5

Start/Restart PostgreSQL Server:

service postgresql start
## OR ##
/etc/init.d/postgresql start

Change to postgres user:

su postgres

Create test database (as postgres user):

createdb test

Login test database (as postgres user):

psql test

Create New “testuser” Role with Superuser and Password:

CREATE ROLE testuser WITH SUPERUSER LOGIN PASSWORD 'test';

Open PostgreSQL Port (5432) on Iptables Firewall (as root user again)

Edit /etc/sysconfig/iptables file:

nano -w /etc/sysconfig/iptables

Add following line before COMMIT:

-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -m state --state NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 5432 -j ACCEPT

Restart Iptables Firewall:

service iptables restart
## OR ##
/etc/init.d/iptables restart

Test remote connection:

psql -h dbserver -U testuser test

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Tags: CentOS, Database, Fedora, Firewall, Howto, Iptables, Linux, PostgreSQL, psql, Red Hat, RHEL, SQL

About the Author

Hi, I'm JR and the Founder of if not true then false. I am a software developer, and I have over ten years experience in programming. I'm big fan of Linux and Open Source. And normally I use just Linux environments. - You can follow me on Twitter at @zuissi

16 Comments

1. Reply

   Dhawal

   Posted June 14, 2010 at 5:50 PM

   after editting hba file , I wasn’t able to start postgresql. Then I tried next thing that is iptable , but it says ‘having error in line 13′ which is the line I added before comet as you said.

   Don’t know what is wrong , my system is i686 archetecture and I have installed postgresql for that only but still their is problem. I can’t restart or start.

   • Reply

     JR

     Posted June 15, 2010 at 7:57 AM

     Hi Dhawal,

     It is impossible to say any reason without seeing to conf files.

     So could you post your /var/lib/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf file and your /etc/sysconfig/iptables file?

2. Reply

   Andrus

   Posted June 18, 2010 at 12:16 PM

   http://yum.pgsqlrpms.org/reporpms/8.4/pgdg-fedora-8.4-1.noarch.rpm

   returns 404 error

   How to install PostgreSql 8.4 on FC 11 RC ?

   • Reply

     JR

     Posted June 18, 2010 at 2:50 PM

     Hi Andrus,

     Working address is currently:
     http://yum.pgsqlrpms.org/reporpms/8.4/pgdg-fedora-8.4-2.noarch.rpm

     I updated it to this guide also.

     I have not tested this guide with Fedora 11, but I think this should work nicely with Fedora 11 (and even fc10, fc9…), because PostgreSQL 8.4 doesn’t have any dependencies to Fedora 12 or Fedora 13 packages.

     Please let me know, if you get it working or if you have any problems?

3. Reply

   Andrus

   Posted June 18, 2010 at 6:13 PM

   Thank you.
   In Fedora 11 there is no /etc/sysconfig/iptables file mentioned.
   How to open 5432 port? How to find router IP address ? Maybe router needs also configured.

   Where to find instructions to install latest mono + mod_mono in Fedora 11 ?
   yum mod_mono installs old 2.4 version.

   Andrus.

   • Reply

     JR

     Posted June 20, 2010 at 11:00 AM

     In Fedora 11 try add configurations to /etc/iptables.up.rules file.

     It is difficult to say anything about network configuration without seeing it.

     • Reply

       Andrus

       Posted June 21, 2010 at 12:47 PM

       [root@server /etc]# ls /etc/ipt*
       ls: cannot access /etc/ipt*: No such file or directory

       There is no to /etc/iptables.up.rules in Fedora 11

       • Reply

         JR

         Posted June 21, 2010 at 3:52 PM

         Ok, I do not have Fedora 11 now, but then try simple something like following (as root):

         /sbin/iptables -I INPUT 1 -p tcp --dport 5432 -j ACCEPT
         ## OR ##
         /sbin/iptables -I INPUT 1 -p tcp --dport postgres -j ACCEPT

         Save rules (as root):

         /sbin/service iptables save

4. Reply

   Andrus

   Posted June 18, 2010 at 6:17 PM

   CREATE ROLE testuser WITH SUPERUSER LOGIN PASSWORD=’test’;

   is incorrect. correct is

   CREATE ROLE testuser WITH SUPERUSER LOGIN PASSWORD ‘test’;

   • Reply

     JR

     Posted June 20, 2010 at 11:02 AM

     Yes you’re right, it’s typo.

     I fix it to guide.

     Thanks!

5. Reply

   Nick Aubert

   Posted July 19, 2010 at 9:43 PM

   Another typo that got me, because I was copy-n-pasting. That should be

   listen_addresses = ‘*’

   *not*

   listen_addressses = ‘*’

   Count the S’s

   • Reply

     JR

     Posted July 19, 2010 at 11:34 PM

     Hi Nick,

     Thans for the correction!

     Updated guide again… :)

6. Reply

   Patrick Balm

   Posted August 27, 2010 at 12:15 PM

   I would like to recommend to also install the contrib libraries (for VACUUMing etc),
   since v8.2 it is a separate package (postgresql84-contrib)

   yum install postgresql84 postgresql84-server postgresql84-contrib

   /patrick

   • Reply

     JR

     Posted August 27, 2010 at 4:00 PM

     Hi Patrick,

     Thanks for the tip!

     I added it in the guide.

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