How to Install PostgreSQL Using the Source Code

1. 1
   Obtain the source code from PostgreSQL website [1].
2. 2
   Unpack the source code package. Use the following bash/console command:
   
   gunzip postgresql-8.3.3.tar.gz
   tar xf postgresql-8.3.3.tar
   
   
   • postgresql-8.3.3 is the name of the current version. Future versions might differ in the 8.3.3 part.
   • A directory named postgresql-8.3.3 will be created under the current directory (the one you executed the above script from).
3. 3
   Change the current directory to the newly created one (postgresql-8.3.3)
4. 4
   Configure the source tree for your system and choose the installation options you want:
   • Default Configuration: run the command
     ./configure
     on your bash/console
   • Custom Configuration (this is for advanced users only): you can set a lot of custom configuration options using command line options listed in the PostgreSql documentation [2]
5. 5
   Start the build process by executing the command line
   gmake
   in your console/bash. This might take a few minutes depending on your hardware. The last line displayed should be:
   All of PostgreSQL is successfully made. Ready to install.
6. 6
   Install PostgreSql files by executing the bash/console command:
   gmake install
   which will install the files to /usr/local/pgsql unless you used the --prefix=PREFIX command line option, in which case the files will be installed to the path specified by PREFIX
7. 7
   Create a super-user account for PostgreSQL by executing the following command in the bash console:
   adduser postgres
8. 8
   Create a directory to hold PostgreSQL data tree by executing the following commands in the bash console:
   mkdir /p01/pgsql/data
   chown postgres /p01/pgsql/data
9. 9
   Create PostgreSQL cluster by executing:
   su - postgres
   /usr/local/pgsql/bin/initdb -D /p01/pgsql/data
10. 10
    Start up the PostgreSQL server (postmaster process) by executing:
    /usr/local/pgsql/bin/postmaster -D /p01/pgsql/data >logfile 2>&1 &
11. 11
    Create a PostgreSQL database in the cluster by executing:
    /usr/local/pgsql/bin/createdb test
12. 12
    Log-in to the database using the psql command:
    /usr/local/pgsql/bin/psql test

Complete List of Commands

This is the full list of commands to be executed that are described in this article to install the server. This can be saved into a script to be executed later.

./configure
gmake
su
gmake install
adduser postgres
mkdir /usr/local/pgsql/data
chown postgres /usr/local/pgsql/data
su - postgres
/usr/local/pgsql/bin/initdb -D /usr/local/pgsql/data
/usr/local/pgsql/bin/postgres -D /usr/local/pgsql/data >logfile 2>&1 &
/usr/local/pgsql/bin/createdb test
/usr/local/pgsql/bin/psql test