Install PostgreSQL 10 on Ubuntu

install-postgres-10-ubuntu.md

Install PostgreSQL 10 on Ubuntu

This is a quick guide to install PostgreSQL 10 - tested on Ubuntu 16.04 but likely can be used for Ubuntu 14.04 and 17.04 as well, with one minor modification detailed below.

(Optional) Uninstall other versions of postgres

To make life simple, remove all other versions of Postgres. Obviously not required, but again, makes life simple.

dpkg -l | grep postgres

returned for me:

ii  postgresql                                  9.5+173                                                     all          object-relational SQL database (supported version)
ii  postgresql-9.5                              9.5.8-0ubuntu0.16.04.1                                      amd64        object-relational SQL database, version 9.5 server
ii  postgresql-client-9.5                       9.5.8-0ubuntu0.16.04.1                                      amd64        front-end programs for PostgreSQL 9.5
ii  postgresql-client-common                    173                                                         all          manager for multiple PostgreSQL client versions
ii  postgresql-common                           173                                                         all          PostgreSQL database-cluster manager
ii  postgresql-contrib-9.5                      9.5.8-0ubuntu0.16.04.1                                      amd64        additional facilities for PostgreSQL

... therefore I ran:

sudo apt-get --purge remove postgresql postgresql-9.5 postgresql-client-9.5 postgresql-client-common  postgresql-common postgresql-contrib-9.5

Add PostgreSQL apt repository

The current default Ubuntu apt repositories only have up to postgresql-9.6. To get 10, we'll add the official postgres apt repository.

• Ubuntu 14.04: sudo add-apt-repository 'deb http://apt.postgresql.org/pub/repos/apt/ trusty-pgdg main'
• Ubuntu 16.04: sudo add-apt-repository 'deb http://apt.postgresql.org/pub/repos/apt/ xenial-pgdg main'
• Ubuntu 17.04: sudo add-apt-repository 'deb http://apt.postgresql.org/pub/repos/apt/ zesty-pgdg main'

Now import the repository signing key, followed by an update to the package lists:

wget --quiet -O - https://www.postgresql.org/media/keys/ACCC4CF8.asc | \
  sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-get update

Install PostgreSQL

sudo apt-get install postgres-10

Ensure that the server is started by switching to the postgres user.

sudo su - postgres
/usr/lib/postgresql/10/bin/pg_ctl -D /var/lib/postgresql/10/main -l logfile start

If that fails, the server might be running, so restart it to be safe: /usr/lib/postgresql/10/bin/pg_ctl -D /var/lib/postgresql/10/main -l logfile restart

That should return something like:

postgres@computer-name:~$ /usr/lib/postgresql/10/bin/pg_ctl -D /var/lib/postgresql/10/main -l logfile restart
waiting for server to shut down.... done
server stopped
waiting for server to start.... done
server started

Which means your PostgreSQL 10 is up and running!

(Optional) Create a user for yourself

Since we're still logged in as the postgres user, now is a good time to create your own user account. This allows you to use operating system level authentication locally, greatly simplifying access to the database. I also like to create a database with my username, as this is the default database that psql will connect to, and if the database doesn't exist psql throws a pesky error (which gets me every time).

psql
CREATE ROLE <username> SUPERUSER LOGIN REPLICATION CREATEDB CREATEROLE;
CREATE DATABASE <username> OWNER <username>;
\q

Now we can exit the postgres user and query normally!

postgres@computer:~$ logout