First, you’ll follow a simple best practice: ensuring the list of available packages is up to date before installing anything new.
apt-get -y update
Then it’s a matter of just running one command for installation via apt-get:
apt-get -y install postgresql postgresql-contrib
Postgres should now be installed and ready to use.
Step 2: Switch to the Default PostgreSQL User
As part of the installation Postgres adds the system user <reference_page_text>postgres and is setup to use “ident” authentication. Rolesinternal to Postgres (which are similar to users) match with a system user account.
Let’s switch into that system user:
su – postgres
And then connect to the PostgreSQL terminal (in the <reference_page_text>postgres role):
psql
That’s it! You’re connected and ready to run commands in PostgreSQL as the <reference_page_text>postgres role. In future (Aug 2014) articles we’ll delve into creating new roles, changing a role’s password, creating/deleting databases, backups, etc.
