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Postgres.app is the easiest way to get started with PostgreSQL on the Mac. Open the app, and you have a PostgreSQL server ready and awaiting new connections. Close the app, and the server shuts down.

Whether you're a command line aficionado, prefer GUIs, or just want to start making things with your framework of choice, connecting to Postgres.app is easy.

Upgrading From A Previous Version

Starting with Version 9.2.2.0, Postgres.app is using semantic versioning, tied to the release of PostgreSQL provided in the release, with the final number corresponding to the individual releases of PostgresApp for each distribution.

If you are upgrading Postgres.app to a new minor release (e.g. 9.1 to 9.2), you will need to manually migrate your data from the previous version (which has been moved to ~/Library/Application\ Support/Postgres/var[PGVERSION]). Instructions to do this with the pg_upgrade utility can be found in the PostgreSQL manual.

Command-Line Tools

psql is the PostgreSQL command-line interface to your database. Mac OS 10.7 ships with an older version of PostgreSQL, which can be started with the following command:

$ psql -h localhost

When Postgres.app first starts up, it creates the $USER database, which is the default database for psql when none is specified. The default user is $USER, with no password.

PostgreSQL ships with a constellation of useful binaries, like pg_dump or pg_restore, that you will likely want to use. Go ahead and add the /bin directory that ships with Postgres.app to your PATH (preferably in .profile, .bashrc, .zshrc, or the like to make sure this gets set for every Terminal session):

PATH="/Applications/Postgres.app/Contents/MacOS/bin:$PATH"

Once your path is correctly set up, you should be able to run psql without a host. (If not, check that the correct version is being loaded in the PATH by doing which psql)

Postgres.app creates a PostgreSQL user with your current username ($USER). It also creates a database with this name, which will be the default one psql connects to if you don't specify otherwise.

To create a new database, connect with psql and enter the following:

CREATE DATABASE your_database_name;

To delete it, enter:

DROP DATABASE your_database_name;

You can get a list of all of psql's commands and shortcuts with \?. A complete reference for PostgreSQL is available on the PostgreSQL.org.

GUI Applications

Explore, query, and visualize your data with Induction. Although still in early development, Induction is fast and easy to use, and is our go-to application when working with data.

If you are running Mac OS X 10.8 and enjoy the cutting edge, check out PG Commander.

If you're looking for something more fully-featured and don't mind getting the kitchen sink in the process, check out pgAdmin.

Configuration Settings

Building a web application and want to skip to the part where everything works? Select the connection settings for your language, framework, and library of choice:

Ruby

Install the pg gem with gem install pg, or just add gem 'pg' to your application's Gemfile and run bundle install

If you are running your application with Foreman, set the DATABASE_URL config variable in .env:

DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres@localhost/[YOUR_DATABASE_NAME]

You can learn more about environment variables from this Heroku Dev Center article.

Rails

In config/database.yml, use the following settings:

development:
  adapter: postgresql
  database: [YOUR_DATABASE_NAME]
  host: localhost

Sinatra

In config.ru or your application code:

set :database, ENV['DATABASE_URL'] || 'postgres://localhost/[YOUR_DATABASE_NAME]'

ActiveRecord

Install the activerecord gem and require 'active_record', and establish a database connection:

ActiveRecord::Base.establish_connection(ENV["DATABASE_URL"])

DataMapper

Install and require the datamapper and do_postgres gems, and create a database connection:

DataMapper.setup(:default, ENV['DATABASE_URL'] || "postgres://localhost/[YOUR_DATABASE_NAME]")

Sequel

Install and require the sequel gem, and create a database connection:

DB = Sequel.connect(ENV['DATABASE_URL'] || "postgres://localhost/[YOUR_DATABASE_NAME]")

Python

Install the psycopg2 library with with pip install psycopg2 or add it to your pip requirements file.

Django

In your settings.py, add an entry to your DATABASES setting:

DATABASES = {
    "default": {
        "ENGINE": "django.db.backends.postgresql_psycopg2",
        "NAME": "[YOUR_DATABASE_NAME]",
        "USER": "",
        "PASSWORD": "",
        "HOST": "localhost",
        "PORT": "",
    }
}

Flask

When using the Flask-SQLAlchemy extension you can add to your application code:

from flask import Flask
from flask.ext.sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy

app = Flask(__name__)
app.config['SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI'] = 'postgresql://localhost/[YOUR_DATABASE_NAME]'
db = SQLAlchemy(app)

SQLAlchemy

In your application code add:

from sqlalchemy import create_engine
engine = create_engine('postgresql://localhost/[YOUR_DATABASE_NAME]')

PHP

PDO

Make sure your PHP setup has PDO installed (it is enabled by default in PHP 5.1.0 or above), and the PostgreSQL PDO driver is enabled. Then a database connection can be established with:

<?php
$dbh = new PDO('pgsql:host=localhost;dbname=[YOUR_DATABASE_NAME]');

Removing Existing PostgreSQL Installations

For best results, you should remove any existing installation of PostgreSQL. Here's a run-down of the most common ways you may have installed it previously:

Homebrew

$ brew remove postgresql

MacPorts

$ sudo port uninstall postgres

EnterpriseDB

In the EnterpriseDB installation directory, open uninstall-postgresql.app.

Included Packages

Each release of Postgres.app comes with the latest stable release of PostgreSQL, as well a few choice extensions. Here's a rundown of what's under the hood:

Installation Directories

  • Binaries: /Applications/Postgres.app/Contents/MacOS/bin
  • Headers: /Applications/Postgres.app/Contents/MacOS/include
  • Libraries: /Applications/Postgres.app/Contents/MacOS/lib
  • Shared Libraries: /Applications/Postgres.app/Contents/MacOS/share
  • Data: ~/Library/Containers/com.heroku.postgres/Data/Library/Application\ Support/Postgres/var

Uninstalling

Uninstall Postgres.app just like you would any application: quit, drag to the Trash, and Empty Trash.

Postgres.app data and configuration resides at ~/Library/Application\ Support/Postgres, so remove that when uninstalling, or if you need to do a hard reset on the database.

Troubleshooting

  • If you cannot connect to Postgres.app, you may have to reset your shared memory settings:
sudo sysctl -w kern.sysv.shmall=65536
sudo sysctl -w kern.sysv.shmmax=16777216
  • If gem install pg fails, try the following command:
env ARCHFLAGS="-arch x86_64" gem install pg -- --with-pg-config=/Applications/Postgres.app/Contents/MacOS/bin/pg_config

Additional Resources

  • PostgreSQL Website - The source for all of the latest PostgreSQL news and information.
  • PostgreSQL Docs - The canonical reference for everything you need to know about PostgreSQL.
  • Postgres Guide - A promising new PostgreSQL resource that reads well and introduces advanced topics in a way that's easy to understand.
  • Heroku Postgres - The largest and most reliable Postgres service in the world, for when it comes time to deploy and scale your database in production.