How to get started with PostgreSQL (complete step-by-step walkthrough)

This is Grant Fritchey’s complete set of step-by-step walkthroughs (guides) for getting started with PostgreSQL, designed for any IT professional or hobbyist who wants to add PostgreSQL to their existing skillset.

Originally intended to be proctored classes given in a live, in-person environment, Grant has aimed to make the documentation and scripts clear enough to walk through them independently from home.

What do I need to follow this walkthrough?

You must have:

Let’s talk about these requirements in a little more detail. First, download a copy of this repository to your machine (or in git terms, clone the repository). These walkthroughs assume you have the code locally. The command is:
git clone https://github.com/ScaryDBA/GettingStartedWithPostgreSQL.git

Second: you must be running an operating system capable of running Docker containers. Red Hat and Fedora have Podman built in, so there’s nothing you need to do there. Debian, Ubuntu or Raspberry Pi OS, however, will require installation of an engine such as the aforementioned Podman or Docker Engine.

For Windows, you’ll need to make virtualization possible on your system by first installing Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). Your Windows machine may also require a BIOS update to run virtualization.

After that, you can install Podman Desktop, Rancher Desktop or Docker Desktop. For Mac, you can choose between Podman or Podman Desktop, Colima, Docker Desktop for Mac, or Rancher Desktop.

You’ll need to know how (and be able to) run a Docker container to follow these walkthroughs. Additionally, during the initial “pull” stage of the walkthrough, you’ll need internet connectivity to retrieve the PostgreSQL images from the Docker Hub.

Docker commands: how to check that you can run them

You can validate that you can run Docker commands by running the following: docker info

If you’re running Podman, just substitute podman for docker and run all the other commands the same way. For Rancher Desktop or Colima, you can either run docker or  nerdctl commands. I’ll only be providing docker commands throughout this walkthrough, however, so you’d have to change them for your own syntax.

Once that’s running successfully, you can validate internet connectivity by running the following: docker run hello-world

That should pull an image and then create a container that shows “Hello from Docker!” along with some other text, suggestions and alternate commands.

One other requirement worth mentioning is a general, functional knowledge of the operating system you’re using. It’s also going to be assumed that you have some knowledge of what a data platform is, databases, and general data management. The purpose of these walkthroughs is to introduce you to a new data platform (PostgreSQL), not teach the fundamentals of databases and data management.

You’re still (nearly) in the right place, however, as Simple Talk has an extensive series of guides and tutorials for databases, data management, and much more. You can learn everything you need to know on this site.

One final point on commands

The majority of commands will be run from the command line on whatever operating system and hardware you choose to use. I recommend using Visual Studio Code (VSCode) as it has a very tight integration with source control, making it easier to get the project locally.