How to run PostgreSQL server in Docker container

Introduction

PostgreSQL is an open-source, enterprise-class relational database system with support for SQL and JSON queries. PostgreSQL has the support of over 20 years of community development. This ensures the highest levels of integrity, performance and resilience. The most common application of PostgreSQL is in the data warehouse for mobile, web, and analytics applications. PostgreSQL comes with a number of features such as asynchronous replication, online/hot backup, nested transactions and many more features.

The most common method to install PostgreSQL database server is from the operating system package repositories. The .deb package for Debian-based systems and the .rpm package for RHEL-based systems. The alternative method to run PostgreSQL is inside a container. This ensures a clean system state and the highest level of portability. In this blog post we focus on installing and running the PostgreSQL database server in the Docker container.

Installing the Docker Container Engine

Follow the steps provided in our article below to setup the Docker environment on your Linux system. Windows and macOS users can use GUI-based tools like Docker Desktop and Portainer.

After installation confirm by checking the version release.

docker --version

Docker version 25.0.3, build 4debf41

Create the Compose file for PostgreSQL

Create data directory for PostgreSQL database

mkdir ~/postgresql && cd ~/postgresql

Create the Compose file that will define how to create the container.

vim docker-compose.yml

Next we define the contents of the YAM file. The container images on Docker Hub are what we are using to create a running instance of the PostgreSQL server. The database data will be stored in the local ./pgdata directory.

We also create a container that runs the Admirer PostgreSQL web-based management tool.

• PostgreSQL 16

services:
 db:
 image: postgres:16-bookworm
 restart: always
 environment:
 POSTGRES_PASSWORD: StrongPassword01
 volumes:
 -./pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data

 adminer:
 image: adminer
 restart: always
 ports:
 - 8080:8080

• PostgreSQL 15

services:
 db:
 image: postgres:15-bookworm
 restart: always
 environment:
 POSTGRES_PASSWORD: StrongPassword01
 volumes:
 -./pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data

 adminer:
 image: adminer
 restart: always
 ports:
 - 8080:8080

• PostgreSQL 14

services:
 db:
 image: postgres:14-bookworm
 restart: always
 environment:
 POSTGRES_PASSWORD: StrongPassword01
 volumes:
 -./pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data

 adminer:
 image: adminer
 restart: always
 ports:
 - 8080:8080

• PostgreSQL 13

services:
 db:
 image: postgres:13-bookworm
 restart: always
 environment:
 POSTGRES_PASSWORD: StrongPassword01
 volumes:
 -./pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data

 adminer:
 image: adminer
 restart: always
 ports:
 - 8080:8080

• PostgreSQL 12

services:
 db:
 image: postgres:12-bookworm
 restart: always
 environment:
 POSTGRES_PASSWORD: StrongPassword01
 volumes:
 -./pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data

 adminer:
 image: adminer
 restart: always
 ports:
 - 8080:8080

• PostgreSQL 11

services:
 db:
 image: postgres:11-bookworm
 restart: always
 environment:
 POSTGRES_PASSWORD: StrongPassword01
 volumes:
 -./pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data

 adminer:
 image: adminer
 restart: always
 ports:
 - 8080:8080

Running PostgreSQL server in the container

Next we start the container by running the composition commands. The -d option keeps it running in detached mode (in the background) without an active interactive session.

$ docker compose up -d
 [+] Running 22/22
 ✔ adminer 7 layers [⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿] 0B/0B Pulled 11.0s
 ✔ 09e2bc8a597c Pull complete 0.9s
 ✔ 092a59d5d649 Pull complete 0.7s
 ✔ e4dca1b56763 Pull complete 0.4s
 ✔ 378feffe5197 Pull complete 0.8s
 ✔ 3bd4de3ac847 Pull complete 1.1s
 ✔ 44d5566ceca7 Pull complete 1.1s
 ✔ 3dafa7b9d4fc Pull complete 1.3s
 ✔ db 13 layers [⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿] 0B/0B Pulled 13.5s
 ✔ 1f7ce2fa46ab Pull complete 1.8s
 ✔ e75b44f17b07 Pull complete 1.6s
 ✔ d601ea737a84 Pull complete 2.9s
 ✔ 0f4fcee3f93d Pull complete 2.1s
 ✔ 428f7aff61bc Pull complete 2.6s
 ✔ 7787ed5ab4f3 Pull complete 3.0s
 ✔ 3d2b66cffddc Pull complete 3.3s
 ✔ e7dee0dd847b Pull complete 3.3s
 ✔ a24060178bac Pull complete 5.8s
 ✔ 0eb290c85bd2 Pull complete 4.2s
 ✔ 88b80c4fe471 Pull complete 3.9s
 ✔ eac33d14a11e Pull complete 4.4s
 ✔ d40b681a9814 Pull complete 4.9s
 [+] Running 2/3
 ⠋ Network postgresql_default Created 1.0s
 ✔ Container postgresql-adminer-1 Started 0.8s
 ✔ Container postgresql-db-1 Started 0.7s

Confirm the status of the container by running compose docker with ps flag.

docker compose ps

NAME IMAGE COMMAND SERVICE CREATED STATUS PORTS
 postgresql-adminer-1 adminer "entrypoint.sh php -…" adminer 5 minutes ago Up 5 minutes 0.0.0.0:8080->8080/tcp,:::8080->8080/tcp
 postgresql-db-1 postgres:11-bookworm "docker-entrypoint.s…" db 5 minutes ago Up 5 minutes 5432/tcp

To access the container shell, run;

docker exec -ti postgresql-db-1 bash

root@a79ad82fd433:/#

The PostgreSQL server version can be checked using the psql -V command.

psql -V

psql (PostgreSQL) 11.22 (Debian 11.22-1.pgdg120+1)

From there you can start psql, which is a terminal-based front end for PostgreSQL.

su - postgres

psql (11.22 (Debian 11.22-1.pgdg120+1))
 Type "help" for help.
 postgres=#

We can create a test user and database;

• Database User: Nov1
• Database name: mysite
• Password: Str0ngPassw0rd

CREATE USER nov1 WITH PASSWORD 'Str0ngPassw0rd';

CREATE ROLE

CREATE DATABASE mywebsite WITH OWNER = 'nov1';

CREATE DATABASE

To exit PostgreSQL and the container shell, use the exit command three times.

exit

logout

The database data will be stored in ./pgdata as defined in the composition file.

ls -1 pgdata/

base
 global
 pg_commit_ts
 pg_dynshmem
 pg_hba.conf
 pg_ident.conf
 pg_logical
 pg_multixact
 pg_notify
 pg_replslot
 pg_serial
 pg_snapshots
 pg_stat
 pg_stat_tmp
 pg_subtrans
 pg_tblspc
 pg_twophase
 PG_VERSION
 pg_wal
 pg_xact
 postgresql.auto.conf
 postgresql.conf
 postmaster.opts
 postmaster.pid

Access to the Admirer dashboard

Open your web browser to http://ServerIP:8080.

Log in as user, database and password.

You will get a dashboard. From here you can manage your database: create tables, functions, views, import data, etc

Conclusion

By running the PostgreSQL database in a container you will appreciate the efficiency of its administration. Other benefits of containerization range from portability to isolation to scalability. You can lift the container image with data and run it on a separate host in seconds. Deciding whether to adopt a containerized database comes down to your usage preferences.