PostgreSQL, an open-source relational database management system, is highly valued for its powerful features and adaptability. Although many Linux distributions offer PostgreSQL via their package managers, building it from source gives users more personalization and control.

This article will guide you through the process of installing PostgreSQL 16 using source code on Linux systems.

For those preferring a simpler installation method via the package manager, refer to the following guides:

• How to Install PostgreSQL 16 on RHEL-Based Systems
• How to Install PostgreSQL 16 and pgAdmin on Debian 12

Prerequisites

Before proceeding with the PostgreSQL installation, confirm that your system satisfies the following prerequisites:

• A Linux distribution (this guide uses Debian for illustration).
• A Linux system with a non-root user possessing sudo privileges.
• Essential development tools like GCC and Make must be installed.

1. Install Prerequisites on Linux

Initially, install necessary development tools such as GCC and Make using the distribution's package manager as indicated.

On RHEL-based distributions like CentOS, Fedora, Rocky Linux, and Alma Linux:

<code>sudo yum groupinstall development-tools
sudo yum install zlib-devel readline-devel libicu-devel</code>

On Debian-based distributions such as Ubuntu and Linux Mint:

<code>sudo apt install gcc build-essential zlib1g-dev libreadline6-dev libicu-dev pkg-config</code>

2. Download the PostgreSQL Source Code

With the prerequisites in place, download the source code tar file from the official PostgreSQL website using the following wget command directly on the system. At the time of writing, the latest version is PostgreSQL 16.1.

<code>wget https://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/source/v16.1/postgresql-16.1.tar.bz2</code>

Next, use the tar command to extract the downloaded tarball file. A new directory named postgresql-16.1 will be created.

<code>tar -xvf postgresql-16.1.tar.bz2
cd postgresql-16.1/
ls -l</code>

Sample Output:

<code>-rw-r--r--.  1 tecmint tecmint    365 Nov  7 03:34 aclocal.m4
drwxr-xr-x.  2 tecmint tecmint   4096 Nov  7 03:47 config
-rwxr-xr-x.  1 tecmint tecmint 584560 Nov  7 03:34 configure
-rw-r--r--.  1 tecmint tecmint  87292 Nov  7 03:34 configure.ac
drwxr-xr-x. 61 tecmint tecmint   4096 Nov  7 03:47 contrib
-rw-r--r--.  1 tecmint tecmint   1192 Nov  7 03:34 COPYRIGHT
drwxr-xr-x.  3 tecmint tecmint   4096 Nov  7 03:47 doc
-rw-r--r--.  1 tecmint tecmint   4288 Nov  7 03:34 GNUmakefile.in
-rw-r--r--.  1 tecmint tecmint    277 Nov  7 03:34 HISTORY
-rw-r--r--.  1 tecmint tecmint  64601 Nov  7 03:48 INSTALL
-rw-r--r--.  1 tecmint tecmint   1875 Nov  7 03:34 Makefile
-rw-r--r--.  1 tecmint tecmint 102017 Nov  7 03:47 meson.build
-rw-r--r--.  1 tecmint tecmint   6266 Nov  7 03:34 meson_options.txt
-rw-r--r--.  1 tecmint tecmint   1213 Nov  7 03:34 README
drwxr-xr-x. 16 tecmint tecmint   4096 Nov  7 03:48 src</code>

3. Configure PostgreSQL from Source

Since postgres is an open-source database, it can be compiled from source code based on individual needs. You can customize the build and installation process by providing one or more command-line options for various optional features.

Use the following command for help regarding available options and configuration usage, as shown.

<code>./configure --help</code>

Now run the configure script, which will check your system for dependencies and configure the build accordingly.

<code>./configure</code>

4. Install PostgreSQL from Source

Once configured, use the following commands to compile and install PostgreSQL from the source.

<code>make
sudo make install</code>

5. Create Postgres User

Create a postgres user and directory to serve as the data directory for initializing the database cluster. The owner of this data directory should be the postgres user, and permissions should be set to 700. Additionally, set a path for the PostgreSQL binaries for convenience.

<code>sudo useradd postgres
sudo passwd postgres
sudo mkdir -p /pgdatabase/data
sudo chown -R postgres: /pgdatabase/data
sudo sh -c "echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/opt/PostgreSQL/bin' > /etc/profile.d/postgres.sh"
source /etc/profile.d/postgres.sh </code>

6. Initialize Postgres Database

Now initialize the database using the following command as the postgres user before using any postgres commands.

<code>su postgres
initdb -D /pgdatabase/data/ -U postgres -W</code>

Where -D specifies the location for this database cluster or the data directory where you want to initialize the database cluster, -U specifies the database superuser name, and -W prompts for the superuser password.

For more information and options, refer to initdb --help.

7. Start PostgreSQL Service

After initializing the database, start the database cluster. If you need to modify the port or specify the listening address for the server, edit the /pgdatabase/data/postgresql.conf file in the data directory of the database server.

<code>nano /pgdatabase/data/postgresql.conf</code>

Now, start the PostgreSQL service.

<code>pg_ctl -D /pgdatabase/data/ start</code>

After starting the database, verify the status of the postgres server process by using the following ps and netstat commands.

<code>ps -ef |grep -i postgres
netstat -apn |grep -i 51751</code>

We can see that the database cluster is running smoothly, and startup logs can be found at the location specified with the -l option while starting the database cluster.

<code>pg_ctl -D /pgdatabase/data/ -l logfile start</code>

8. Connect to PostgreSQL

Now connect to the database cluster and create a database by using the following commands.

<code>psql -p 5432
<strong>postgres=#</strong> create database test;
<strong>postgres=#</strong> \l to list all databases in cluster
<strong>postgres=#</strong> \q to quit from postgres console</code>

If you prefer a graphical tool called pgAdmin to manage your PostgreSQL, follow these guides to install pgAdmin on your Linux

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