Installing PostgreSQL from source, and running two versions on one server in Centos 8

PostgreSQL is a free object-relational database management system, the most advanced open source database management system and is a real alternative to commercial databases. PostgreSQL is based on the SQL language.

Training

Installing the required packages

$ sudo dnf -y install gcc make readline-devel zlib-devel systemd-devel

Create the postgres system user

$ sudo useradd -M -s -d /var/lib/postgresql postgres

Create a directory for PostgreSQL logs and assign rights

$ sudo mkdir /var/log/postgresql
$ sudo chown -R postgres:postgres /var/log/postgresql

Installing PostgreSQL 9.6 from source, running on port 5433

Download the PostgreSQL 9.6 archive to the / tmp directory and unzip it

$ wget https://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/source/v9.6.19/postgresql-9.6.19.tar.gz -P /tmp
$ cd /tmp
$ tar xzf postgresql-9.6.19.tar.gz
$ cd postgresql-9.6.19

Launching PostgreSQL 9.6 Configuration

$ sudo ./configure --with-systemd --prefix=/opt/postgresql/9.6

Install PostgreSQL 9.6

$ sudo make
$ sudo make install

Create a directory for the PostgreSQL 9.6 database and assign rights

$ sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/postgresql/9.6/main
$ sudo chown -R postgres:postgres /var/lib/postgresql

Switching to postgres user

$ sudo su - postgres

Initialize the database and close the postgres user session

$ /opt/postgresql/9.6/bin/initdb -D /var/lib/postgresql/9.6/main
$ exit

Editing the PostgreSQL 9.6 config, changing the default port to 5433

$ sudo nano /var/lib/postgresql/9.6/main/postgresql.conf
[...]
listen_addresses="*"
port = 5433

Starting PostgreSQL 9.6

$ sudo su - postgres -c "/opt/postgresql/9.6/bin/pg_ctl -D /var/lib/postgresql/9.6/main/ -l /var/log/postgresql/postgresql-9.6.log start"

Check if port 5433 is available

$ ss -nltup | grep 5433
tcp     LISTEN   0        128              0.0.0.0:5433          0.0.0.0:*
tcp     LISTEN   0        128                 [::]:5433             [::]:*

Checking the connection to the DBMS

$ sudo su - postgres
$ export PGPORT=5433
$ /opt/postgresql/9.6/bin/psql

See version

=# SELECT version();
 PostgreSQL 9.6.19 on x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, compiled by gcc (GCC) 8.3.1 20191121 (Red Hat 8.3.1-5), 64-bit

We leave

=# q
$ exit

Stop PostgreSQL 9.6

$ sudo su - postgres -c "/opt/postgresql/9.6/bin/pg_ctl -D /var/lib/postgresql/9.6/main/ stop"

For the convenience of starting the service, create a Systemd Unit for Postgresql 9.6

$ sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/postgresql-9.6.service
[Unit]
Description=PostgreSQL database server
Documentation=man:postgres(1)

[Service]
Type=notify

User=postgres
Group=postgres

# Location of database directory
Environment=PGDATA=/var/lib/postgresql/9.6/main/

ExecStart=/opt/postgresql/9.6/bin/postmaster -D ${PGDATA}
ExecReload=/bin/kill -HUP $MAINPID
KillMode=mixed
KillSignal=SIGINT

TimeoutSec=0

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Add the service to startup and check the status

$ sudo systemctl daemon-reload
$ sudo systemctl enable --now postgresql-9.6
$ systemctl status postgresql-9.6

Opening port 5433 in Firewalld

$ sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-port=5433/tcp
$ sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Installing PostgreSQL 11 from source, running on port 5432

Download the PostgreSQL 11 archive to the / tmp directory and unzip it

$ wget https://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/source/v11.7/postgresql-11.7.tar.gz -P /tmp
$ cd /tmp
$ tar xzf postgresql-11.7.tar.gz
$ cd postgresql-11.7

Launching PostgreSQL 11 Configuration

$ sudo ./configure --with-systemd --prefix=/opt/postgresql/11

Install PostgreSQL 11

$ sudo make
$ sudo make install

Create directory for PostgreSQL 11 database and assign rights

$ sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/postgresql/11/main
$ sudo chown -R postgres:postgres /var/lib/postgresql

Switching to postgres user

$ sudo su - postgres

Initialize the database and close the postgres user session

$ /opt/postgresql/11/bin/initdb -D /var/lib/postgresql/11/main
$ exit

Editing the PostgreSQL 11 config

$ sudo nano /var/lib/postgresql/11/main/postgresql.conf
[…]
listen_addresses="*"
port = 5432

Starting PostgreSQL 11

$ sudo su - postgres -c "/opt/postgresql/11/bin/pg_ctl -D /var/lib/postgresql/11/main/ -l /var/log/postgresql/postgresql-11.log start"

Check if port 5432 is available

$ ss -nltup | grep 5432
tcp     LISTEN   0        128              0.0.0.0:5432          0.0.0.0:*
tcp     LISTEN   0        128                 [::]:5432             [::]:*

Checking the connection to the DBMS

$ sudo su - postgres
$ /opt/postgresql/11/bin/psql

See version

=# SELECT version();
PostgreSQL 11.7 on x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, compiled by gcc (GCC) 8.3.1 20191121 (Red Hat 8.3.1-5), 64-bit

We leave

=# q
$ exit

Stop PostgreSQL 11

$ sudo su - postgres -c "/opt/postgresql/11/bin/pg_ctl -D /var/lib/postgresql/11/main/ stop"

For the convenience of starting the service, create a Systemd Unit for Postgresql 11

$ sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/postgresql-11.service
[Unit]
Description=PostgreSQL database server
Documentation=man:postgres(1)

[Service]
Type=notify

User=postgres
Group=postgres

# Location of database directory
Environment=PGDATA=/var/lib/postgresql/11/main/

ExecStart=/opt/postgresql/11/bin/postmaster -D ${PGDATA}
ExecReload=/bin/kill -HUP $MAINPID
KillMode=mixed
KillSignal=SIGINT

TimeoutSec=0

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Add the service to startup and check the status

$ sudo systemctl daemon-reload
$ sudo systemctl enable --now postgresql-11
$ systemctl status postgresql-11

Opening port 5432 in Firewalld

$ sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-port=5432/tcp
$ sudo firewall-cmd --reload