16
Nov/08
2

Using PostgreSQL With Ruby on Rails on OS X

Following on from my last post for getting PostgreSQL up and running nicely on Mac OS X, my next task was getting it playing nicely with ruby on rails - I’m off on a rails course next week so I’m getting stuff ready. :)

It appears that there is currently two/three gem packages for using postgresql with ruby: postgres, ruby-pg, and pg - and from what I can make out, they’re all maintained by the same team now, (postgres was the original package, but it got abandoned - ruby-pg and pg are the replacements). As such, i’ll go with the newer ruby-pg gem…

sudo env ARCHFLAGS="-arch i386" gem install \
 ruby-pg -- \
 --with-pgsql-lib=/opt/local/lib/postgresql83 \
 --with-pgsql-include=/opt/local/include/postgresql83

Then finally, when writing the database.yml entry for connecting to postgresql, we have to define our adapter as follows:

development:
  adapter: postgresql
  database: test_dev
  encoding: unicode
  host: localhost
  user: XXXXX
  password: XXXXX
  timeout: 5000
16
Nov/08
0

Install PostgreSQL on Mac OS X Leopard

This type of guide is all over the internet, but I’m too lazy to search for one every time I want to do this. ;) So here’s a brief overview of how I got PostgreSQL set-up nicely on Mac OS 10.5…

Setting Up Our Environment

Using a text editor of your choice, add the following lines to the bottom of the /etc/profile file (you’ll need to be an administrator to do this):

# MacPorts
export PATH=/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:$PATH
 
# PostgreSQL
export PATH=/opt/local/lib/postgresql83/bin:$PATH

Now before we move on, make sure that you have MacPorts installed.

13
May/08
49

Install PostgreSQL on Ubuntu 8.04

Following up from my old guide to installing PostgreSQL (for Ubuntu 7.10), I thought i’d better do an update for the latest releases… :)

This quick walk-through are my notes for installing the PostgreSQL database server and the PgAdmin administration application on Ubuntu Linux, and also set up the server so it allows access to other PC’s on your network.

Before we move on, this guide was tested on the current release of Ubuntu Linux, (8.04 - Hardy Heron) and PostgreSQL 8.3, but it should also be applicable to older versions (of Ubuntu and PostgreSQL) and other Debian based distros.

14
Nov/07
11

Install phpPgAdmin on Ubuntu 7.10

Update: These instructions have been tested and work fine in the latest version of Ubuntu (8.04, Hardy Heron).

phpPgAdmin is a web based GUI for administrating a PostgreSQL database server.

Here’s some quick notes on getting it installed easily on Ubuntu 7.10…

In the terminal enter the following:

$ sudo apt-get install phppgadmin

This will set up and install all of the phpPgAdmin packages. It will also set-up and configure Apache and php5 for you too if you haven’t installed these already.

Next we need to create a symlink to phpPgAdmin so that Apache can find it:

$ sudo ln -s /etc/phppgadmin/apache.conf /etc/apache2/conf.d/phppgadmin.conf

Now if you navigate to http://localhost/phppgadmin you should be greeted with the phpPgAdmin screen. If your user account has a PostgreSQL account however, you will be logged in automagically.

Optionally, if you would like to be able to use the phpPgAdmin interface as the default ‘postgres’ administration account,1 you will need to do the following2

$ sudo gedit /usr/share/phppgadmin/conf/config.inc.php

Now find and change the following line

$conf['extra_login_security'] = true;

to

$conf['extra_login_security'] = false;

Save and close gedit. Now all you need to do is restart Apache.

$ sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 reload

Now if you head on over to http://localhost/phppgadmin all should be ready for you.


  1. I am assuming here that you have set-up your PostgreSQL server using my set-up instructions and therefore have a password protected ‘postgres’ account and that logins require passwords. 

  2. Please make sure you have read the above footnote and understand the security implications of allowing this type of access to your database server - if you have not secured your administration accounts, do it now! 

5
Nov/07
9

Creating New Accounts in PostgreSQL

Getting a new account set up on PostgreSQL is a simple process…

Create our new user:

$ sudo su postgres -c createuser daz

Then you have to give this new user role a name (I called it daz), and then say ‘y’ to the question “Shall the new role be a superuser?” if you want the user to be an administrator.

Give the user a database password (this does not have to be the same as their unix password):

$ sudo su postgres -c psql
postgres=# ALTER USER daz WITH PASSWORD 'mypassword';
postgres=# \q

Finally, give the new user a database to play with:

$ sudo su postgres -c createdb daz

Pretty straight forward… :)

5
Nov/07
60

Install PostgreSQL on Ubuntu 7.10

If you are using the latest version of Ubuntu (8.04 - Hardy Heron), you might find these slightly updated instructions useful.

This quick walk-through are my notes for installing the PostgreSQL database server and the PgAdmin administration application on Ubuntu Linux, and also set up the server so it allows access to other PC’s on your network.

Before we move on, this guide was tested on the current release of Ubuntu Linux, (7.10 - Gutsy Gibbon) and PostgreSQL 8.2, but it should also be applicable to older versions (of Ubuntu and PostgreSQL) and other Debian based distros.