{"id":3598,"date":"2023-04-12T15:39:37","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T15:39:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quebit.com\/askquebit\/doing-development-with-postgresql-and-docker\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T18:08:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T18:08:15","slug":"doing-development-with-postgresql-and-docker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quebit.com\/askquebit\/doing-development-with-postgresql-and-docker\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do I Set Up and Use PostgreSQL with Docker for Development?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this post I want to demonstrate how to create and start a Docker container<\/a> using a Postgres image to run a PostgreSQL<\/a> database server in a Docker container so that I can do some development in my local environment.<\/p>\n

Docker<\/strong><\/p>\n

Assuming Docker<\/a> is running, the first step is to create a container running PostgreSQL<\/a>. To do that, I open a MS Windows PowerShell window and type the following command:<\/p>\n

— Create the PostgreSQL Docker Container<\/p>\n

docker run –name pg_dbeavers -p 5439:5432 -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=TheBest1969 -d postgres:latest<\/p>\n

I am naming my container \u201cpg_dbeavers\u201d and will be using port 5439 to communicate with it (5432 is the default port that PostgreSQL uses). I\u2019ve also set a password (TheBest1969) and requested the latest postgres image. Since Docker didn\u2019t find a PostgreSQL image in my local environment, the latest image is downloaded and used to create the new container. Once this is done, any other containers I create using this image the download will not be necessary.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Once the container is created, you can use the following command to see the running containers:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Once its up, you\u2019ll see it in Docker:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

To \u201cget things started\u201d in the PostgreSQL server I will create a new database and schema using psql<\/strong><\/a>, which is\u00a0a terminal-based front-end to PostgreSQL. To accomplish this, I need to execute the following command in my PowerShell session:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Now I am ready to use psql within my PostgreSQL server. First, I execute a Docker command to see what databases and schemas may already exist in my PostgreSQL server. To see what databases are currently running, I can type l:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I see that the default database \u201cpostgres\u201d is running along with some template databases. I want to create a new database called \u201cmotorcycles\u201d so I use the following command:<\/p>\n

create database motorcycles;<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After running that command, I will again use l and now see my new PostgreSQL database.<\/p>\n

Schema<\/strong><\/p>\n

In PostgreSQL, a schema<\/a> is\u00a0a namespace that contains named database objects such as tables, views, indexes, data types, functions, stored procedures and operators.\u00a0 I want to create a new schema, named \u201cjamesmillers\u201d within my motorcycles database, so first I use c to connect to that database and then the CREATE SCHEMA command to create my schema.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Now that I have created my schema, I want to create a new table to hold some data so I can run this CREATE TABLE command:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After the new table \u201ccycles\u201d (within the jamesmillers schema) is created, I tried using the dt command to list all of the tables, but I found that dt \u2018jamesmillers.*\u2019 is needed to show what tables exist within my specific schema.<\/em> I can see that my tables \u201ccycles\u201d does in fact exist so next, I want to load some data so I can use the following command:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

You can see that the insert successfully inserted 1 row into the table and just to be sure, I executed a query on the table and the result is shown. Success!<\/p>\n

DBeaver<\/strong><\/p>\n

PLSQL is fine, but now I want to explore my PostgreSQL database with the graphical user interface named DBeaver<\/a>. DBeaver is a free multi-platform database tool for developers, database administrators, analysts and all people who need to work with databases. \u00a0Since I have already downloaded and configured the tool, I can go ahead and create a connection to my server.<\/p>\n

Creating the Connection<\/strong><\/p>\n

To connect to the PostgreSQL server from DBeaver I clicked in the \u201cNew Database Connection<\/strong>\u201d icon and was presented with the \u201cConnect to a database<\/strong>\u201d dialog (shown below) where I selected the PostgreSQL icon and then clicked Next<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On the next dialog I need to set some specific connection settings. Notice the Host<\/strong> is set to \u201clocalhost\u201d since my Docker container is running locally. Next, I set the Port<\/strong> to 5439 (that is the port ID I set when I created and started my Docker image. I left the Database<\/strong> as \u201cpostgres\u201d which is the default database and lastly, entered the password (again from the Docker command I executed to start my image):<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

One other step that is required is to click on the tabbed panel,\u00a0select PostgreSQL<\/strong>\u00a0, and then check the box Show all databases<\/strong>. This is done so that I will be able to access all database that are running within this server rather than just the database I named on the Main connection dialog.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Next, I can test the connection (click Test Connection) and verify that it connects successfully:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Click OK<\/strong> and then Save<\/strong> to save the new connection and then if we go to the Database Navigator<\/strong> panel in DBeaver, I see my \u201cmotorcycles\u201d database, the \u201cjamesmillers\u201d schema and the \u201ccycles\u201d table!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As a last step, I can run a query on the cycles table, and I indeed do see my 1 row of data. Everything worked!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this post I created and started a Docker container using a Postgres image to run a PostgreSQL database server in the Docker container in my local environment. Then I used plsql to create a new database in the server, a table and loaded some data. Finally, I created a connection to the server in DBeaver and was able to access the new database and table.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this post I want to demonstrate how to create and start a Docker container using a Postgres image to run a PostgreSQL database server in a Docker container so that I can do some development in my local environment. Docker Assuming Docker is running, the first step is to create a container running PostgreSQL.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[32],"class_list":["post-3598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-quebit-value","tag-sql"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow Do I Set Up and Use PostgreSQL with Docker for Development? - QueBIT<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/quebit.com\/askquebit\/doing-development-with-postgresql-and-docker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Do I Set Up and Use PostgreSQL with Docker for Development? - QueBIT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In this post I want to demonstrate how to create and start a Docker container using a Postgres image to run a PostgreSQL database server in a Docker container so that I can do some development in my local environment. 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