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Development Versions: 18 / devel
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Part III. Server Administration

This part covers topics that are of interest to a PostgreSQL administrator. This includes installation, configuration of the server, management of users and databases, and maintenance tasks. Anyone running PostgreSQL server, even for personal use, but especially in production, should be familiar with these topics.

The information attempts to be in the order in which a new user should read it. The chapters are self-contained and can be read individually as desired. The information is presented in a narrative form in topical units. Readers looking for a complete description of a command are encouraged to review the Part VI.

The first few chapters are written so they can be understood without prerequisite knowledge, so new users who need to set up their own server can begin their exploration. The rest of this part is about tuning and management; that material assumes that the reader is familiar with the general use of the PostgreSQL database system. Readers are encouraged review the Part I and Part II parts for additional information.

Table of Contents

16. Installation from Binaries
17. Installation from Source Code
17.1. Requirements
17.2. Getting the Source
17.3. Building and Installation with Autoconf and Make
17.4. Building and Installation with Meson
17.5. Post-Installation Setup
17.6. Supported Platforms
17.7. Platform-Specific Notes
18. Server Setup and Operation
18.1. The PostgreSQL User Account
18.2. Creating a Database Cluster
18.3. Starting the Database Server
18.4. Managing Kernel Resources
18.5. Shutting Down the Server
18.6. Upgrading a PostgreSQL Cluster
18.7. Preventing Server Spoofing
18.8. Encryption Options
18.9. Secure TCP/IP Connections with SSL
18.10. Secure TCP/IP Connections with GSSAPI Encryption
18.11. Secure TCP/IP Connections with SSH Tunnels
18.12. Registering Event Log on Windows
19. Server Configuration
19.1. Setting Parameters
19.2. File Locations
19.3. Connections and Authentication
19.4. Resource Consumption
19.5. Write Ahead Log
19.6. Replication
19.7. Query Planning
19.8. Error Reporting and Logging
19.9. Run-time Statistics
19.10. Vacuuming
19.11. Client Connection Defaults
19.12. Lock Management
19.13. Version and Platform Compatibility
19.14. Error Handling
19.15. Preset Options
19.16. Customized Options
19.17. Developer Options
19.18. Short Options
20. Client Authentication
20.1. The pg_hba.conf File
20.2. User Name Maps
20.3. Authentication Methods
20.4. Trust Authentication
20.5. Password Authentication
20.6. GSSAPI Authentication
20.7. SSPI Authentication
20.8. Ident Authentication
20.9. Peer Authentication