Running PostgreSQL in a container and managing it with pgAdmin

In this post, we will look at how to run a PostgreSQL database and pgAdmin in containers on your local machine. This is a great way to get started with PostgreSQL without having to install it on your local machine.

Pulling the image

Start by pulling the PostgreSQL image from Docker Hub by running the following command.

docker pull postgres

alternatively

podman pull postgres

Create the container

Now that we have the image, we can create a container by running the following command.

docker run --name postgres -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword -v postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data -p 5432:5432 -d postgres

alternatively

podman run --name postgres -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword -v postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data -p 5432:5432 -d postgres

We set the password for the database by setting the environment variable POSTGRES_PASSWORD, in this case, to mysecretpassword. You should of course replace this with a more secure password. We also mount a volume to store the data for the database. This way, the data will persist even if the container is removed. The volume is created using the desktop clients Volume feature. I tried to use the -v flag to create a volume, but it did not work with Podman. Instead, I had to create the volume using the desktop client.

The container is exposed on port 5432, which is the default port for PostgresSQL.

Installing pgAdmin4

Now let’s install pgAdmin4 to manage the database. PgAdmin4 is a web-based tool for managing PostgresSQL databases.

First start by pulling the image from Docker Hub.

docker pull dpage/pgadmin4

alternatively

podman pull dpage/pgadmin4

Now create the container by running the following command.

docker run --name pgadmin -p 5051:80 -e "PGADMIN_DEFAULT_EMAIL=user@domain.com" -e "PGADMIN_DEFAULT_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword" -d dpage/pgadmin4

alternatively

podman run --name pgadmin -p 5051:80 -e "PGADMIN_DEFAULT_EMAIL=user@domain.com" -e "PGADMIN_DEFAULT_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword" -d dpage/pgadmin4

Change the email to a valid email address and the password should be the same as the one you set for the PostgresSQL database.

Browse to http://localhost:5051 to access pgAdmin4. You can now connect to the PostgresSQL database by adding a new server and entering the connection details.

Adding a new server

On the dashboard, click on Add New Server. Enter a name for the server and go to the Connection tab. Here you need to add the ip address of the PostgresSQL container. You can find this by running the following command.

docker inspect -f '{{range .NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}' postgres

alternatively

podman inspect -f '{{range .NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}' postgres

In my case, the ip address was 10.88.0.15. Enter this in the Host name/address field. The port should be 5432 and the username is postgres. The password is the one you set when creating the container. Your ip address will most likely be different, so make sure to use the correct one.

Now you should be able to connect to the PostgresSQL database and start working with it.

Links

https://medium.com/@marvinjungre/get-postgresql-and-pgadmin-4-up-and-running-with-docker-4a8d81048aea https://www.baeldung.com/ops/postgresql-docker-setup