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PostgreSQL

Database clients

You can connect to the database using any of the available tools for this task, like the PostgreSQL command line client psql

Warning

We strongly suggest using a psql client of the same or higher version of the server to which you are connecting to Please refer to Using different versions between PostgreSQL client and server for further information

From now on, any further reference will take for granted the use of the CLI psql tool.

Connecting to the database

To connect to your database, as administrator, using the CLI tool, type the following:

psql -h <ip-alias> -p <port> -U admin

We will provide you with this information, along with your password, when your instance is created.

User management

The owner of the database instance will be considered the database administrator (DBA), and provided with a temporary password with full administrator capabilities. The user is required to change the temporal password as soon as possible.

Two special DB users exist called postgres and dod_dbmon. The DBA must not change any parameter related to these two users as they are used for management and monitoring purposes. Any modification affecting these users could interfere with the correct behaviour of the platform, and will be considered a break of the user agreement.

As a DBA, the user will have the ability to grant access to new users and manage their access privileges. For further information about how to correctly manage user privileges and accounts, please refer to the official PostgreSQL documentation.

For any question regarding the management of the DB instance, please read the Official PostgreSQL Documentation.

Setting or changing the password

To securely change or set the password of example_user without showing or logging it in clear text, you are advised to run the following command with psql:

    psql -h <ip-alias> -p <port> -U admin -c '\password example_user'

and for the admin role itself

    psql -h <ip-alias> -p <port> -U admin -c '\password'

PostgreSQL official versioning policy

Information about the worldwide community PostgreSQL versioning policy can be found in the dedicated support versioning section of the official documentation:

The PostgreSQL Global Development Group releases a new major version containing new features about once a year normally in the third quarter. After the initial release, bug and security fixes are released at least once every three months in a minor release for 5 years (normally on the second Thursday of February, May, August, and November).

After its five year anniversary, a major version will have one last minor release and will be considered end-of-life (EOL) and no longer supported. For more information on the minor releases schedule, you can view the Minor Release Roadmap

Versioning policy

Considering the official versioning policy and the DBOD need to balance out the introduction of new features, enhancements, bug and security fixes with maturity, stability and reliability and planned downtime, each year we aim to make available during the 1st quarter:

  • latest minor release published in Nov of the previous year for each and every major version supported in DBOD
  • latest major version - 1 i.e. the major version published roughly one year earlier, which after all the fixes put in place across six minor releases is likely to have become more secure, reliable and stable.

For more detailed information, please consult our Versioning Policy.

Also, have a look at our best practices for upgrading PostgreSQL instances.