580 CHAPTER (Web hosting provider) 25 INSTALLING POSTGRESQL Downloading the
580 CHAPTER 25 INSTALLING POSTGRESQL Downloading the Unix Version PostgreSQL has a developmental history dating back an impressive 20 years, and was conceived and maintained exclusively for Unix-based platforms until very recently (PostgreSQL 8 was the first version to natively support Windows). Accordingly, in terms of download formats, Unix users have at their disposal a wealth of options, several of the most popular of which are introduced in this section. However, keep in mind that because of PostgreSQL s prominence, it s packaged with all mainstream Unix and Linux variants these days. That said, you may already have a version of PostgreSQL installed. For instance, to determine whether PostgreSQL is available on your RPM-based system, execute the following command: %> rpm -qa | grep -i postgres On a Debian-based operating system such as Ubuntu Linux, use the Synaptic Package Manager to make this determination. In any case, even if a version of PostgreSQL is already installed, you ll nonetheless probably wish to remove it and reinstall anew because the pres ently installed version likely is outdated. RPMs At the time of writing, RPMs were available on the PostgreSQL Web site for Red Hat 9, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1, 3.0, and 4, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0 for 64-bit servers, and Fedora Core versions 1 through 4, with 64-bit versions available for Fedora 2, 3, and 4. A quick search on the popular Rpmfind search Web site http://www.rpmfind.net/turned up RPMs for Mandriva, SuSE, Mandrake, and Yellow Dog PPC. Source As is standard for any open source project, PostgreSQL s source code is available via its Web site. While RPMs offer a very convenient means for installing PostgreSQL, installing from source enables you to wield considerably more control. For instance, when installing from source, you have the opportunity to modify the default location of the data directory, choose to forego installation of the documentation, enable debugging (useful if you are participating in PostgreSQL development and testing), and include additional extensions for talking to PostgreSQL using languages such as Perl, Python, and Tcl. If you re interested in this additional control, proceed to the source directory within the PostgreSQL Web site s Downloads section, navigate to the directory containing the latest non-beta version, and download the distribution in your compressed format of choice (gz or bz2). Downloading the Windows Version If you plan to install PostgreSQL on Windows, binary versions are available via the PostgreSQL FTP site (http://www.postgresql.org/ftp/). In fact, three different versions are available: postgresql-X.X.X.zip: Contains the multilanguage version of the PostgreSQL installer. This is the preferred version and is the one demonstrated later in the chapter, in the section Installing PostgreSQL on Windows.
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