[MacOS] Steps to Install PostgreSQL with Homebrew

I installed postgresql on Mac using Homebrew, so I’ll introduce the steps.

Installing postgresql

First, install postgresql with the brew command.

For those who haven’t installed Homebrew, please refer to the following:

Reference: [Mac] Installing Homebrew (and Git While We're at It) | CodeNote

brew install postgresql

PostgreSQL Database Initialization

initdb /usr/local/var/postgres -E utf8 --no-locale

Auto-start Configuration

ln -sfv /usr/local/opt/postgresql/*.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.postgresql.plist

Setting PGDATA Environment Variable

Setting the PGDATA environment variable eliminates the need to pass the -D argument when starting/stopping with pg_ctl.

export PGDATA=/usr/local/var/postgres

Start Command

pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres -l /usr/local/var/postgres/server.log start

# If you've set the PGDATA environment variable, you can abbreviate it as follows
pg_ctl -l /usr/local/var/postgres/server.log start

Stop Command

pg_ctl stop -s -m fast

# If you've set the PGDATA environment variable, you can abbreviate it as follows
pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres stop -s -m fast

Creating postgres User

When installed with brew, the postgres user is not created.

$USER is created as a superuser. Since it’s not good to use the superuser as-is, we’ll create a new user.

$ createuser -P username
# Replace username with the name of the new user to create
# Enter password and whether to make it a superuser

You can check if the user was created properly with the following command:

psql -q -c'select * from pg_user' postgres

Install pg with gem to use postgresql in Ruby.

env ARCHFLAGS="-arch x86_64" gem install pg

By the way, running the brew info postgresql command shows the following details:

If builds of PostgreSQL 9 are failing and you have version 8.x installed,
you may need to remove the previous version first. See:
  https://github.com/mxcl/homebrew/issues/issue/2510

To build plpython against a specific Python, set PYTHON prior to brewing:
  PYTHON=/usr/local/bin/python  brew install postgresql
See:
  http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.0/static/install-procedure.html


If this is your first install, create a database with:
  initdb /usr/local/var/postgres

If this is your first install, automatically load on login with:
  mkdir -p ~/Library/LaunchAgents
  cp /usr/local/Cellar/postgresql/9.0.4/org.postgresql.postgres.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
  launchctl load -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.postgresql.postgres.plist

If this is an upgrade and you already have the org.postgresql.postgres.plist loaded:
  launchctl unload -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.postgresql.postgres.plist
  cp /usr/local/Cellar/postgresql/9.0.4/org.postgresql.postgres.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
  launchctl load -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.postgresql.postgres.plist

Or start manually with:
  pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres -l /usr/local/var/postgres/server.log start

And stop with:
  pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres stop -s -m fast


Some machines may require provisioning of shared memory:
  http://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/kernel-resources.html#SYSVIPC

If you want to install the postgres gem, including ARCHFLAGS is recommended:
    env ARCHFLAGS="-arch x86_64" gem install pg

To install gems without sudo, see the Homebrew wiki.

Reference Information

That’s all from the Gemba.