How to Set Up Postgres Using Docker

Step 1: Pull the Official PostgreSQL Image#

We need to pull the official PostgreSQL image from Docker Hub. Open your terminal or command prompt and run:

docker pull postgres
# -- Instead, for a certain version of postgres, e.g. 14.5, run:
# docker pull postgres:14.5

And wait for the latest version of the PostgreSQL image to be downloaded.

Step 2: Create and Run a PostgreSQL Container#

Now that we've downloaded the image, we can create and run a PostgreSQL container:

docker run -d --name mypostgres -p 5432:5432 -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=yourpassword postgres

This command runs the container in detached mode in the background, assigns a name to it, maps the container's port 5432 to the host's port 5432, sets the password for the default postgres user, and specifies the image to use for creating the postgres container.

Check whether the PostgreSQL container is running with this command:

docker ps

Step 3: Connect to the PostgreSQL Database and Operate#

Connect from the host machine#

You can use the psql cammand to connect to your database.

psql -h localhost -U postgres

Connect within Docker#

Or open an interactive terminal inside the container and connect to the PostgreSQL database with the postgres user.

docker exec -it mypostgres psql -h localhost -U postgres

Then we can operate with SQL command after the "#".