PostgreSQL

Contents

• psql
  • Basic Commands
  • Configuration

psql

Basic Commands

Connect to a database from the command-line use

$ psql --user $USER --database $YOUR_DB

In the psql shell, you have access to a series of special commands.

\c dbname

Connect to given database.

\d name Describe table, view, sequence, or index.

\dn

List schemas available in current database.

\dt schema.

List relations in schema.

\h sql_command

Get help for given SQL command.

\l

List availables databases.

\?

Get help for available psql commands (\ commands)

\! shell_command

Execute the given command in the operating system's shell.

Configuration

In order to avoid typing too many parameters when launching psql from the command line, you can configure default values. By all means, I strongly recommend not to store your password without second thoughts. For storing defaults, there are three options. The first is the use of environment variables.

export PGHOST=localhost
export PGPORT=5433
export PGUSER=...
export PGPASSWORD=...
export PGDATABASE=...

Alternatively, you could use a .pgpass file using the following format.

localhost:5433:databasename:username:password

Finally, you can use the .pg_service.conf file which uses an ini like format.

[example]
host=localhost
port=5432
dbname=...
user=...
password=...