Re: Postgresql Installation -- Red Hat vs OpenSUSE vs Ubuntu

On 10/28/2015 02:20 PM, Michael Convey wrote:
> Forgive my ignorance, but I'm new to PostgreSQL. Regarding installation,
> I'm trying to understand some of the differences between Red Hat,
> Ubuntu, and OpenSUSE. My goal is to set up a self-contained lab instance
> for learning on each distribution. So, I assume I'll need both the
> client and server on each, right? From www.postgresql.org
> <http://www.postgresql.org>, the "most common and important packages"​
> for these distributions and their installation instructions are as follows:
>
> Red Hat: http://www.postgresql.org/download/linux/redhat/
> yum install postgresql-server postgresql-client postgresql-contrib
> postgresql-devel pgadmin3
>
> Ubuntu: http://www.postgresql.org/download/linux/ubuntu/
> apt-get
> postgresql-client-9.4 postgresql-9.4 postgresql-contrib-9.4 libpq-dev postgresql-server-dev-9.4 pgadmin3
>
> OpenSUSE: http://www.postgresql.org/download/linux/suse/
> Unlike the postgresql.org <http://postgresql.org> webpages for Red Hat
> and Ubuntu, the OpenSUSE webpage, doesn't provide a list of the "most
> common and important" packages to get postgresql up and running.
> Instead, it refers me to this webpage:
>
> https://software.opensuse.org/search?q=postgresql&baseproject=openSUSE%3A13.2&search_devel=false&search_unsupported=false
>
> That webpage list a lot of postgresql package groups (with
> sub-packages). Are the postgresql packages that are included in the
> default OpenSUSE repositories the group of packages displayed as
> "postgesql" near the upper-left corner of that webpage? If so, why

See my answer further below.

> doesn't the http://www.postgresql.org/download/linux/suse/ webpage list
> the "most common and important" packaged like the
> http://www.postgresql.org/download/linux/redhat/ and
> http://www.postgresql.org/download/linux/ubuntu/ webpages? The
> http://www.postgresql.org/download/linux/suse/ webpage is not very user
> friendly for new users.
>
> Also, are the following equivalent?
>
> Red Hat Ubuntu
> postgresql-server postgresql-9.4
> postgresql-client postgresql-client-9.4
> postgresql-contrib postgresql-contrib-9.4
> postgresql-devel postgresql-server-dev-9.4 libpq-dev
> pgadmin3 pgadmin3

The RH family(CentOS/SL/Fedora) version is going to determine the actual
Postgres version for the default repos. So what the package provides is
going to be roughly equivalent, it just may not be 9.4. See below for
the mapping:

http://www.postgresql.org/download/linux/redhat/

If you install from the Postgres yum repos then you will have more
choice of versions.

>
> Does the Red Hat postgresql-devel package include the same programs as
> Ubuntu's postgresql-server-dev-9.4 and libpq-dev packages?

I would say yes. Once the packages are installed use the appropriate
package manager to take a look.

>
> What would be the OpenSUSE command to install the "most common and
> important packages" that are equivalent to the Red Hat and Ubuntu
> packages listed above?
>
> zypper install ... ?

You could do:

zypper search postgresql

That will show whatever is the default for the SuSE version you are on.
On my openSUSE 13.2 machine that is Postgres 9.3 something. If you go to
the Open Build Service search link shown above and search on Postgresql
there is 9.4 available. Since it is not the version pegged to the SuSE
release you will need to click the 'Show unstable packages' to show it.
Click the 1 Click Install link and it will add the repo to your zypper
repos in /etc/zypp. Basically, you will be using the
server:database:postgresql repo instead of the SuSE version repo. Then
you can run zypper refresh and install the version you want. SuSE uses
RPMs so the package names and their functions are almost identical to
the RH naming.

--
Adrian Klaver
adrian(dot)klaver(at)aklaver(dot)com