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Installing PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL is installed on a Host from the Installation group of the PostgreSQL tab of the Host form. It holds two buttons:

Button Installs
Install PostgreSQL Server and Client The PostgreSQL server of the chosen version, with the client of that version. pgvector comes with PostgreSQL 15 and later.
Install PostgreSQL Client The PostgreSQL client of the chosen version alone: psql, pg_dump, pg_restore and the other client programs.

Under the buttons, two fields list the PostgreSQL versions installed on the Host:

Field Lists the versions whose
PostgreSQL Client versions client is installed: psql, pg_dump, pg_restore…
PostgreSQL Server versions server is installed. pgbench ships with it

Muppy reads them from dpkg, the Host's package manager, as Facts. A third Fact, POSTGRESQL_INSTALLED_VERSIONS, lists the versions whose client and server are both installed. Update Facts refreshes all three. A Task that depends on what is installed reads them again first, then decides: installing PostgreSQL, creating a cluster, running pgbench from another host.

The Installation group of the PostgreSQL tab, with its two install buttons and the installed versions

You can install PostgreSQL manually, or let Muppy install it automatically when you create a cluster. This page covers the manual route.

  1. Open the Host form.
  2. On the PostgreSQL tab, click Install PostgreSQL Server and Client or Install PostgreSQL Client. The PostgreSQL Installation Wizard opens.
  3. Pick a version and click Launch.

PostgreSQL Installation Wizard opened by Install PostgreSQL Client: the Host, the Version, and a note that pgbench ships with the server

The installation runs in the background, as a message named Install PostgreSQL client 18 on host '<host>' or Install PostgreSQL server and client 18 on host '<host>'. Follow it in the Muppy / Qs / Messages menu. When it finishes, click Refresh on the Host. PostgreSQL Client versions lists the new version; after Install PostgreSQL Server and Client, PostgreSQL Server versions lists it too.

No cluster is created

Neither button creates a cluster. Before it installs the server or the client, Muppy sets create_main_cluster = false in /etc/postgresql-common/createcluster.conf, which stops the server package from creating its default main cluster. Creating a cluster is the next step.

A client installed alone is listed in PostgreSQL Client versions only. Clicking Install PostgreSQL Server and Client for that version installs the server, still without a cluster. Create Cluster does the same when the cluster's version is not in PostgreSQL Server versions.

pgbench

pgbench ships with the server package. To run pgbench on a Host, use Install PostgreSQL Server and Client: the Host gets pgbench and no cluster.

Versions

Muppy installs PostgreSQL 9.5 through 18. The wizard defaults to the version set in Settings / PostgreSQL / PostgreSQL version, stored in the system parameter muppy_postgresql_base.default_postgresql_version. It ships as 18.

Success

You can also skip this page and create a cluster straight away — Muppy installs whichever PostgreSQL version that cluster needs.