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PG.CENTER connects PostgreSQL documentation, reference, and ecosystem knowledge. Maintained by Pigsty.

Supported versions: Current (18) / 17 / 16 / 15 / 14
Development versions: 19 / devel
Unsupported versions: 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 / 9.6 / 9.5 / 9.4 / 9.3 / 9.2 / 9.1 / 9.0 / 8.4 / 8.3 / 8.2 / 8.1 / 8.0 / 7.4 / 7.3 / 7.2 / 7.1
Historical version. PostgreSQL 7.3 reached end of support in November 2007. See the current version for supported releases.

Chapter 3. Server Run-time Environment

This chapter discusses how to set up and run the database server and the interactions with the operating system.

3.1. The PostgreSQL User Account

As with any other server daemon that is connected to outside world, it is advisable to run PostgreSQL under a separate user account. This user account should only own the data that is managed by the server, and should not be shared with other daemons. (For example, using the user "nobody" is a bad idea.) It is not advisable to install executables owned by this user because compromised systems could then modify their own binaries.

To add a Unix user account to your system, look for a command useradd or adduser. The user name postgres is often used but is by no means required.

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Read the upstream documentation. For corrections, first check the current version.