run-a-basic-postgresql-server-in-docker.md

Run A Basic PostgreSQL Server In Docker

Here is a basic docker-compose.yml file for spinning up a Docker container that runs a PostgreSQL server on port 5432. This is what I use to create a locally-running PostgreSQL server that lives inside a docker container.

version: "3.7"
services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:latest
    restart: always
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=postgres
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres
      - POSTGRES_DB=postgres
    ports:
      - "5432:5432"
    volumes:
      - ./postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

To create the docker container and start it up, run the following command from the same directory where you put this file:

$ docker compose up

This command knows to look for the docker-compose.yml file though you can always be explicit about the file with the -f option.

This configuration points at postgres:latest which currently is 16.1. To run a different major version, you can change the image to something like postgres:15. See Docker Hub for more options.