Quickstart: Create an Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server instance using Azure CLI
APPLIES TO: 
Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server
This quickstart shows how to use the Azure CLI commands in Azure Cloud Shell to create an Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server instance in five minutes. If you don't have an Azure subscription, create a free account before you begin.
Launch Azure Cloud Shell
The Azure Cloud Shell is a free interactive shell that you can use to run the steps in this article. It has common Azure tools preinstalled and configured to use with your account.
To open the Cloud Shell, just select Try it from the upper right corner of a code block. You can also open Cloud Shell in a separate browser tab by going to https://shell.azure.com/bash. Select Copy to copy the blocks of code, paste it into the Cloud Shell, and select Enter to run it.
If you prefer to install and use the CLI locally, this quickstart requires Azure CLI version 2.0 or later. Run az --version to find the version. If you need to install or upgrade, see Install Azure CLI.
Prerequisites
You need to log in to your account using the az login command. Note the id property in the output, which refers to the Subscription ID for your Azure account.
az login
Select the specific subscription under your account using az account set command. Use the id value from the az login output to use as the value for subscription argument in the command. If you have multiple subscriptions, choose the appropriate subscription in which the resource should be billed. To get all your subscription, use az account list.
az account set --subscription <subscription id>
Create a flexible server
Create an Azure resource group using the az group create command and then create your Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server instance inside this resource group. You should provide a unique name. The following example creates a resource group named myresourcegroup in the eastus location.
az group create --name myresourcegroup --location eastus
Create an Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server instance with the az postgres flexible-server create command. A server can contain multiple databases. The following command creates a server in the resource group you just created:
az postgres flexible-server create --name mydemoserver --resource-group myresourcegroup
Since the default connectivity method is Public access (allowed IP addresses), the command will prompt you to confirm if you want to add your IP address, and/or all IPs (range covering 0.0.0.0 through 255.255.255.255) to the list of allowed addresses.
The server created has the following attributes:
- The same location as your resource group
- Auto-generated admin username and admin password (which you should save in a secure place)
- A default database named "flexibleserverdb"
- Service defaults for remaining server configurations: compute tier (General Purpose), compute size/SKU (
Standard_D2s_v3- 2 vCore, 8 GB RAM), backup retention period (7 days), and PostgreSQL version (13)
Note
The connectivity method can't be changed after creating the server. For example, if you selected Private access (VNet Integration) during creation, then you can't change it to Public access (allowed IP addresses) after creation. We highly recommend creating a server with Private access to securely access your server using VNet Integration. Learn more about Private access in the concepts article.
If you'd like to change any defaults, please refer to the Azure CLI reference for az postgres flexible-server create.
Note
Connections to Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server communicate over port 5432. If you try to connect from within a corporate network, outbound traffic over port 5432 might not be allowed. If this is the case, you can't connect to your server unless your IT department opens port 5432. Notice that if you enable PgBouncer on your instance of Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server and want to connect through it, because it runs on port 6432, it is that port that your IT department must open for outbound traffic.
Get the connection information
To connect to your server, you need to provide host information and access credentials.
az postgres flexible-server show --name mydemoserver --resource-group myresourcegroup
The result is in JSON format. Make a note of the fullyQualifiedDomainName and administratorLogin. You should have saved the password in the previous step.
{
"administratorLogin": "myadmin",
"availabilityZone": "3",
"backup": {
"backupRetentionDays": 7,
"earliestRestoreDate": "2022-10-20T18:03:50.989428+00:00",
"geoRedundantBackup": "Disabled"
},
"earliestRestoreDate": null,
"fullyQualifiedDomainName": "mydemoserver.postgres.database.azure.com",
"id": "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/myresourcegroup/providers/Microsoft.DBforPostgreSQL/flexibleServers/mydemoserver",
"location": "eastus",
"name": "mydemoserver",
"network": {
"delegatedSubnetResourceId": null,
"privateDnsZoneArmResourceId": null,
"publicNetworkAccess": "Enabled"
},
"resourceGroup": "myresourcegroup",
"sku": {
"name": "Standard_D2s_v3",
"tier": "GeneralPurpose"
},
"state": "Ready",
"storage": {
"storageSizeGb": 128
},
"tags": null,
"type": "Microsoft.DBforPostgreSQL/flexibleServers",
"version": "13"
}
Connect using PostgreSQL command-line client
First, install the psql command-line tool.
With psql, connect to the "flexibleserverdb" database using the following command. Replace values with the auto-generated domain name and username.
psql -h mydemoserver.postgres.database.azure.com -U myadmin flexibleserverdb
Note
If you get an error The parameter PrivateDnsZoneArguments is required, and must be provided by customer, this means you may be running an older version of Azure CLI. Please upgrade Azure CLI and retry the operation.
Clean up resources
If you don't need these resources for another quickstart/tutorial, you can delete them by doing the following command:
az group delete --name myresourcegroup
If you would just like to delete only the newly created server, you can run the az postgres flexible-server delete command.
az postgres flexible-server delete --resource-group myresourcegroup --name mydemoserver