Tutorial: Design an Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Single Server using PowerShell

APPLIES TO: Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Single Server

Important

Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Single Server is on the retirement path. We strongly recommend that you upgrade to Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server. For more information about migrating to Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server, see What's happening to Azure Database for PostgreSQL Single Server?.

Azure Database for PostgreSQL is a relational database service in the Microsoft cloud based on PostgreSQL Community Edition database engine. In this tutorial, you use PowerShell and other utilities to learn how to:

• Create an Azure Database for PostgreSQL
• Configure the server firewall
• Use psql utility to create a database
• Load sample data
• Query data
• Update data
• Restore data

Prerequisites

If you don't have an Azure subscription, create a free account before you begin.

If you choose to use PowerShell locally, this article requires that you install the Az PowerShell module and connect to your Azure account using the Connect-AzAccount cmdlet. For more information about installing the Az PowerShell module, see Install Azure PowerShell.

Important

While the Az.PostgreSql PowerShell module is in preview, you must install it separately from the Az PowerShell module using the following command: Install-Module -Name Az.PostgreSql -AllowPrerelease. Once the Az.PostgreSql PowerShell module is generally available, it becomes part of future Az PowerShell module releases and available natively from within Azure Cloud Shell.

If this is your first time using the Azure Database for PostgreSQL service, you must register the Microsoft.DBforPostgreSQL resource provider.

Register-AzResourceProvider -ProviderNamespace Microsoft.DBforPostgreSQL

Azure Cloud Shell

Azure hosts Azure Cloud Shell, an interactive shell environment that you can use through your browser. You can use either Bash or PowerShell with Cloud Shell to work with Azure services. You can use the Cloud Shell preinstalled commands to run the code in this article, without having to install anything on your local environment.

To start Azure Cloud Shell:

Option	Example/Link
Select Try It in the upper-right corner of a code or command block. Selecting Try It doesn't automatically copy the code or command to Cloud Shell.
Go to https://shell.azure.com, or select the Launch Cloud Shell button to open Cloud Shell in your browser.
Select the Cloud Shell button on the menu bar at the upper right in the Azure portal.

To use Azure Cloud Shell:

1. Start Cloud Shell.

2. Select the Copy button on a code block (or command block) to copy the code or command.

3. Paste the code or command into the Cloud Shell session by selecting Ctrl+Shift+V on Windows and Linux, or by selecting Cmd+Shift+V on macOS.

4. Select Enter to run the code or command.

If you have multiple Azure subscriptions, choose the appropriate subscription in which the resources should be billed. Select a specific subscription ID using the Set-AzContext cmdlet.

Set-AzContext -SubscriptionId 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000

Create a resource group

Create an Azure resource group using the New-AzResourceGroup cmdlet. A resource group is a logical container in which Azure resources are deployed and managed as a group.

The following example creates a resource group named myresourcegroup in the West US region.

New-AzResourceGroup -Name myresourcegroup -Location westus

Create an Azure Database for PostgreSQL server

Create an Azure Database for PostgreSQL server with the New-AzPostgreSqlServer cmdlet. A server can manage multiple databases. Typically, a separate database is used for each project or for each user.

The following example creates a PostgreSQL server in the West US region named mydemoserver in the myresourcegroup resource group with a server admin login of myadmin. It is a Gen 5 server in the general-purpose pricing tier with 2 vCores and geo-redundant backups enabled. Document the password used in the first line of the example as this is the password for the PostgreSQL server admin account.

Tip

A server name maps to a DNS name and must be globally unique in Azure.

$Password = Read-Host -Prompt 'Please enter your password' -AsSecureString
New-AzPostgreSqlServer -Name mydemoserver -ResourceGroupName myresourcegroup -Sku GP_Gen5_2 -GeoRedundantBackup Enabled -Location westus -AdministratorUsername myadmin -AdministratorLoginPassword $Password

The Sku parameter value follows the convention pricing-tier_compute-generation_vCores as shown in the following examples.

• -Sku B_Gen5_1 maps to Basic, Gen 5, and 1 vCore. This option is the smallest SKU available.
• -Sku GP_Gen5_32 maps to General Purpose, Gen 5, and 32 vCores.
• -Sku MO_Gen5_2 maps to Memory Optimized, Gen 5, and 2 vCores.

For information about valid Sku values by region and for tiers, see Azure Database for PostgreSQL pricing tiers.

Consider using the basic pricing tier if light compute and I/O are adequate for your workload.

Important

Servers created in the basic pricing tier cannot be later scaled to general-purpose or memory- optimized and cannot be geo-replicated.

Configure a firewall rule

Create an Azure Database for PostgreSQL server-level firewall rule using the New-AzPostgreSqlFirewallRule cmdlet. A server-level firewall rule allows an external application, such as the psql command-line tool or PostgreSQL Workbench to connect to your server through the Azure Database for PostgreSQL service firewall.

The following example creates a firewall rule named AllowMyIP that allows connections from a specific IP address, 192.168.0.1. Substitute an IP address or range of IP addresses that correspond to the location that you are connecting from.

New-AzPostgreSqlFirewallRule -Name AllowMyIP -ResourceGroupName myresourcegroup -ServerName mydemoserver -StartIPAddress 192.168.0.1 -EndIPAddress 192.168.0.1

Note

Connections to Azure Database for PostgreSQL communicate over port 5432. If you try to connect from within a corporate network, outbound traffic over port 5432 might not be allowed. In this scenario, you can only connect to the server if your IT department opens port 5432.

Get the connection information

To connect to your server, you need to provide host information and access credentials. Use the following example to determine the connection information. Make a note of the values for FullyQualifiedDomainName and AdministratorLogin.

Get-AzPostgreSqlServer -Name mydemoserver -ResourceGroupName myresourcegroup |
  Select-Object -Property FullyQualifiedDomainName, AdministratorLogin

FullyQualifiedDomainName                    AdministratorLogin
------------------------                    ------------------
mydemoserver.postgresql.database.azure.com       myadmin

Connect to PostgreSQL database using psql

If your client computer has PostgreSQL installed, you can use a local instance of psql to connect to an Azure PostgreSQL server. You can also access a pre-installed version of the psql command-line tool in Azure Cloud Shell by selecting the Try It button on a code sample in this article. Other ways to access Azure Cloud Shell are to select the >_ button on the upper-right toolbar in the Azure portal or by visiting shell.azure.com.

1. Connect to your Azure PostgreSQL server using the psql command-line utility.

   psql --host=<servername> --port=<port> --username=<user@servername> --dbname=<dbname>
   

   For example, the following command connects to the default database called postgres on your PostgreSQL server mydemoserver.postgres.database.azure.com using access credentials. Enter the <server_admin_password> you chose when prompted for password.

   psql --host=mydemoserver.postgres.database.azure.com --port=5432 --username=myadmin@mydemoserver --dbname=postgres
   

   Tip

   If you prefer to use a URL path to connect to Postgres, URL encode the @ sign in the username with %40. For example the connection string for psql would be, psql postgresql://myadmin%40mydemoserver@mydemoserver.postgres.database.azure.com:5432/postgres

2. Once you are connected to the server, create a blank database at the prompt.

   CREATE DATABASE mypgsqldb;
   

3. At the prompt, execute the following command to switch connection to the newly created database mypgsqldb:

   \c mypgsqldb
   

Create tables in the database

Now that you know how to connect to the Azure Database for PostgreSQL database, complete some basic tasks.

First, create a table and load it with some data. Let's create a table that stores inventory information.

CREATE TABLE inventory (
  id serial PRIMARY KEY,
  name VARCHAR(50),
  quantity INTEGER
);

Load data into the tables

Now that you have a table, insert some data into it. At the open command prompt window, run the following query to insert some rows of data.

INSERT INTO inventory (id, name, quantity) VALUES (1, 'banana', 150);
INSERT INTO inventory (id, name, quantity) VALUES (2, 'orange', 154);

Now you have two rows of sample data into the table you created earlier.

Query and update the data in the tables

Execute the following query to retrieve information from the database table.

SELECT * FROM inventory;

You can also update the data in the tables.

UPDATE inventory SET quantity = 200 WHERE name = 'banana';

The row gets updated accordingly when you retrieve data.

SELECT * FROM inventory;

Restore a database to a previous point in time

You can restore the server to a previous point-in-time. The restored data is copied to a new server, and the existing server is left unchanged. For example, if a table is accidentally dropped, you can restore to the time just the drop occurred. Then, you can retrieve the missing table and data from the restored copy of the server.

To restore the server, use the Restore-AzPostgreSqlServer PowerShell cmdlet.

Run the restore command

To restore the server, run the following example from PowerShell.

$restorePointInTime = (Get-Date).AddMinutes(-10)
Get-AzPostgreSqlServer -Name mydemoserver -ResourceGroupName myresourcegroup |
  Restore-AzPostgreSqlServer -Name mydemoserver-restored -ResourceGroupName myresourcegroup -RestorePointInTime $restorePointInTime -UsePointInTimeRestore

When you restore a server to an earlier point-in-time, a new server is created. The original server and its databases from the specified point-in-time are copied to the new server.

The location and pricing tier values for the restored server remain the same as the original server.

After the restore process finishes, locate the new server and verify that the data is restored as expected. The new server has the same server admin login name and password that was valid for the existing server at the time the restore was started. The password can be changed from the new server's Overview page.

The new server created during a restore does not have the VNet service endpoints that existed on the original server. These rules must be set up separately for the new server. Firewall rules from the original server are restored.

Clean up resources

In the preceding steps, you created Azure resources in a server group. If you don't expect to need these resources in the future, delete the server group. Press the Delete button in the Overview page for your server group. When prompted on a pop-up page, confirm the name of the server group and select the final Delete button.

Next steps

How to back up and restore an Azure Database for PostgreSQL server using PowerShell