# PostgreSQL Database Installation

This section entails the installation and configuration of a local PostgreSQL database. If you already have a PostgreSQL database service in place, skip to [the next section](2-redis.md).

!!! warning "PostgreSQL 14 or later required"
    NetBox requires PostgreSQL 14 or later. Please note that MySQL and other relational databases are **not** supported.

!!! warning "PostgreSQL 14 deprecation notice"
    Support for PostgreSQL 14 is deprecated as of NetBox v4.6 and will be removed in NetBox v4.7. Please plan to upgrade to PostgreSQL 15 or later.

## Installation

```no-highlight
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y postgresql
```

Before continuing, verify that you have installed PostgreSQL 14 or later:

```no-highlight
psql -V
```

## Database Creation

At a minimum, we need to create a database for NetBox and assign it a username and password for authentication. Start by invoking the PostgreSQL shell as the system Postgres user.

```no-highlight
sudo -u postgres psql
```

Within the shell, enter the following commands to create the database and user (role), substituting your own value for the password:

```postgresql
CREATE DATABASE netbox;
CREATE USER netbox WITH PASSWORD 'J5brHrAXFLQSif0K';
ALTER DATABASE netbox OWNER TO netbox;
-- the next two commands are needed on PostgreSQL 15 and later
\connect netbox;
GRANT CREATE ON SCHEMA public TO netbox;
```

!!! danger "Use a strong password"
    **Do not use the password from the example.** Choose a strong, random password to ensure secure database authentication for your NetBox installation.

!!! danger "Use UTF8 encoding"
    Make sure that your database uses `UTF8` encoding (the default for new installations). Especially do not use `SQL_ASCII` encoding, as it can lead to unpredictable and unrecoverable errors. Enter `\l` to check your encoding.

Once complete, enter `\q` to exit the PostgreSQL shell.

## Verify Service Status

You can verify that authentication works by executing the `psql` command and passing the configured username and password. (Replace `localhost` with your database server if using a remote database.)

```no-highlight
$ psql --username netbox --password --host localhost netbox
Password:
psql (16.11 (Ubuntu 16.11-0ubuntu0.24.04.1))
SSL connection (protocol: TLSv1.3, cipher: TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384, compression: off)
Type "help" for help.

netbox=> \conninfo
You are connected to database "netbox" as user "netbox" on host "localhost" (address "127.0.0.1") at port "5432".
SSL connection (protocol: TLSv1.3, cipher: TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384, compression: off)
netbox=> \q
```

If successful, you will enter a `netbox` prompt. Type `\conninfo` to confirm your connection, or type `\q` to exit.
