PostgreSQL Podman Container Commands

A collection of useful commands for running, backing up, and restoring PostgreSQL databases with Podman.

Running a PostgreSQL Container

podman run --name postgres-db --rm -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword -e POSTGRES_USER=postgres -e POSTGRES_DB=postgres -p 5432:5432 -v postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data postgres:latest

Options Explained:

• --name postgres-db: Names the container
• --rm: Automatically removes the container when it stops
• -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword: Sets the database password
• -e POSTGRES_USER=postgres: Sets the database username
• -e POSTGRES_DB=postgres: Creates a default database
• -p 5432:5432: Maps container port to host port
• -v postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data: Creates a persistent volume for data
• postgres:latest: Uses the latest PostgreSQL image (specify version like postgres:15 if needed)

Backing Up PostgreSQL Database

Basic Backup

podman exec postgres-db pg_dump -U postgres -d postgres > backup.sql

With Password

PGPASSWORD=mysecretpassword podman exec postgres-db pg_dump -U postgres -d postgres > backup.sql

Compressed Backup

podman exec postgres-db pg_dump -U postgres -d postgres | gzip > backup.sql.gz

Custom Format Backup (supports parallel restore)

podman exec postgres-db pg_dump -U postgres -d postgres -Fc > backup.dump

Importing/Restoring PostgreSQL Database

Basic Import

cat backup.sql | podman exec -i postgres-db psql -U postgres -d postgres

With Password

PGPASSWORD=mysecretpassword cat backup.sql | podman exec -i postgres-db psql -U postgres -d postgres

Import Compressed Backup

gunzip -c backup.sql.gz | podman exec -i postgres-db psql -U postgres -d postgres

Import Custom Format

podman exec postgres-db pg_restore -U postgres -d postgres -c backup.dump

Transaction Import (all-or-nothing)

cat backup.sql | podman exec -i postgres-db psql -U postgres -d postgres -1

Other Useful Commands

Connect to PostgreSQL Shell

podman exec -it postgres-db psql -U postgres

Check Container Logs

podman logs postgres-db

Stop the Container

podman stop postgres-db

Remove Data Volume (caution: destroys data)

podman volume rm postgres-data