PostgreSQL / pgAdmin4 install on Mint Cinnamon V21.1

Rick2023 · 02-28-2023, 01:15 PM

[newbie alert!]
Just installed a new SSD on my system . I then did a fresh install of Mint 21.1 Cinnamon using the full SSD space available on the drive.
Environment:
I have an old laptop system (Gateway w/Intel Pentium) running Mint Cinnamon version 20.3. I installed PostgreSQL V12 and pgAdmin4 a few months ago which was installed using software manager. I recall using an automated install process I found on software manager that installed PostgreSQL, pgAdmin4, and Python.
2nd system I'm attempting to use is a Lenovo Ideacenter desktop with Intel Core i5-6400 CPU @ 2.70GHz x 4 cores) and a new 2TB SSD drive, 32GB RAM.
Steps taken so far:
I am trying to install PostgreSQL and pgAdmin4 but it appears the repository does not have a complete install that would address the PostgreSQL server and client along with pgAdmin4 and hopefully python.The only alternative I could find, was to load everything I thought I might need as an individual installs through software manager. I reviewed the PostgreSQL-related products installed on my laptop system and I "think" I installed everything I needed.
Issue:
After the individual installations, there were no desktop icons created for any of these products. Also, there was no automated server setup and user accounts initialization. This is very different from the Mint 20.3 PostgreSQL installation for these products on my laptop where I was able to install everything and have the icons created automatically. I recall that there was a setup utility under software manager on the laptop that addressed all of this, but I don't recall the name off hand.
PostgreSQL Version:
One item to note, the automated process I found on software manager of Mint Cinnamon 20.3 for PostgreSQL installed V12 of PostgreSQL. However, when I installed PostgreSQL on Mint Cinnamon 21.2 software manager, it installed V14. Since PostgreSQL version 15 has been out a while now, I wonder why the software manager did not find it on any repositories.
Software Manager:
I see that the software manager has been updated from version 8.0.9 (Mint 20.3) to version 8.2.4 (Mint 21.1). Being a newbie, I don't know how this would impact the repositories, but I am still using the same repositories on 21.1 as I did on 20.3.
Needed:
I sure could use some help finding a repository that has the complete install process as was the case under Mint Cinnamon 20.3. If that doesn't exist, any guidance on installing these apps that includes the setup process for the server without a boatload of sudo commands, would be greatly appreciated. I did find some install process here but it's ripe with sudo commands and "virtual environment" to set up of which I don't understand. Remember I did warn you I was a newbie..

michaelk · 02-28-2023, 03:13 PM

Lots of things need to happen before a major program version is available in the repositories. Since there are two more point releases it is possible that 15 might be available. Rolling release distributions tend more to have the newer software versions. You might be using the same repository URL but each Mint version has its own individual software repository directory location.

I shouldn't say never but it is very rare for server applications to have a desktop icon. Some have web interfaces like cups but they all run in the background and are typically "controlled" by manually editing configuration files in the /etc directory or a specific directory like PostgreSQL. I am not aware of a PostgreSQL desktop icon.

python is an interpreted programming language and python is the interpreter that is called to "run" a python program. There are several python development environments that may have desktop icons but I also have never seen one just for python itself. The basic python package is normally installed by default but anything else is either installed as a dependency or manually installed.

A client program like PgAdmin4 could have a desktop icon and it might be created if installed via the software manager but that depends on the distribution developers.

From the posted link neither the Mint or PgAdmin developers have created an automatic package
to install PgAdmin4 via software manager so your only choice is installing it from the command line.

Rick2023 · 03-01-2023, 12:22 PM

michaelk: Thanks for this information. I didn't realize the same repositories had different packages for different versions of Mint. Thinking about it, makes sense. I guess my options are to rebuild this system with 20.3 and then use the install package available there for the pgAdmin4 and PostgreSQL v12 but that idea kind of doesn't sit well with me. I think a better option would be to stick with my 21.1 Mint install and then take the time to learn the sudo commands the setup the PostgreSQL server which means I have to build config files, I assume. After I get the server going, I can use SQL Workbench/J as I've heard from friends who gave up on trying to get pgAdmin4 on their Linux systems, that SQL Workbench installs easier under Ubuntu than does pgAdmin4. This of course means I'll have to install via command line as I cannot find any packages in Mint 21.1 software manager for it. Which of course has now brought me full circle, I guess. Rhetorically, if I'm willing to tackle command line entries for SQL workbench, why not for pgAdmin4?

I'm still having a bit of a challenge figuring out how to add a repository. I've read all the documentation but all the documentation falls short on showing the actual name of the repository I can enter in the Mint "Software Sources" dialog box that would allow for a repository for all the PostgreSQL-related packages. I'll keep digging for this. I can see the syntax in the dialog box but the name of the repository to plug in is my current challenge. Then again, I suspect even if I did find a good repository, they may not yet have a package for my needs.

Thanks again for the information.

michaelk · 03-01-2023, 03:17 PM

How to add a repository depends on the repository or the application. In the case of PostgreSQL, it does provide the howto to add its repository. Since Mint is based on debian/Ubuntu you want to use those instructions.

https://www.postgresql.org/download/linux/debian/

Other applications may not have a repository of those not supported by the debian repositories itself. Some provide just a deb package and some provide just the source code.

Rick2023 · 03-09-2023, 11:43 AM

Thank you, michaelk. Unfortunately real work is getting in the way of working this but I did want to let you know I appreciated your response here.