Install PostgreSQL with the following commands: ./configure --prefix=/usr && make && make install Initialize a database cluster with the following commands: mkdir -p /var/pgsql/data && useradd -d /var/pgsql/data postgres && chown postgres /var/pgsql/data && su - postgres -c '/usr/bin/initdb -D /var/pgsql/data' Start the database server with the following command: su - postgres -c '/usr/bin/postmaster -D /var/pgsql/data > \ /var/pgsql/data/logfile 2>&1 &' Now we can create a database and verify the installation: su - postgres -c '/usr/bin/createdb test' echo "create table t1 ( name varchar(20), state_province varchar(20) );" \ | (su - postgres -c '/usr/bin/psql test ') echo "insert into t1 values ('Billy', 'NewYork');" \ | (su - postgres -c '/usr/bin/psql test ') echo "insert into t1 values ('Evanidus', 'Quebec');" \ | (su - postgres -c '/usr/bin/psql test ') echo "insert into t1 values ('Jesse', 'Ontario');" \ | (su - postgres -c '/usr/bin/psql test ') echo "select * from t1;" | (su - postgres -c '/usr/bin/psql test')