PostgreSQL Administration
Basic Course
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Copyright
© Postgres Professional, 2017–2025
Authors: Egor Rogov, Pavel Luzanov, Ilya Bashtanov, Igor Gnatyuk
Translated by: Liudmila Mantrova, Alexander Meleshko, Elena Sharafutdinova
Photo: Oleg Bartunov (Phu Monastery and Bhrikuti Peak, Nepal)
Use of Course Materials
Non-commercial use of course materials (presentations, demonstrations) is
allowed without restrictions. Commercial use is possible only with the written
permission of Postgres Professional. It is prohibited to make changes to the
course materials.
Feedback
Please send your feedback, comments and suggestions to:
edu@postgrespro.ru
Disclaimer
Postgres Professional assumes no responsibility for any damages and losses,
including loss of income, caused by direct or indirect, intentional or accidental
use of course materials. Postgres Professional company specifically disclaims
any warranties on course materials. Course materials are provided “as is”, and
Postgres Professional company has no obligations to provide maintenance,
support, updates, enhancements, or modifications.
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For Administrators
DBA1, 3 days
Basic Course
on PostgreSQL Administration
DBA2, 4 days
Configuration and Monitoring
QPT, 3 days
Query Optimization
DBA3, 2 days
Backup
and Replication
SQL Basics
Any textbook of your choice
PGPRO, 3 days
Features of
Postgres Pro Enterprise
Prior knowledge of the basics of the SQL language is required to complete
all courses. There is no course on the SQL language in our line of courses,
but there are many books and other educational resources that can help you
master SQL.
For administrators, we offer the following courses.
The DBA1 basic course provides general information about the PostgreSQL
architecture, installation process, basic server configuration and
management. It also considers basic administration tasks and provides an
overview of access control, backup and replication mechanisms.
The DBA2 course focuses on determining appropriate configuration
parameters based on an understanding of the internals of the server. It also
talks about monitoring the server and using feedback for iterative parameter
tweaking.
The DBA3 course is devoted to backup, as well as physical and logical
replication configuration and scenarios for its use. It also provides an
overview of the methods and difficulties of building highly accessible,
scalable clusters.
The QPT course examines in detail the mechanisms for planning and
executing queries, discusses the configuration of instance parameters
related to performance, and examines the options for finding problematic
queries and optimizing them.
The PGPRO course discusses additional features provided by the Postgres
Pro Enterprise DBMS.
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For Backend Developers
DEV1, 4 days
Basic Course
for Backend Developers
DEV2, 4 days
Advanced Course
QPT, 3 days
Query Optimization
SQL Basics
Any textbook of your choice
PGPRO, 3 days
Features of
Postgres Pro Enterprise
For backend developers, we offer the following courses.
The DEV1 course is the basic course. It provides general information about
the architecture of PostgreSQL and the use of basic database objects;
server-side programming in SQL and PL/pgSQL languages using basic data
types (including the composite type and arrays), as well as client-side
interactions.
The DEV2 course examines the features of the server's internal structure
that affect the development of application code, and comprehensively
discusses extensibility: the ability to extend server mechanisms with your
own code, which allows you to use PostgreSQL to solve a wide variety of
tasks.
The QPT and PGPRO courses are intended for both developers and
administrators.
Developers may also be interested in administration courses if there is a
need to study the internal structure of PostgreSQL in more detail, as well as
in the case when there is no dedicated administrator role on the project.
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About the DBA1 Course
Duration: 3 days
Prior knowledge requirements
Basic knowledge of databases and SQL
Unix fundamentals
What competences will be acquired
general information about the PostgreSQL architecture
installation, basic configuration, server management
data organization at logical and physical levels
basic administration tasks
access control information
understanding backup and replication
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Materials Used
Pre-configured virtual machine
Xubuntu 22.04 OS
PostgreSQL 16
documentation in English
Course handouts
presentations, demonstrations, practice tasks and practice keys
(in html and pdf)
reference materials: Unix commands used in the course,
chart of the main tables of the system catalog with psql commands
If you are taking the course on your own, start with the Student's Guide.
Among other things, it shows where to download and how to use the virtual
machine and other materials. All course materials, including the Student's
Guide, are available at: https://postgrespro.com/community/courses/DBA1
Completing practice tasks is very important to gain the basic skills in working
with PostgreSQL. Try to complete the practice tasks yourself first, and then
review the provided keys, even if the practice task did not raise questions.
Practice keys may contain additional information that is not mentioned in
presentations and demonstrations.
Course handouts (presentations, demonstrations, practice tasks and keys)
are available in two formats. Html is good for browsing and copying code
snippets. Pdf is split in pages and is more convenient for printing.
Additional reference materials will help you quickly find the information you
need.
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Course Outline and Schedule
Each training day is approximately 6 hours + lunch
Each lesson usually consists of
presentation and demonstration: ~20-60 minutes
practice: ~20-30 minutes, including a break
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Day 1
Basic Tools
01. Server Installation and Management
02. Using psql
03. Server Configuration
Architecture
04. PostgreSQL Fundamentals
05. Isolation and MVCC
06. Vacuuming
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Day 2
Architecture (Continued)
07. Buffer Сache and WAL
Data Organization
08. Databases and Schemas
09. System Catalog
10. Tablespaces
11. Low Level
Administration
12. Monitoring
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Day 3
Access Control
13. Overview
Backup
14. Overview
Replication
15. Overview of Physical Replication
16. Overview of Logical Replication
