Install and Setup TimescaleDB on Ubuntu 16.04 / 18.04 with PostgreSQL 11 Support

PostgreSQL is a general purpose and object-relational database management system, probably the most advanced open source database system…. you can also add custom functions using different programming languages such as C/C++, Java, etc…

TimescaleDB on the other hand is powered by PostgreSQL and can be used to analyze time-series data with a PostgreSQL query language… TimescaleDB is like PostgreSQL, but optimized for speed and scale..

If you’re a seasoned database administrator and you want a database system that works like a traditional relational database, yet scales in ways like NoSQL databases, then TimescaleDB might be something to look at..

To learn how to install PostgreSQL and TimescaleDB on Ubuntu, follow the steps below

Step 1: Add PostgresSQL Repository to Ubuntu

Adding PostgresSQL repository to Ubuntu is easy… all you have to run is run the commands below to add the repository key.,., the key is there to authenticate and validate packages from the repository….

Run the commands below to add the repository key and the repository…

wget --quiet -O - https://www.postgresql.org/media/keys/ACCC4CF8.asc | sudo apt-key add -
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://apt.postgresql.org/pub/repos/apt/ $(lsb_release -sc)-pgdg main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/PostgreSQL.list'

When you’re done… continue below…

Step 2: Update and Install PostgreSQL

Now that the repository and key are added, run the commands below to update and install the latest PostgresSQL packages..

To install PostgreSQL 11, run the commands below

sudo apt update
sudo apt-get install postgresql-11

After installing PostgreSQL, the commands below can be used to stop, start, enable and check its status

sudo systemctl stop postgresql.service
sudo systemctl start postgresql.service
sudo systemctl enable postgresql.service
sudo systemctl status postgresql.service

This is what the status command shows

● postgresql.service - PostgreSQL RDBMS
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/postgresql.service; enabled; vendor prese
   Active: active (exited) since Wed 2018-10-31 11:58:09 CDT; 12s ago
 Main PID: 7930 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Tasks: 0 (limit: 4663)
   CGroup: /system.slice/postgresql.service

Oct 31 11:58:09 ubuntu1804 systemd[1]: Starting PostgreSQL RDBMS...
Oct 31 11:58:09 ubuntu1804 systemd[1]: Started PostgreSQL RDBMS.

Step 3: Creating PostgreSQL Linux User Password…

After installing PostgreSQL, it’s a good idea to create / change the default PostgreSQL user password… Run the commands below to create / change the user password in the bash shell and not PostgreSQL interactive shell..

Set password for Linux user (postgres)

sudo passwd postgres

You should be prompted to create a new Linux password for postgres user..

Enter new UNIX password: 
Retype new UNIX password: 
passwd: password updated successfully

After setting a new password, every time you want to access PostgreSQL interactive shell, you’ll be prompted to confirm the password you created after running the commands above…

Step 4: Accessing PostgreSQL

Now that PostgreSQL is installed, to access its interactive shell and manage databases… you need to log in as the postgres user… to do that run the commands below:

sudo su -l postgres

Then use the psql command in an interactive shell when you want to create and manage PostgreSQL databases.

psql

Set password for DB administrator (postgres)

su - postgres
psql

On psql shell, run below command to change database admin password.

postgres=# password
OR
postgres=# password postgres

After that, quit and exit..

\q
exit

Step 5: Installing TimescaleDB for PostgreSQL 11

Now that PostgreSQL is installed, run the commands below to install and configure TimescaleDB to use to manage your PostgreSQL server…

Add TimescaleDB’s third party repository and install TimescaleDB, which will download any dependencies it needs from the PostgreSQL repo:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:timescale/timescaledb-ppa
sudo apt-get update

Now install appropriate package for PG version using the commands below:

sudo apt install timescaledb-postgresql-11

At a minimum, you will need to update your postgresql.conf file to include our library to the parameter shared_preload_libraries. The easiest way to get started is to run timescaledb-tune, which is installed by default when you run the commands above..

sudo bash
echo "shared_preload_libraries = 'timescaledb'" >> /etc/postgresql/11/main/postgresql.conf

shared_preload_libraries = ‘timescaledb’

Run the commands below to enable TimescaleDB libraries and optimized PostgreSQL settings…

sudo timescaledb-tune

Use the prompt below to answer the questions

Using postgresql.conf at this path:
/etc/postgresql/11/main/postgresql.conf

Is this correct? [(y)es/(n)o]: y
Writing backup to:
/tmp/timescaledb_tune.backup201905100950

shared_preload_libraries needs to be updated
Current:
#shared_preload_libraries = ''
Recommended:
shared_preload_libraries = 'timescaledb'
Is this okay? [(y)es/(n)o]: y
success: shared_preload_libraries will be updated

Doing that will ensure that TimescaleDB extension is properly added to the parameter shared_preload_librariesas well as offer suggestions for tuning memory, parallelism, and other settings…

When you’re done, logon onto PostgreSQL and connect to TimesaleDB…

sudo su -l postgres
psql

Create a test database and extend it capabilities with TimescaleDB..

CREATE database test_db;

#change into the test_db:
\c test_db

Output:
You are now connected to database "test_db" as user "postgres".

#create TimescaleDB extension:
CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS timescaledb CASCADE;

You should see similar screen as below:

WARNING:  
WELCOME TO
 _____ _                               _     ____________  
|_   _(_)                             | |    |  _  \ ___ \ 
  | |  _ _ __ ___   ___  ___  ___ __ _| | ___| | | | |_/ / 
  | | | |  _ ` _ \ / _ \/ __|/ __/ _` | |/ _ \ | | | ___ \ 
  | | | | | | | | |  __/\__ \ (_| (_| | |  __/ |/ /| |_/ /
  |_| |_|_| |_| |_|\___||___/\___\__,_|_|\___|___/ \____/
               Running version 1.3.0
For more information on TimescaleDB, please visit the following links:

 1. Getting started: https://docs.timescale.com/getting-started
 2. API reference documentation: https://docs.timescale.com/api
 3. How TimescaleDB is designed: https://docs.timescale.com/introduction/architecture

Note: TimescaleDB collects anonymous reports to better understand and assist our users.
For more information and how to disable, please see our docs https://docs.timescaledb.com/using-timescaledb/telemetry.

CREATE EXTENSION

Then database is TimescaleDB enabled!

Congratulations! You have successfully installed PostgreSQL 11 with TimescaleDB on Ubuntu 16.04 / 18.04