Install PostgreSQL on Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver

Updated: 28 September 2026 · Applies to: Ubuntu 24.04 (PostgreSQL 16 and 18)

Ubuntu 18.04 and PostgreSQL 10 are end of life. The current PostgreSQL version is 18; Ubuntu 24.04 ships version 16, which is supported until 2028.

Client only

To connect to a PostgreSQL server elsewhere, install just the client: apt install postgresql-client.

Option 1: the distribution's version

apt install postgresql                   # Ubuntu 24.04: PostgreSQL 16, Debian 12: 15
dnf install postgresql-server             # AlmaLinux / Rocky 9 (choose a stream with: dnf module list postgresql)
postgresql-setup --initdb && systemctl enable --now postgresql   # AlmaLinux / Rocky only

Option 2: the latest PostgreSQL (18) from the PostgreSQL project

# Ubuntu / Debian
apt install postgresql-common
/usr/share/postgresql-common/pgdg/apt.postgresql.org.sh
apt install postgresql-18

# AlmaLinux / Rocky 9
dnf install https://download.postgresql.org/pub/repos/yum/reporpms/EL-9-x86_64/pgdg-redhat-repo-latest.noarch.rpm
dnf -qy module disable postgresql
dnf install postgresql18-server
/usr/pgsql-18/bin/postgresql-18-setup initdb
systemctl enable --now postgresql-18

First steps

sudo -u postgres psql                        # log in as the admin role
CREATE ROLE appuser WITH LOGIN PASSWORD 'Strong-Password';
CREATE DATABASE appdb OWNER appuser;
\l                                            -- list databases
\du                                           -- list roles
\q                                            -- quit

Connect as the new user: psql -h 127.0.0.1 -U appuser appdb.

Allow connections from another server (optional)

• In postgresql.conf set listen_addresses = '*' (or the server's private IP).
• In pg_hba.conf add host appdb appuser 203.0.113.10/32 scram-sha-256.
• Restart PostgreSQL and open port 5432 only for that IP in the firewall.

The files are in /etc/postgresql/<version>/main/ (Ubuntu/Debian), /var/lib/pgsql/data/ (AlmaLinux/Rocky packages) or /var/lib/pgsql/18/data/ (PostgreSQL project packages).