17.2. Requirements

17.2. Requirements
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+ In general, a modern Unix-compatible platform should be able to run + PostgreSQL. + The platforms that had received specific testing at the + time of release are described in Section 17.6 + below. +

+ The following software packages are required for building + PostgreSQL: + +

+ + + GNU make version 3.81 or newer is required; other + make programs or older GNU make versions will not work. + (GNU make is sometimes installed under + the name gmake.) To test for GNU + make enter: +
```
+make --version
+
```
+
+ You need an ISO/ANSI C compiler (at least + C99-compliant). Recent + versions of GCC are recommended, but + PostgreSQL is known to build using a wide variety + of compilers from different vendors. +
+ tar is required to unpack the source + distribution, in addition to either + gzip or bzip2. +
+ + + + The GNU Readline library is used by + default. It allows psql (the + PostgreSQL command line SQL interpreter) to remember each + command you type, and allows you to use arrow keys to recall and + edit previous commands. This is very helpful and is strongly + recommended. If you don't want to use it then you must specify + the --without-readline option to + configure. As an alternative, you can often use the + BSD-licensed libedit library, originally + developed on NetBSD. The + libedit library is + GNU Readline-compatible and is used if + libreadline is not found, or if + --with-libedit-preferred is used as an + option to configure. If you are using a package-based + Linux distribution, be aware that you need both the + readline and readline-devel packages, if + those are separate in your distribution. +
+ + + The zlib compression library is + used by default. If you don't want to use it then you must + specify the --without-zlib option to + configure. Using this option disables + support for compressed archives in pg_dump and + pg_restore. +

+ The following packages are optional. They are not required in the + default configuration, but they are needed when certain build + options are enabled, as explained below: + +

+ To build the server programming language + PL/Perl you need a full + Perl installation, including the + libperl library and the header files. + The minimum required version is Perl 5.8.3. + Since PL/Perl will be a shared + library, the + libperl library must be a shared library + also on most platforms. This appears to be the default in + recent Perl versions, but it was not + in earlier versions, and in any case it is the choice of whomever + installed Perl at your site. configure will fail + if building PL/Perl is selected but it cannot + find a shared libperl. In that case, you will have + to rebuild and install Perl manually to be + able to build PL/Perl. During the + configuration process for Perl, request a + shared library. +
+ If you intend to make more than incidental use of + PL/Perl, you should ensure that the + Perl installation was built with the + usemultiplicity option enabled (perl -V + will show whether this is the case). +
+ To build the PL/Python server programming + language, you need a Python + installation with the header files and + the sysconfig module. The minimum + required version is Python 3.2. +
+ Since PL/Python will be a shared + library, the + libpython library must be a shared library + also on most platforms. This is not the case in a default + Python installation built from source, but a + shared library is available in many operating system + distributions. configure will fail if + building PL/Python is selected but it cannot + find a shared libpython. That might mean that you + either have to install additional packages or rebuild (part of) your + Python installation to provide this shared + library. When building from source, run Python's + configure with the --enable-shared flag. +
+ To build the PL/Tcl + procedural language, you of course need a Tcl + installation. The minimum required version is + Tcl 8.4. +
+ To enable Native Language Support (NLS), that + is, the ability to display a program's messages in a language + other than English, you need an implementation of the + Gettext API. Some operating + systems have this built-in (e.g., Linux, NetBSD, + Solaris), for other systems you + can download an add-on package from https://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/. + If you are using the Gettext implementation in + the GNU C library then you will additionally + need the GNU Gettext package for some + utility programs. For any of the other implementations you will + not need it. +
+ You need OpenSSL, if you want to support + encrypted client connections. OpenSSL is + also required for random number generation on platforms that do not + have /dev/urandom (except Windows). The minimum + required version is 1.0.1. +
+ You need Kerberos, OpenLDAP, + and/or PAM, if you want to support authentication + using those services. +
+ You need LZ4, if you want to support + compression of data with that method; see + default_toast_compression and + wal_compression. +
+ You need Zstandard, if you want to support + compression of data with that method; see + wal_compression. + The minimum required version is 1.4.0. +
+ To build the PostgreSQL documentation, + there is a separate set of requirements; see + Section J.2. +

+ If you are building from a Git tree instead of + using a released source package, or if you want to do server development, + you also need the following packages: + +

+ + + + + + Flex and Bison + are needed to build from a Git checkout, or if you changed the actual + scanner and parser definition files. If you need them, be sure + to get Flex 2.5.31 or later and + Bison 1.875 or later. Other lex + and yacc programs cannot be used. +
+ + + Perl 5.8.3 or later is needed to build from a Git checkout, + or if you changed the input files for any of the build steps that + use Perl scripts. If building on Windows you will need + Perl in any case. Perl is + also required to run some test suites. +

+ If you need to get a GNU package, you can find + it at your local GNU mirror site (see https://www.gnu.org/prep/ftp + for a list) or at ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/. +

+ Also check that you have sufficient disk space. You will need about + 350 MB for the source tree during compilation and about 60 MB for + the installation directory. An empty database cluster takes about + 40 MB; databases take about five times the amount of space that a + flat text file with the same data would take. If you are going to + run the regression tests you will temporarily need up to an extra + 300 MB. Use the df command to check free disk + space. +

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