Once in a while, I rediscover features in PostgreSQL which have been there for many many years, but which are so rarely used that people tend not to talk about them. One of those (in my experience) rarely-used features is the ability to create a file called “pg_service.conf“.
The basic idea is to configure services in a config file and address them without having to worry about host, port, user and so on.
A simple pg_service.conf file
How does it work? Well, here’s an example:
iMac:~ hs$ cat .pg_service.conf # a sample service [hansservice] host=localhost port=5432 dbname=test user=hs password=abc [paulservice] host=192.168.0.45 port=5432 dbname=xyz user=paul password=cde
In this case two services have been defined. Note that PostgreSQL uses a standard .ini-file format. Inside a section you can use all connection parameters available in PostgreSQL (a full list can be found here: http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.5/static/libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-PARAMKEYWORDS).
The first important thing is that a service can be referenced by name. The way to do that is to set an environment variable:
iMac:~ hs$ export PGSERVICE=hansservice
A connection can now be established without passing parameters to psql:
iMac:~ hs$ psql psql (9.5.0) Type "help" for help. test=#
Actually a pg_service.conf file is a pretty convenient thing to have. Maybe I should reconsider my behavior, and use this thing more often.
In case you need any assistance, please feel free to contact us.
In order to receive regular updates on important changes in PostgreSQL, subscribe to our newsletter, or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.