Postgresapp: Explain how to use different versions of PostgreSQL

[mikekaminsky]

In the docs it looks like postgres.app ships with multiple versions of PostgreSQL (10.3, 9.6.8, 9.5.12 at the time of this writing). I can't figure out how to switch versions (I'm currently running 10.3 but I'd like to switch to one of the 9.* versions).

Apologies if this is written down somewhere -- I can't seem to find it!

[jakob]

You need to open the side bar, then add a new server. Then you can pick which version you want.

This is not discoverable. We wanted to make Postgres.app easy to use for the common case, but made the "advanced" case difficult to discover.

We probably need to document this somehow. If you have suggestions, please let me know!

[mikekaminsky]

Helpful! Not sure where in the docs this should live, but if I were explaining this to a colleague I'd say something like

To change which version of postgreSQL you're running, open the Postgres app and click the button in the bottom-left-hand-corner to show the sidebar. Click the "+" sign to add a new server, and select the version you want from the drop-down list. (It's helpful to give it a name indicating which version you're running).

[mikekaminsky]

Not sure if this belongs here or is a separate issue, but when I did this naively I ended up with my postgres server not matching my psql version. I had to hack the instructions that you have in the docs to use

echo /Applications/Postgres.app/Contents/Versions/9.6/bin | sudo tee /etc/paths.d/postgresapp

once i switched to the 9.6 postgreSQL version.

[DaniG2k]

Switching versions should really be clearer in the docs.

[KATT]

I'm having a bit of trouble with this too.

I have version 11 running and naively installed 9.6 using brew install [email protected] thinking it would show up in the picker, but it doesn't. How do I install an additional version?

[DaniG2k]

It's a really bad idea to use brew's version alongside PostgresApp. I'd recommend uninstalling the brew version and going with the Additional Releases on PostgresApp's website:

[KATT]

Oops, I missed that somehow, that was silly. 🤦‍♂️

[gplanansky]

It's confusing ... not beneficially simple ... to say the app contains 3 versions of postgres, but Not say how to access them. Cognitively, matching categories (green -> go, yellow -> faster, red --> ...) is foundational. A category mismatch induces cognitive dissonance and ensuing angst.

1. in the Introduction, step 2: "You will be prompted for the server version to use."
2. in Documentation > Migrating Data:
   a. remind people about the server version choice
   b. if they need to use server version specific utilities, tell them to do that and how.
3. Say how to run two versions at the same time, there are plenty of use cases and that will cover a host of questions.

Having multiple versions bundled in the app is a good thing (plenty of use cases). thanks.

[jmbremer]

May I add for ignorant people like me, who have failed to switch versions for years now:

1. Click on the Postgres.app icon in macOS' menu bar.
2. In the menu that pops up, select 'Open Postgres'.
3. In the window that pops up then, there is a small icon in the lower left corner that, when clicked, opens a side bar.
4. By clicking on the +/- in the, now, lower left corner, you can add or remove servers.
5. The entities listed within the side bars, if any, have no indication of the underlying server version.
6. To make sure, you are working with the version you desire, click '+' and add a new server. The respective window to do so has the option to switch version.

Just for future me. I know that about nobody else will need these details.

P.S. Thanks a bunch to the people, who created Postgres.app, as, beyond the above, the app is supremely useful -- even to people that can also work with databases just on the command line!

[matthewcornell]

Hi Folks. First, thanks a ton for the app! Question: I have two versions on my machine (10 and 9.6) and when I restart, 10 is the default, but I work with 9.6. Is there a way to configure the startup choice? My Mac's been crashing lately, so this comes up :-( Cheers.

[jakob]

If you click on the server settings button, there's a checkbox for each server whether to autostart that server or not!

[jakob]

(sorry, closed the issue accidentally)

[chriszrc]

I think there's also confusion here because afaik, there's no way to tell which version of postgres.app you have. So in my case, I updated, and assumed I'd get all the new versions of postgres. But instead, I had to actually download the version of Postgres.app with the new versions I wanted. I'm also not sure it mentions anywhere in the documentation whether doing something like this is safe for all your existing databases (it appears it is?)

[Chaitanya-Varanasi]

i too face this issue, any suggestions?