How to Self-Host PostgreSQL (with Monitoring)

PostgreSQL is the backbone of tons of modern apps — powerful, reliable, and open-source.

And yes, self-hosting it is totally doable.

In this guide, we’ll go through:

• Installing PostgreSQL on a Linux server

• Basic security & setup

• Optional access via pgAdmin

• Monitoring your database with Garmingo Status for full visibility

🧰 What You’ll Need

• A Linux server (Ubuntu, Debian, etc.)

• sudo/root access

• ~10 minutes

⚡ Step 1: Install PostgreSQL

Update your server:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Install PostgreSQL:

sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib -y

Check status:

sudo systemctl status postgresql

🛡️ Step 2: Set a Password for the postgres User

Switch to the postgres user:

sudo -i -u postgres

Then access the PostgreSQL shell:

psql

Set a password:

\password postgres  

Exit with:

\q  
exit

🧱 Step 3: Create a Database & User

sudo -i -u postgres  
createdb myappdb  
createuser myappuser  
psql  

In the shell:

ALTER USER myappuser WITH ENCRYPTED PASSWORD 'strongpass';  
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE myappdb TO myappuser;  
\q  
exit

🔐 Step 4: Enable Remote Access (Optional)

Edit config:

sudo nano /etc/postgresql/*/main/postgresql.conf

Change:

listen_addresses = '*'

Then:

sudo nano /etc/postgresql/*/main/pg_hba.conf

Add:

host    all             all             0.0.0.0/0            md5

Restart:

sudo systemctl restart postgresql

🌐 Step 5: (Optional) Use pgAdmin for GUI Access

Install pgAdmin via Docker, Snap, or locally.

Connect using:

• Host: your-server-ip

• Port: 5432

• User: myappuser

• Password: the one you set

✅ Step 6: Monitor PostgreSQL with Garmingo Status

Postgres is mission-critical. If it goes down, everything breaks.

Here’s how to make sure that never happens:

• Go to Garmingo Status

• Add a Port monitor for 5432 on your server’s IP

• Get alerts via Email, Slack, Telegram, Discord, or Webhooks

• View historical uptime

• Log incidents

• Generate monthly SLA reports

🆓 All available on the forever free plan, no credit card required.

👉 Set up your DB monitoring now

🧘 TL;DR

• ✅ Install PostgreSQL

• 🔐 Secure + configure remote access

• 🛠️ Create user + DB

• 📊 Monitor uptime and availability with Garmingo Status

Because databases don’t break often —

…but when they do, it hurts.

👉 Get real monitoring now