Installing PostgreSQL, adding a user, and creating your first database

In this recipe we will not only learn how to install PostgreSQL, but we will discover how to add a new user and create your first database.

PostgreSQL is considered to be the most advanced open source database system in the world. It is known for being a solid, reliable, and well-engineered system that is fully capable of supporting high-transaction, mission-critical applications. PostgreSQL is a descendant of Ingres database, it is community driven, maintained by a large collection of contributors from all over the world but unlike MySQL, it comes in one free flavor. It may not be as flexible or as pervasive as MySQL, but because PostgreSQL is a very secure database system that excels in data integrity, it is the purpose of this recipe to show you how to begin exploring this forgotten friend.

Getting ready

To complete this recipe you will require a working installation of the CentOS 6 operating system with root privileges...