install + run

get the DoltGres engine onto your machine, start the server on port 5432, and connect with psql.

1. install

DoltGres ships as a single binary called doltgres. Pick the path that matches your machine.

sudo bash -c 'curl -L https://github.com/dolthub/doltgresql/releases/latest/download/install.sh | bash'

docker run -e DOLTGRES_PASSWORD=myPassword -p 5432:5432 dolthub/doltgresql:latest

./scripts/build.sh

2. start the server

Run the binary to start the server:

doltgres

On its very first run, DoltGres creates a default user postgres, a default database postgres, and a default password password. To set your own instead, define these environment variables before the first run:

export DOLTGRES_USER=myUser
export DOLTGRES_PASSWORD=myPassword
doltgres

DoltGres listens on port 5432 — the standard PostgreSQL port — and speaks the PostgreSQL wire protocol, so any PostgreSQL client can connect to it.

3. connect with psql

Connect with the standard PostgreSQL client, psql:

PGPASSWORD=password psql -h localhost -U postgres

Or with a connection string:

postgres://postgres@localhost:5432/postgres

connecting to a specific version

Because DoltGres is versioned, a database name can be revision-qualified — you append a revision (a branch name, a commit hash, or a tag) after the database name to open a read-only snapshot at exactly that point. You can do it in the connection string:

postgres://postgres@localhost:5432/mydb/<revision>

Or switch to it inside an open session:

USE mydb/<revision>;

what to read next

• doltgres overview

  what DoltGres is, and why Dolt (MySQL) is not DoltGres (PostgreSQL)

• version control

  branch, commit, diff, and merge your data with SELECT dolt_* functions

• beta + limitations

  DoltGres is pre-1.0 — here is what is still missing or slow