Installing PostgreSQL on Windows

This guide outlines the steps to install and initialize PostgreSQL on a Windows environment using the ZIP archive.

1. Download PostgreSQL
Visit the official PostgreSQL website and download the ZIP archive:
https://www.enterprisedb.com/download-postgresql-binaries

2. Extract the ZIP File
Extract the downloaded ZIP file to your desired location, for example:

D:\Dev\pgsql-14.1

3. Create Necessary Directories
Within the extracted folder, create the following directories:

mkdir <<postgresql_path>>\data
mkdir <<postgresql_path>>\log

4. Initialize PostgreSQL
Run the following command to initialize the database and create the `postgres` user:

.\initdb.exe -D "<<postgresql_path>>\data" -U postgres -W -E UTF8 -A scram-sha-256

5. Start PostgreSQL Server
To start the PostgreSQL server, execute:

.\pg_ctl.exe -D "<<postgresql_path>>\data" -l "<<postgresql_path>>\log\postgre.log" start

6. Stop PostgreSQL Server
To stop the server, use:

.\pg_ctl.exe -D "<<postgresql_path>>\data" -l "<<postgresql_path>>\log\postgre.log" stop

7. Restart PostgreSQL Server
To restart the server, run:

.\pg_ctl.exe -D "<<postgresql_path>>\data" -l "<<postgresql_path>>\log\postgre.log" restart