Creating a containerized PostgreSQL database using Docker is straightforward.

Below are several common approaches.

Quickest Way (Single Command)

Run PostgreSQL in a container with a default configuration.

docker run -d \
--name postgres-db \
-e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword \
-p 5432:5432 \
postgres

What this does

• -d → runs container in background
• --name postgres-db → container name
• -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD → sets admin password
• -p 5432:5432 → exposes PostgreSQL port to host
• postgres → official PostgreSQL image

You can now connect using:

Host: localhost
Port: 5432
User: postgres
Password: mysecretpassword

Production-Friendly Setup (With Persistent Storage)

Without volumes, data will disappear if the container is deleted. Use a Docker volume.

Step 1: Create a volume

docker volume create postgres-data

Step 2: Run container with volume

docker run -d \
--name postgres-db \
-e POSTGRES_USER=myuser \
-e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=mypassword \
-e POSTGRES_DB=mydatabase \
-v postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data \
-p 5432:5432 \
postgres:16

Environment Variables

Variable	Purpose
POSTGRES_USER	database user
POSTGRES_PASSWORD	user password
POSTGRES_DB	database created at startup

Connecting to the Database

From host machine, if you have PostgreSQL client installed:

psql -h localhost -U myuser -d mydatabase

From inside the container

docker exec -it postgres-db psql -U myuser -d mydatabase

Using Docker Compose (Recommended for Projects)

Step 1: Create a docker-compose.yml file:

version: "3.9"

services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:16
    container_name: postgres-db
    restart: always
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: myuser
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: mypassword
      POSTGRES_DB: mydatabase
    ports:
      - "5432:5432"
    volumes:
      - postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

volumes:
  postgres-data:

Step 2: Start it

docker compose up -d

Stop container:

docker compose down

Check Container Status

List all running containers

docker ps

View logs:

docker logs postgres-db

Backup/Restore the Database

Backup:

docker exec postgres-db pg_dump -U myuser mydatabase > backup.sql

Restore:

docker exec -i postgres-db psql -U myuser mydatabase < backup.sql

Connecting From Applications

Example connection string:

postgresql://myuser:mypassword@localhost:5432/mydatabase

Useful Docker Commands for the Database

Stop container:

docker stop postgres-db

Start container:

docker start postgres-db

Delete container:

docker rm postgres-db