Running PostgreSQL with Docker

Installing Postgres directly on your machine works, but it gets messy fast once you're juggling multiple projects that each want different versions, extensions, or seed data. Docker sidesteps all of that you get a clean, disposable Postgres instance per project, and your host machine stays untouched. This guide covers running Postgres in Docker for local development: quick one-off containers, docker-compose for anything you'll come back to, persistent data, and a few things that trip people up. 1. The quickest way to get a Postgres instance running docker run --name my-postgres \ -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD = secret \ -e POSTGRES_USER = devuser \ -e POSTGRES_DB = myapp \ -p 5432:5432 \ -d postgres:16 Breaking that down: --name my-postgres — a friendly name so you can reference the container later instead of a random hash POSTGRES_PASSWORD — required; the container won't start without it POSTGRES_USER / POSTGRES_DB — optional; default to postgres if omitted -p 5432:5432 — maps container port 5432 to host port 5432 -d — detached, runs in the background postgres:16 — pin a version; avoid latest since it can silently jump major versions later Check it's running: docker ps Connect with psql (if installed locally) or from inside the container: docker exec -it my-postgres psql -U devuser -d myapp 2. Using docker-compose for anything persistent For a real project, docker-compose.yml is the better default , it's version-controlled, reproducible, and easy to extend with more services later (Redis, pgAdmin, your app itself). services : db : image : postgres:16 container_name : myapp-postgres restart : unless-stopped environment : POSTGRES_USER : devuser POSTGRES_PASSWORD : secret POSTGRES_DB : myapp ports : - " 5432:5432" volumes : - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data volumes : pgdata : Start it: docker compose up -d Stop it (keeps data): docker compose down Stop and wipe data: docker compose down -v 3. Why the volume matters Without a named volume, all data lives inside the container's