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This project is part of pgEdge Labs and is under active development. APIs and features may change without notice.

Installing Supported Extensions on a pgEdge Starfleet Managed Database

A pgEdge Starfleet Managed database supports the Postgres extensions listed on this page. Each one installs through a built-in role, and an application can then use it.

Three terms recur on the page:

  • app is the built-in role that owns the database. An application and its migrations connect as app.
  • admin is the built-in role that installs the extensions the platform reserves.
  • A supported extension is one this page lists. An extension the page does not list is not supported on a Managed database.

Before You Start

You need the database ID, <db-id> below. Run pgedge starfleet managed database list to find it.

The database must report available, and an allowlist rule must admit the address you connect from. The Controlling Network Access to a pgEdge Starfleet Managed Database page describes adding a rule.

Finding the Supported Extensions

Every Managed database already has three extensions installed:

Extension What it provides
plpgsql The PL/pgSQL procedural language.
pg_stat_statements Query statistics, readable as app or admin.
pgaudit Audit logging, which the platform configures.

Install the following extensions as app. app then owns each one, so a migration running as app can alter or drop it:

Extension What it provides
btree_gin GIN operator classes for common data types.
btree_gist GiST operator classes for common data types.
citext A case-insensitive text type.
cube A multidimensional cube type.
dict_int A text-search dictionary for integers.
fuzzystrmatch String similarity and phonetic matching.
hstore A key-value store type.
intarray Functions and operators for integer arrays.
isn Types for international product numbers.
lo Large-object maintenance.
ltree A type for hierarchical label paths.
pg_trgm Trigram similarity search.
pgcrypto Cryptographic functions.
pgmq A lightweight message queue.
seg A type for line segments and float intervals.
tablefunc Crosstab and other table functions.
tcn Triggered change notifications.
tsm_system_rows A TABLESAMPLE method that samples by row count.
tsm_system_time A TABLESAMPLE method that samples by time limit.
unaccent Accent removal for text search.
uuid-ossp UUID generation.

Install the following extensions as admin. Each one is then owned by postgres, and app can use it:

Extension What it provides
vector Vector types, distance operators and HNSW indexes.
postgis Spatial types and functions.
postgis_raster Raster types and functions for PostGIS.
postgis_sfcgal 3D geometry functions for PostGIS.
postgis_topology Topology types and functions for PostGIS.
postgis_tiger_geocoder US address normalization for PostGIS.
address_standardizer Address parsing into its parts. Install address_standardizer_data_us with it.
address_standardizer_data_us US rules and lexicons for address_standardizer.
pg_cron Scheduled jobs, run in the database.
pg_tokenizer Text tokenizers for full-text search.
vchord_bm25 BM25 ranking and indexes for full-text search.

Installing an Extension

Install each extension as the role the tables above name. Install every extension a schema depends on before loading that schema, since a schema load fails on the first object that needs a missing extension.

  1. Print the app connection string, which carries a live password:

    pgedge starfleet managed database connection-string <db-id> \
    --user-type app

  2. Install an extension from the app table with that string:

    psql "<app-uri>" -c 'CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS pgcrypto'

    Use the URI step 1 printed in place of <app-uri>. Install pgmq this way too. Installed as admin, pgmq refuses app access to its queues.

  3. Print the admin connection string:

    pgedge starfleet managed database connection-string <db-id> \
    --user-type admin

  4. Install an extension from the admin table with that string:

    psql "<admin-uri>" -c 'CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS vector'

    Use the URI step 3 printed in place of <admin-uri>.

  5. List the installed extensions and their owners:

    psql "<app-uri>" \
    -c 'SELECT extname, extowner::regrole FROM pg_extension'

    An extension from the admin table shows postgres as its owner.

Troubleshooting

The entries below cover the refusals an install can produce.

Install Refused as app with "Must be superuser"

psql exits with status 1 and prints permission denied to create extension with the hint Must be superuser to create this extension. The extension is in the admin table, or it is not supported. Where the admin table lists it, install it as admin instead.

Install Refused as admin with "Must be superuser"

psql exits with status 1 with the same message, run as admin. The extension is not supported on a Managed database, and no role can install it. Remove the dependency from the schema before loading it.

Extension Not Available

psql exits with status 1 and prints extension "<name>" is not available. The extension is not part of the Managed database image. Remove the dependency from the schema before loading it.

Next Steps

The Loading a Schema and Data into a pgEdge Starfleet Managed Database page restores a dump after its extensions are installed.