How Do You Install PostgreSQL on an EC2 SUSE (AWS Instance of Linux SUSE)?

Problem scenario
You want to install Postgres on Linux SUSE.   This AWS server is in a security group with the ability to get to the Internet.  How do you install PostgreSQL on it?

Solution
1.  Log into the SUSE server with the default ec2-user.  The default user for AWS SUSE instances used to be root.  But now it is ec2-user.

2.  Run these five commands (taken from 

How Do You Write a Backend PHP Script to Query Postgres and Create a Database Name “foobar”?

Problem scenario
You are running Ubuntu Linux, and you want to create a .php script to be ran at the command prompt like this:

php good.php

You want this to open a PosgreSQL connection and issue a DDL command to create a database.  This is not a PHP web page.

Solution
This solution is only slightly more complicated than using PHP to run a basic SQL query in a Postgres database.

How Do You Troubleshoot the PHP Error “role is not permitted to log in” So Your Script Can Log into a Postgres Database?

Problem scenario
You are trying to use a .php script on the back end to connect to your PostgreSQL database.  However, you get an error like this when you try to run it:

‘PHP Warning:  pg_connect(): Unable to connect to PostgreSQL server: FATAL:  role  “funuser” is not permitted to log in in /tmp/d.php on line 7’

How can your .php script log into the Postgres database?

How Do You Troubleshoot a PHP Error “call to undefined function pg_connect()” So Your Script Can Log into a Postgres Database?

Problem scenario
You are trying to use a .php script on the back end to connect to your PostgreSQL database.  However, you get an error like this when you try to run it:  ‘PHP Fatal error:  Call to undefined function pg_connect() in ‘

Solution
Install php5-pgsql.  For Ubuntu you would run a command like this:  sudo apt-get install php5-pgsql

How Do You Start the Postgres Service on an Ubuntu Linux Server?

Problem scenario
You have Postgres installed on an Ubuntu Linux server.  You want to start the Postgres service. How do you do this?

Solution
Run this command:  service postgresql start

If you want to list the databases on the server, run these three commands:

sudo -i -u postgres
psql
\l

# To exit the psql command prompt,

How Do You Use C++ to Retrieve Data from a PostgreSQL Database on Ubuntu Linux?

Problem scenario:  You have C++ and Postgres installed on an Ubuntu Linux server.  How do you write C++ programs to retrieve data from Posgres databases?

Solution
Install the official C++ API for Postgresql.  These directions should work on any Debian distribution of Linux.

As root, do the following from the Linux command prompt:

apt-get -y install libpq-dev g++
cd /usr/bin/
curl http://pqxx.org/download/software/libpqxx/libpqxx-4.0.tar.gz >

How Do You Install LAPP Using Ubuntu Linux?

Update October 2020: These were tested to work with Ubuntu 20.x.

Problem scenario
You want to install the four core components that compose the LAPP stack. That is you want to install Apache, Postgres and PHP on Ubuntu Linux (which comes with Perl pre-installed).  How do you do this?

Solution
1.  Install Ubuntu.  If you need directions, see this link.

How Do You Troubleshoot Connecting to a Postgres Database When You Get the Error “FATAL: Ident Authentication Failed”?

Problem scenario
You are trying to establish a connection with a username and password to a Postgres database using PHP.  You have a PHP file like this:  

<?php
   $host        = “host=127.0.0.1”;
   $port        = “port=5432”;
   $dbname      = “dbname=contint”;
   $credentials = “user=contint password=excellent”;

   $db = pg_connect( “$host $port $dbname $credentials”  );
   if(!$db){
      echo “Error : Unable to open database\n”;

How Do You Fix a PHP Web Page when the Page Is Completely Blank?

Problem scenario
Using a web browser you go to a PHP web page.  There are no errors, but the page is blank.  It is just all white, but you expect content to be rendered (e.g., text should be visible).  The WSOD (white screen of death) is a common problem to troubleshoot in a web browser.  What do you do to see output you want it to display?  

Solution
1.