Book Image

PostgreSQL Administration Cookbook, 9.5/9.6 Edition - Third Edition

Book Image

PostgreSQL Administration Cookbook, 9.5/9.6 Edition - Third Edition

Overview of this book

PostgreSQL is a powerful opensource database management system; now recognized as the expert's choice for a wide range of applications, it has an enviable reputation for performance and stability. PostgreSQL provides an integrated feature set comprising relational database features, object-relational, text search, Geographical Info Systems, analytical tools for big data and JSON/XML document management. Starting with short and simple recipes, you will soon dive into core features, such as configuration, server control, tables, and data. You will tackle a variety of problems a database administrator usually encounters, from creating tables to managing views, from improving performance to securing your database, and from using monitoring tools to using storage engines. Recipes based on important topics such as high availability, concurrency, replication, backup and recovery, as well as diagnostics and troubleshooting are also given special importance. By the end of this book, you will have all the knowledge you need to run, manage, and maintain PostgreSQL efficiently.
Table of Contents (13 chapters)

Using SSL certificates to authenticate

This recipe shows you how to set up your PostgreSQL system so that it requires clients to present a valid X.509 certificate before allowing them to connect.

This can be used as an additional security layer to use double authentication, where the client must both have a valid certificate to set up the SSL connection and also know the database user's password. It can also be used as the sole authentication method, where the PostgreSQL server will first verify the client connection using the certificate presented by the client, and then retrieve the username from the same certificate.

Getting ready

Get, or generate, a root certificate and a client certificate to be used by the connecting...