How to install PostgreSQL with pgvector on Ubuntu

1. Install PostgreSQL
2. Install pgvector
3. Enable the pgvector extension
4. Start PostgreSQL automatically (optional)

We assume you already have provisioned a Ubuntu server, ready to get going.

#Install PostgreSQL

If you haven't already installed PostgreSQL on your server, execute these commands to install it from the official repository:

sudo apt install -y postgresql-common
sudo /usr/share/postgresql-common/pgdg/apt.postgresql.org.sh

#Install pgvector

When PostgreSQL is installed, run the following command:

sudo apt install postgresql-17-pgvector

#Enable the pgvector extension

The last step to turn PostgreSQL in a vector database, run the following query as the postgres user:

sudo -u postgres psql # run as postgres user

CREATE EXTENSION vector; # create the vector extension

#Start PostgreSQL automatically (optional)

Configure PostgreSQL to start automatically after booting your server:

sudo systemctl enable postgresql
sudo service postgresql start