Creating a cluster, connecting, and creating a database

Follow this quick walkthrough to configure a Postgres cluster on BigAnimal.

Step 1: Create an account and sign into the portal

If you haven't done so already, you'll need to create your EDB account.

Then, use your newly created account to access the BigAnimal portal.

Step 2: Create a cluster

1. On the overview page, select Create New Cluster.

   You should now find yourself at the Create Cluster page.

2. Select the options for your cluster. See Creating a cluster for more information.

Managing your cluster

After you select Create Cluster, you return to the Clusters page with your newly configured cluster now populating the list. From the Clusters page, you can view the details, create a replica of your cluster, and edit and delete your cluster.

Step 3: Connect to your new cluster

1. Select your cluster to get an overview of how it has been configured. Select the Connect tab to see more information about how to connect to your cluster.

2. Select the Overview tab and copy the Quick Connect command. Paste it into a terminal where psql is installed. It will prompt for your password and put you on a SQL command line. For example:

   → WrapCopy

   psql -W "postgres://edb_admin@p-qzwv2ns7pj.pg.biganimal.io:5432/edb_admin?sslmode=require"
   Password:

   Output

   psql (15.2) 
   SSL connection (protocol: TLSv1.3, cipher: TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384, compression: off)
   Type "help" for help.
   
   edb_admin=> 

Things to try

Create a new database

We're going to create some sample math data, so we're going to create a database called math. We could use the default edb_admin database, but best practice is to isolate data.

1. Create a new math database.

   → WrapCopy

   create user math with password 'math_password';
   create database math;

2. Grant the math role to edb_admin.

   → WrapCopy

   grant math to edb_admin;

3. Connect to the math database. You're prompted for the edb_admin password you provided in Step 2.

   → WrapCopy

   \connect math

Populate a table and query it

We're going to use temporary tables to calculate prime numbers using a Sieve of Eratosthenes.

1. Create a table called primes for storing prime numbers.

   → WrapCopy

   CREATE TABLE primes (
     num INTEGER,
     PRIMARY KEY (num)
   );

2. Populate the table with all prime numbers up to 1000. (This code is based on code from David Fetter.)

   → WrapCopy

   -- Based on https://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Sieve_of_Eratosthenes
   
   WITH RECURSIVE
   t0(m) AS (
       VALUES(1000)
   ),
   t1(n) AS (
       VALUES(2)
   UNION ALL
       SELECT n+1 FROM t1 WHERE n < (SELECT m FROM t0)
   ),
   t2 (n, i) AS (
       SELECT 2*n, 2
       FROM t1 WHERE 2*n <= (SELECT m FROM t0)
   UNION ALL
       (
           WITH t3(k) AS (
               SELECT max(i) OVER () + 1 FROM t2
           ),
           t4(k) AS (
               SELECT DISTINCT k FROM t3
           )
           SELECT k*n, k
           FROM
               t1
           CROSS JOIN
               t4
           WHERE k*k <= (SELECT m FROM t0)
       )
   )
   INSERT INTO primes (
     SELECT n FROM t1 EXCEPT
     SELECT n FROM t2
     ORDER BY 1
   );

3. Select the largest prime number less than 1000.

   → WrapCopy

   SELECT max(num)
   FROM primes
   WHERE num < 1000;

Further reading

Now that you've got the basics, see what else BigAnimal offers:

• Backup and restore
• Import data
• CLI reference
• API reference

• On this page
• Step 1: Create an account and sign into the portal
• Step 2: Create a cluster
• Step 3: Connect to your new cluster
• Things to try
• Further reading