How to run SQL commands in a Postgre SQL Docker container?

Time needed: 5 minutes

How to run SQL commands in a Postgre SQL Docker container?

1. Run a container hosting the Postgre SQL server

   Something like this:
   docker run -d --name timescaledb -p 5432:5432 -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password timescale/timescaledb:latest-pg12
   
   (I know, I know, that’s technically a TimescaleDB, but it’s built on Postgre, so..)

2. Launch Docker CLI

   Here’s where to do that in Docker Desktop, but you could do the same by having to run your container in interactive mode.
   
   
   
   Or using a console of your choice, it’ll look somewhat like this:
   docker exec -it TimescaleDB bash
   
   On Ubuntu, just add “sudo”, and it should work. 😬

3. Run Postgre terminal client

   This exact command will depend on the image – but at least psql is a good guess.
   
   You can start it by running something along the lines of:
   psql -h [host name] -U [user name]
   
   In my case:
   psql -h localhost -U postgres
   
   localhost being, obviously local server and the user name being something you may or may not be able to configure. “postgres” might be a good guess, but also you might want to check your connection string if you have one.

4. That’s it. You can now run your SQL!

   Just remember to write the commands in UPPERCASE and end with a semi-colon, and you should be good. ☺