pgReplicationTutorial

This repository contains files for the PostgreSQL Binary Replication tutorial.

This tutorial has been updated with PostGIS for FOSS4G 2014

These files are required to perform the hands-on exercises. Importantly, there is significant setup required in order to do the hands-on exercises which needs to happen before the tutorial starts, so please read the below.

All steps through Vagrant Up should be completed before getting to the tutorial

Requirements

Laptop Harware:

running Linux, OSX, or Windows XP or later
64-bit (32-bit may be possible, see below)
at least 1GB of RAM, 2GB or more preferred
300MB free disk space

Software and Wetware:

terminal program capable of ssh
familiarity with the bash/linux command line
familiarity with one or more command-line text editors
vagrant and virtualbox (see below)

Installing the Base Software

First, you will need to install Vagrant and VirtualBox if you do not already have them. If you do already have them, please make sure that you have at least these minimum versions:

Vagrant 1.4.1 or later
VirtualBox 4.2 or later

Otherwise, you're going to need to install them. Fortunately, both have downloads for most OSes and extensive documentation. And when you get used to them, you'll find Vagrant an invaluable tool for testing.

Vagrant Installation:

VirtualBox Installation:

Installing the Virtual Machine Image

Once you've installed Vagrant and VirtualBox, you'll need to get an operating system image, or "box". Please download one of the following large files:

If you have a 64-bit laptop: http://files.vagrantup.com/precise64.box

If you have a 32-bit laptop: http://files.vagrantup.com/precise32.box

Then run the following command from the folder where you downloaded it:

64-bit: vagrant box add precise precise64.box
32-bit: vagrant box add precise precise32.box

Installing Tutorial Exercises

Install the tutorial exercises on your machine one of two ways:

Preferred Method: Git Checkout from the Github repo. The repository is here: https://github.com/jberkus/pgReplicationTutorial, and you can clone it by:

git clone https://github.com/jberkus/pgReplicationTutorial.git

Alternate Method: if you're not comfortable with git, download the tarball from:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5132935/pgReplication.tgz

This will require the programs "tar" and "gzip" to expand, as follows:

tar -p -xvf pgReplication.tgz

We apologize for not providing a "zip" formatted archive, but zip does not preserve file permissions, which would cause issues.

The ReplicationTutorial directory should be placed somewhere you have disk space available.

Vagrant Up

The first time you do vagrant up, it will require an internet connection with significant bandwidth and around 1/2 hour. As such, you should do it at home, before you get to the conference or the tutorial.

Open your terminal program. Navigate to pgReplicationTutorial/vagrant directory. Type the following:

vagrant up

This will download the "precise64" box (VM), install a bunch of software on it, and start it up. Verify that you can log into it with:

vagrant ssh

Now log out with "exit". Shut down the VM, but leave it set up in preparation for the tutorial:

vagrant suspend

Other Files In This Package

The pgReplicationTutorial package also contains the following files in the Tutorial directory:

exercises.txt

This is a set of commands which you will be running during the hands-on exercises for the tutorial. These are provided in a text file so that you can copy & paste, instead of trying to read every letter and dash from the instructor's screen.