A quick tour of geodatabases in PostgreSQL

ArcSDE geodatabases are a collection of tables, views, and functions inside a database management system (DBMS). PostgreSQL is one such DBMS in which you can store your geodatabase.

In general, ArcSDE geodatabases are implemented to behave the same way across all supported DBMSs. However, when you are administering the geodatabase, you do encounter differences. This is due to the fact that there are differences in the databases themselves; not all DBMSs use the same database objects, tools, syntax, data types, reserved keywords, terminology, or workflows. Therefore, how you interact with the database and the ArcSDE geodatabase objects in it will differ based on the DBMS you use.

Because there are differences in administration tasks and how data is stored and accessed in the database, help topics have been grouped into sections based on the DBMS. This section of the help provides information on administering an ArcSDE geodatabase in PostgreSQL. If you access a topic by way of the search, be sure you are reading the topic that applies to the DBMS you are using.

The "Geodatabases in PostgreSQL" section of the help is organized as follows:

• Setting up a geodatabase—This subsection includes instructions on setting up PostgreSQL and a geodatabase. It includes information on configuring and tuning the database and geodatabase.
• Adding and administering users—This subsection discusses the logins used to access the database and the permissions they need.
• Connecting to the geodatabase—This subsection describes the two types of connections you can make to an ArcSDE geodatabase: a direct connection or an ArcSDE service connection. It explains how to configure the server and client to allow each type of connection and provides information on connection administration.
• Maintaining an ArcSDE geodatabase—Maintenance tasks, such as backup and recovery, geodatabase compression, and database statistics updates, are described in this subsection. You need to understand and regularly perform these tasks to keep your geodatabase running efficiently and avoid downtime.
• Upgrading a geodatabase—It is important that you prepare your geodatabase and properly upgrade it to move to the next release of ArcGIS. Information on how to do this is provided in this subsection.
• Moving a geodatabase—Sometimes it is necessary to move your geodatabase from one database or one server to another. This subsection offers some options to complete this task.
• Inside a geodatabase—This subsection describes GIS-specific data types used in the geodatabase and explains how different dataset types are stored in a geodatabase in PostgreSQL.