Install pgAdmin 4 for PostgreSQL on FreeBSD 12.2

Updated on July 29, 2021

Introduction

pgAdmin is an open-source software project for administrating and managing PostgreSQL database server that includes a graphical administration interface, an SQL query tool, and a procedural code debugger. This guide explains how to install pgAdmin 4 on FreeBSD 12.2.

Prerequisites

Deploy a Vultr FreeBSD 12.2 Server.
Create non-root sudo user.
Install PostgreSQL 12.

1. Configure PostgreSQL

Access the PostgreSQL instance.
```
 $ sudo su - postgres
```

Modify the default user postgres password.

 psql -c "alter user postgres with password 'yourPassword'"

Create user pgadmin.
```
 createuser pgadmin
```
Create a testdb database owned by user pgadmin.
```
 createdb testdb -O pgadmin
```
Exit the PostgreSQL instance
```
 exit
```

2. Install pgAdmin 4

Create a symbolic link of Python3.8 binary to /usr/local/bin/python.
```
 $ sudo ln -s /usr/local/bin/python3.8 /usr/local/bin/python
```

Install and upgrade pip, which is a package manager for Python.

 $ sudo pkg install py38-pip
 $ sudo pip install --upgrade pip

Install the virtualenv package, which is used to create isolated Python environments.
```
 $ sudo pkg install py38-virtualenv
```
Create a virtual environment for pgAdmin.
```
 $ virtualenv pgadmin4
```
Activate the Virtual environment.
```
 $ . pgadmin4/bin/activate
```

Install Python dependencies.

 $ sudo pip install cryptography==3.1.1 pyopenssl ndg-httpsclient pyasn1 simple-websocket

Install Python SQLite3 package.
```
 $ sudo pkg install py38-sqlite3
```
Download and install Python wheel package for pgAdmin. To get the latest version, go to pgAdmin wheel packages.
```
 $ sudo pip install https://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/pgadmin/pgadmin4/v5.4/pip/pgadmin4-5.4-py3-none-any.whl
```

Create the data directories and give write permissions.

 $ sudo mkdir -pv /var/lib/pgadmin
 $ sudo chmod 770 /var/lib/pgadmin
 $ sudo mkdir -pv /var/log/pgadmin
 $ sudo chmod 770 /var/log/pgadmin

Install the nano editor.
```
 $ sudo pkg install nano
```

Copy the pgAdmin configuration file.

 $ sudo cp ./pgadmin4/lib/python3.8/site-packages/pgadmin4/config.py ./pgadmin4/lib/python3.8/site-packages/pgadmin4/config_local.py

Edit the configuration file.

 $ sudo nano ./pgadmin4/lib/python3.8/site-packages/pgadmin4/config_local.py

Find the line DEFAULT_SERVER = '127.0.0.1' and change it to match the line below.
```
 DEFAULT_SERVER = '0.0.0.0'
```
Save and exit the file.

Run pgAdmin 4.

 $ sudo python pgadmin4/lib/python3.8/site-packages/pgadmin4/pgAdmin4.py

Enter your email address and password to create your pgAdmin administrator account.
Open your browser and navigate to your server's IP address at port 5050 to access the pgAdmin 4 user interface. Use the email address and password that you set in the previous step. For example:
```
 http://192.0.2.11:5050
```

3. Connect to the Database Server with pgAdmin 4

Go to the pgAdmin 4 web portal and click Add New Server.
You'll be prompted with a dialog box. Enter your preferred server name in the Name field.
Switch to the Connection tab and enter the required fields with the appropriate data.
- Enter localhost under the Host name/address.
- Leave Port value as 5432.
- Enter testdb under Maintenance database.
- Enter pgadmin under Username.
- Enter the database password you chose in section 1.
- Click Save to login to the server.
After a successful connection, choose your server in the upper left corner, then expand the arrows to access the testdb database.