Getting Started

Quick start with pig, the PostgreSQL package manager

Here is a simple getting started tutorial to help you experience the core capabilities of the PIG package manager.

Short Version

curl -fsSL https://repo.pigsty.io/pig | bash   # Install PIG from Cloudflare
pig repo set                                   # One-time setup for Linux, Pigsty + PGDG repos (overwrites!)
pig install -v 18 -y pg18 pg_duckdb vector     # Install PG 18 kernel, pg_duckdb, pgvector extensions...

Installation

You can install pig with the following command:

China Mainland:

curl -fsSL https://repo.pigsty.cc/pig | bash

Global (Cloudflare CDN):

curl -fsSL https://repo.pigsty.io/pig | bash

PIG binary is about 4 MB. On Linux it uses rpm or dpkg to install the latest available version:

$ curl -fsSL https://repo.pigsty.cc/pig | bash
[INFO] kernel = Linux
[INFO] machine = x86_64
[INFO] package = deb
[INFO] pkg_url = https://repo.pigsty.cc/pkg/pig/v1.0.0/pig_1.0.0-1_amd64.deb
[INFO] download = /tmp/pig_1.0.0-1_amd64.deb
[INFO] downloading pig v1.0.0
curl -fSL https://repo.pigsty.cc/pkg/pig/v1.0.0/pig_1.0.0-1_amd64.deb -o /tmp/pig_1.0.0-1_amd64.deb
######################################################################## 100.0%
[INFO] md5sum = a543882aa905713a0c50088d4e848951b6957a37a1594d7e9f3fe46453d5ce66
[INFO] installing: dpkg -i /tmp/pig_1.0.0-1_amd64.deb
(Reading database ... 166001 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack /tmp/pig_1.0.0-1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking pig (1.0.0-1) ...
Setting up pig (1.0.0-1) ...
[INFO] pig v1.0.0 installed successfully
check https://pigsty.io/ext/ for details

Check Environment

PIG is a Go-written binary program, installed by default at /usr/bin/pig. pig version prints version information:

$ pig version
pig version 1.0.0 linux/amd64
build: HEAD dc8f343 2026-01-26T15:52:04Z

Use pig status to print the current environment status, OS code, PG installation status, repository accessibility and latency.

$ pig status

# [Configuration] ================================
Pig Version      : 1.0.0
Pig Config       : /home/vagrant/.pig/config.yml
Log Level        : info
Log Path         : stderr

# [OS Environment] ===============================
OS Distro Code   : u24
OS OSArch        : arm64
OS Package Type  : deb
OS Vendor ID     : ubuntu
OS Version       : 24
OS Version Full  : 24.04
OS Version Code  : noble

# [PG Environment] ===============================
Installed:
- PostgreSQL 18.1 (Ubuntu 18.1-1.pgdg24.04+2)  398 Extensions

Active:
PG Version      :  PostgreSQL 18.1 (Ubuntu 18.1-1.pgdg24.04+2)
Config Path     :  /usr/bin/pg_config
Binary Path     :  /usr/lib/postgresql/18/bin
Library Path    :  /usr/lib/postgresql/18/lib
Extension Path  :  /usr/share/postgresql/18/extension

# [Pigsty Environment] ===========================
Inventory Path   : Not Found
Pigsty Home      : Not Found

# [Network Conditions] ===========================
pigsty.cc  ping ok: 802 ms
pigsty.io  ping ok: 1410 ms
Internet Access   :  true
Pigsty Repo       :  pigsty.io
Inferred Region   :  china
Latest Pigsty Ver :  v4.2.2

Automation Tips

For production recovery tasks, it is recommended to run --dry-run first to preview the PITR execution plan before actually executing:

pig pitr -d --dry-run         # preview recovery steps only, no execution
pig pitr -d -y                # skip confirmation (automation scenarios)

List Extensions

Use the pig ext list command to print the built-in PG extension catalog.

$ pig ext list

Name                            Status              Version     Cate   Flags   License       Repo     PGVer  Package                               Description
----                            ------              -------     ----   ------  -------       ------   -----  ------------                          ---------------------
timescaledb                     installed  2.24.0      TIME   -dsl--  Timescale     PIGSTY   15-18  postgresql-18-timescaledb-tsl         Enables scalable inserts and complex queries for time-series dat
timescaledb_toolkit             installed  1.22.0      TIME   -ds-t-  Timescale     PIGSTY   15-18  postgresql-18-timescaledb-toolkit     Library of analytical hyperfunctions, time-series pipelining, an
timeseries                      installed  0.2.0       TIME   -d----  PostgreSQL    PIGSTY   14-18  postgresql-18-pg-timeseries           Convenience API for time series stack
periods                         installed  1.2.3       TIME   -ds---  PostgreSQL    PGDG     14-18  postgresql-18-periods                 Provide Standard SQL functionality for PERIODs and SYSTEM VERSIO
temporal_tables                 installed  1.2.2       TIME   -ds--r  BSD 2-Clause  PIGSTY   14-18  postgresql-18-temporal-tables         temporal tables
.........
pg_fact_loader                  not avail  2.0.1       ETL    -ds--x  MIT           PGDG     13-17  postgresql-18-pg-fact-loader          build fact tables with Postgres
pg_bulkload                     installed  3.1.23      ETL    bds---  BSD 3-Clause  PIGSTY   14-18  postgresql-18-pg-bulkload             pg_bulkload is a high speed data loading utility for PostgreSQL
test_decoding                   available  -           ETL    --s--x  PostgreSQL    CONTRIB  14-18  postgresql-18                         SQL-based test/example module for WAL logical decoding
pgoutput                        available  -           ETL    --s---  PostgreSQL    CONTRIB  14-18  postgresql-18                         Logical Replication output plugin


(464 Rows) (Status: installed, available, not avail | Flags: b = HasBin, d = HasDDL, s = HasLib, l = NeedLoad, t = Trusted, r = Relocatable, x = Unknown)

All extension metadata is defined in a data file named extension.csv. This file is updated with each pig release. You can update it directly using the pig ext reload command. The updated file is placed in ~/.pig/extension.csv by default. You can view and modify it, and the latest online catalog is available at pigsty.io/ext/data/extension.csv.

Add Repositories

To install extensions, you first need to add upstream repositories. pig repo can be used to manage Linux APT/YUM/DNF software repository configuration.

You can use the straightforward pig repo set to overwrite existing repository configuration, ensuring only necessary repositories exist in the system:

pig repo set                # One-time setup for all repos including Linux system, PGDG, PIGSTY (PGSQL+INFRA)

Warning: pig repo set will back up and clear existing repository configuration, then add required repositories with overwrite semantics.

Or choose the gentler pig repo add to add needed repositories:

pig repo add pgdg pigsty     # Add PGDG official repo and PIGSTY supplementary repo
pig repo add pgsql           # [Optional] Add PGDG and PIGSTY together as one "pgsql" module
pig repo update              # Update cache: apt update / yum makecache

PIG detects your network environment and chooses Cloudflare global CDN or China cloud CDN, but you can force a specific region with --region:

pig repo set      --region=china              # use China mirror for faster downloads
pig repo add pgdg --region=default --update   # force PGDG upstream repo

PIG does not support offline installation. You can download RPM/DEB packages yourself and copy them to isolated servers for installation. The related PIGSTY project provides local software repositories. You can use pig to install pre-downloaded extensions from local repos.

Install PG

After adding repositories, you can use pig ext add to install extensions (and related packages):

pig ext add -v 18 -y pgsql timescaledb postgis vector pg_duckdb pg_mooncake # install PG 18 kernel and extensions, auto-confirm

# This command will translate aliases to actual packages
INFO[20:34:44] translate alias 'pgsql' to package: postgresql$v postgresql$v-server postgresql$v-libs postgresql$v-contrib postgresql$v-plperl postgresql$v-plpython3 postgresql$v-pltcl
INFO[20:34:44] translate extension 'timescaledb' to package: timescaledb-tsl_18
INFO[20:34:44] translate extension 'postgis' to package: postgis36_18
INFO[20:34:44] translate extension 'vector' to package: pgvector_18
INFO[20:34:44] translate extension 'pg_duckdb' to package: pg_duckdb_18
INFO[20:34:44] translate extension 'pg_mooncake' to package: pg_mooncake_18
INFO[20:34:44] installing packages: dnf install -y postgresql18 postgresql18-server postgresql18-libs postgresql18-contrib postgresql18-plperl postgresql18-plpython3 postgresql18-pltcl timescaledb-tsl_18 postgis36_18 pgvector_18 pg_duckdb_18 pg_mooncake_18

This uses the “alias translation” mechanism to map clean PG kernel/extension logical names into real RPM/DEB lists. If you do not need translation, use apt/dnf directly, or use the -n|--no-translation option with the pig install variant:

pig install vector     # with translation, installs pgvector_18 or postgresql-18-pgvector for current PG 18
pig install vector -n  # no translation, installs a component named vector (from pigsty-infra repo)

Alias Translation

PostgreSQL kernels and extensions map to many RPM/DEB packages. Remembering them is painful, so pig provides common aliases to simplify installation.

For example, on EL systems the following aliases translate to the RPM lists on the right:

pgsql:        "postgresql$v postgresql$v-server postgresql$v-libs postgresql$v-contrib postgresql$v-plperl postgresql$v-plpython3 postgresql$v-pltcl"
pg18:         "postgresql18 postgresql18-server postgresql18-libs postgresql18-contrib postgresql18-plperl postgresql18-plpython3 postgresql18-pltcl"
pg18-client:  "postgresql18"
pg18-server:  "postgresql18-server postgresql18-libs postgresql18-contrib"
pg18-devel:   "postgresql18-devel"
pg18-basic:   "pg_repack_18 wal2json_18 pgvector_18"
pg17-mini:    "postgresql17 postgresql17-server postgresql17-libs postgresql17-contrib"
pg16-full:    "postgresql16 postgresql16-server postgresql16-libs postgresql16-contrib postgresql16-plperl postgresql16-plpython3 postgresql16-pltcl postgresql16-llvmjit postgresql16-test postgresql16-devel"
pg15-main:    "postgresql15 postgresql15-server postgresql15-libs postgresql15-contrib postgresql15-plperl postgresql15-plpython3 postgresql15-pltcl pg_repack_15 wal2json_15 pgvector_15"
pg14-core:    "postgresql14 postgresql14-server postgresql14-libs postgresql14-contrib postgresql14-plperl postgresql14-plpython3 postgresql14-pltcl"

Note the $v placeholder is replaced by the PG major version. When you use the pgsql alias, $v becomes 18, 17, etc. So when you install the pg18-server alias, EL actually installs postgresql18-server, postgresql18-libs, postgresql18-contrib, while Debian/Ubuntu installs postgresql-18. Pig handles all details.

Common PostgreSQL Aliases

Alias translation list for EL

"pgsql":        "postgresql$v postgresql$v-server postgresql$v-libs postgresql$v-contrib postgresql$v-plperl postgresql$v-plpython3 postgresql$v-pltcl",
"pgsql-mini":   "postgresql$v postgresql$v-server postgresql$v-libs postgresql$v-contrib",
"pgsql-core":   "postgresql$v postgresql$v-server postgresql$v-libs postgresql$v-contrib postgresql$v-plperl postgresql$v-plpython3 postgresql$v-pltcl",
"pgsql-full":   "postgresql$v postgresql$v-server postgresql$v-libs postgresql$v-contrib postgresql$v-plperl postgresql$v-plpython3 postgresql$v-pltcl postgresql$v-llvmjit postgresql$v-test postgresql$v-devel",
"pgsql-main":   "postgresql$v postgresql$v-server postgresql$v-libs postgresql$v-contrib postgresql$v-plperl postgresql$v-plpython3 postgresql$v-pltcl pg_repack_$v wal2json_$v pgvector_$v",
"pgsql-client": "postgresql$v",
"pgsql-server": "postgresql$v-server postgresql$v-libs postgresql$v-contrib",
"pgsql-devel":  "postgresql$v-devel",
"pgsql-basic":  "pg_repack_$v wal2json_$v pgvector_$v",

Alias translation list for Debian/Ubuntu

"pgsql":        "postgresql-$v postgresql-client-$v postgresql-plpython3-$v postgresql-plperl-$v postgresql-pltcl-$v",
"pgsql-mini":   "postgresql-$v postgresql-client-$v",
"pgsql-core":   "postgresql-$v postgresql-client-$v postgresql-plpython3-$v postgresql-plperl-$v postgresql-pltcl-$v",
"pgsql-full":   "postgresql-$v postgresql-client-$v postgresql-plpython3-$v postgresql-plperl-$v postgresql-pltcl-$v postgresql-server-dev-$v",
"pgsql-main":   "postgresql-$v postgresql-client-$v postgresql-plpython3-$v postgresql-plperl-$v postgresql-pltcl-$v postgresql-$v-repack postgresql-$v-wal2json postgresql-$v-pgvector",
"pgsql-client": "postgresql-client-$v",
"pgsql-server": "postgresql-$v",
"pgsql-devel":  "postgresql-server-dev-$v",
"pgsql-basic":  "postgresql-$v-repack postgresql-$v-wal2json postgresql-$v-pgvector",

These aliases can be instantiated with major versions, or you can use versioned aliases like pg18, pg17, and so on. The actively supported PostgreSQL major versions are now 14-18. For example, for PostgreSQL 18 you can use:

`pgsql`	`pg18`	`pg17`	`pg16`	`pg15`	`pg14`
`pgsql`	`pg18`	`pg17`	`pg16`	`pg15`	`pg14`
`pgsql-mini`	`pg18-mini`	`pg17-mini`	`pg16-mini`	`pg15-mini`	`pg14-mini`
`pgsql-core`	`pg18-core`	`pg17-core`	`pg16-core`	`pg15-core`	`pg14-core`
`pgsql-full`	`pg18-full`	`pg17-full`	`pg16-full`	`pg15-full`	`pg14-full`
`pgsql-main`	`pg18-main`	`pg17-main`	`pg16-main`	`pg15-main`	`pg14-main`
`pgsql-client`	`pg18-client`	`pg17-client`	`pg16-client`	`pg15-client`	`pg14-client`
`pgsql-server`	`pg18-server`	`pg17-server`	`pg16-server`	`pg15-server`	`pg14-server`
`pgsql-devel`	`pg18-devel`	`pg17-devel`	`pg16-devel`	`pg15-devel`	`pg14-devel`
`pgsql-basic`	`pg18-basic`	`pg17-basic`	`pg16-basic`	`pg15-basic`	`pg14-basic`

Install Extensions

Pig detects your PostgreSQL installation. If there is an active PG installation (detected via pg_config in PATH), pig installs extensions for that PG major by default.

pig install pg_smtp_client          # simplest
pig install pg_smtp_client -v 18    # specify major version (more stable)
pig install pg_smtp_client -p /usr/lib/postgresql/16/bin/pg_config   # another way to target PG

dnf install pg_smtp_client_18       # most direct, but not all extensions are that simple

Tip: to add a specific PG major version into PATH, use pig ext link:

pig ext link pg18             # create /usr/pgsql symlink and write /etc/profile.d/pgsql.sh
. /etc/profile.d/pgsql.sh     # take effect now and update PATH

If you want a specific package version, use name=ver syntax:

pig ext add -v 18 pgvector=0.7.2 # install pgvector 0.7.2 for PG 18
pig ext add pg16=16.5            # install PostgreSQL 16 with a specific minor version

Warning: currently only PGDG YUM repositories provide historical extension versions. PIGSTY repo and PGDG APT repo only provide the latest extension versions.

Show Extensions

pig ext status shows installed extensions.

$ pig ext status

Installed:
- PostgreSQL 18.1 (Ubuntu 18.1-1.pgdg24.04+2)  398 Extensions

Active:
PG Version      :  PostgreSQL 18.1 (Ubuntu 18.1-1.pgdg24.04+2)
Config Path     :  /usr/bin/pg_config
Binary Path     :  /usr/lib/postgresql/18/bin
Library Path    :  /usr/lib/postgresql/18/lib
Extension Path  :  /usr/share/postgresql/18/extension
Extension Stat  :  329 Installed (PIGSTY 234, PGDG 95) + 69 CONTRIB = 398 Total

Name                          Version  Cate  Flags   License     Repo    Package                               Description
----                          -------  ----  ------  -------     ------  ------------                          ---------------------
timescaledb                   2.24.0   TIME  -dsl--  Timescale   PIGSTY  postgresql-18-timescaledb-tsl         Enables scalable inserts and complex queries for time-series dat
timescaledb_toolkit           1.22.0   TIME  -ds-t-  Timescale   PIGSTY  postgresql-18-timescaledb-toolkit     Library of analytical hyperfunctions, time-series pipelining, an
timeseries                    0.2.0    TIME  -d----  PostgreSQL  PIGSTY  postgresql-18-pg-timeseries           Convenience API for time series stack
periods                       1.2.3    TIME  -ds---  PostgreSQL  PGDG    postgresql-18-periods                 Provide Standard SQL functionality for PERIODs and SYSTEM VERSIO
temporal_tables               1.2.2    TIME  -ds--r  BSD 2-Clause PIGSTY postgresql-18-temporal-tables         temporal tables
postgis                       3.6.1    GIS   -ds---  GPL-2.0     PGDG    postgresql-18-postgis-3               PostGIS geometry and geography spatial types and functions
postgis_topology              3.6.1    GIS   -ds---  GPL-2.0     PGDG    postgresql-18-postgis-3               PostGIS topology spatial types and functions
postgis_raster                3.6.1    GIS   -ds---  GPL-2.0     PGDG    postgresql-18-postgis-3               PostGIS raster types and functions
vector                        0.8.1    RAG   -ds--r  PostgreSQL  PGDG    postgresql-18-pgvector                vector data type and ivfflat and hnsw access methods
pg_duckdb                     1.1.0    OLAP  -dsl--  MIT         PIGSTY  postgresql-18-pg-duckdb               DuckDB Embedded in Postgres

If PostgreSQL cannot be found in your current PATH (via pg_config), it is recommended to explicitly specify PG major with -v|-p to avoid version detection ambiguity.

Scan Extensions

pig ext scan provides a lower-level scan. It scans shared libraries under the target PG directory to discover installed extensions:

$ pig ext scan

Installed:
- PostgreSQL 18.1 (Ubuntu 18.1-1.pgdg24.04+2)  398 Extensions

Active:
PG Version      :  PostgreSQL 18.1 (Ubuntu 18.1-1.pgdg24.04+2)
Config Path     :  /usr/bin/pg_config
Binary Path     :  /usr/lib/postgresql/18/bin
Library Path    :  /usr/lib/postgresql/18/lib
Extension Path  :  /usr/share/postgresql/18/extension

Name                 Version  SharedLibs                                       Description                       Meta
----                 -------  ----------                                       ---------------------             ------
timescaledb          2.25.1   Enables scalable inserts and complex queries...  module_pathname=$libdir/timescaledb-2.24.0 relocatable=false trusted=true lib=...
timescaledb_toolkit  1.22.0   Library of analytical hyperfunctions...          relocatable=false superuser=false module_pathname=$libdir/timescaledb_toolkit lib=...
periods              1.2      Provide Standard SQL functionality for PERIODs   module_pathname=$libdir/periods relocatable=false requires=btree_gist lib=periods.so
pg_cron              1.6      Job scheduler for PostgreSQL                     relocatable=false schema=pg_catalog module_pathname=$libdir/pg_cron lib=pg_cron.so
postgis              3.6.1    PostGIS geometry and geography spatial types...  module_pathname=$libdir/postgis-3 relocatable=false lib=postgis-3.so
vector               0.8.1    vector data type and ivfflat and hnsw access...  relocatable=true lib=vector.so
pg_duckdb            1.1.0    DuckDB Embedded in Postgres                      module_pathname=$libdir/pg_duckdb relocatable=false schema=public lib=...
...

Container Practice

You can create a new VM or use the following Docker container for testing. Create a d13 directory and a Dockerfile:

FROM debian:13
USER root
WORKDIR /root/
CMD ["/bin/bash"]

RUN apt update && apt install -y ca-certificates curl && curl https://repo.pigsty.io/pig | bash

docker build -t d13:latest .
docker run -it d13:latest /bin/bash

pig repo set --region=china    # add China region repos
pig install -y pg18            # install PGDG 18 kernel packages
pig install -y postgis timescaledb pgvector pg_duckdb

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Last Modified 2026-03-23: bump version to v4.2.2 (a383ab7)