Install and Configure PostgreSQL for Ubuntu
The instructions provided below are intended for the PostgreSQL administrator (not the DB host servers). If you are including the HA layer to your implementation, refer to the ThingWorx High Availability section of this Help Center.
Install PostgreSQL and Create a New User Role
1. Refer to the ThingWorx System Requirements for information on supported PostgreSQL versions.
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The steps in this procedure use PostgreSQL version x.x, where x.x is the supported version.
2. Download and install the appropriate version of PostgreSQL.
The PostgreSQL repository can be added allowing the application to be installed directly from the package manager.
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To get the Ubuntu version name use the following command:
$ lsb_release -sc

$ sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://apt.postgresql.org/pub/repos/apt/ <YOUR_UBUNTU_VERSION_HERE>-pgdg main" '> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pgdg.list
$ sudo wget -O - https://www.postgresql.org/media/keys/ACCC4CF8.asc | sudo apt-key add -

$ sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install postgresql-x.x -y
3. Install PgAdmin, the PostgreSQL admin tool:
$ sudo apt-get install pgadmin4 -y
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To install PgAdmin via the command line, reference https://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Manual_Setup_at_the_Command_Line.
4. Set up the password for the PostgreSQL user:
$ sudo service postgresql restart
$ sudo -u postgres psql -c "ALTER ROLE postgres WITH password '<unique PostgreSQL password>'"
5. Enter the password for the PostgreSQL user. You will use this password in later steps.
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The password, which should not be easily guessed or a known, common password, should be at least 14 characters in length and include a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters.
6. Configure pgAdmin:
$ sudo pgadmin4
In pgAdmin, click on file->Open postgresql.conf
Open /etc/postgresql/x.x/main/postgresql.conf
Put a check next to listen addresses and port. The default settings of localhost and 5432 are usually sufficient.
Save and close.
Click on file->Open pg_hba.conf
Open /etc/postgresql/x.x/main/pg_hba.conf
Double-click on the database ‘all’ line with address 127.0.0.1/32
Set Method to md5
Click OK
Save and exit
Close pgAdmin
7. Restart the PostgreSQL service:
$ sudo service postgresql restart
8. Set up PgAdmin to connect to the database:
$ sudo pgadmin4
9. Click the plug icon to add a connection to a server in the top left corner and fill out the following:
Name: PostgreSQL x.x
Host: localhost
Port: 5432
Service: <blank>
Maintenance DB: postgres
Username: postgres
Password: <unique PostgreSQL password as set previously>
Store password: Checked
Group: Servers
10. Click OK.
11. Create a new user role:
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The following command can be used if you are not using PgAdmin:
sudo psql -U postgres -c "CREATE USER twadmin WITH PASSWORD '<unique postgres password>';"
b. Select Create - Login/Group Role. On the General tab, in the Name field, enter the <PostgreSQL user role name> for PostgreSQL administration.
c. On the Privileges tab, select Yes for Can login?
d. On the Definition tab, in the Password field, enter a unique and secure password for PostgreSQL.
e. Click OK. Note the user role name and password created in this step for later use.
Configure PostgreSQL Database Located on a Separate Server than ThingWorx
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This section is optional for development environments, but should be implemented in all production environments.
By default, the PostgreSQL server is installed in a locked-down state. The server will only listen for connections from the local machine In order to get ThingWorx to communicate to the PostgreSQL server, some configuration changes need to be made so that PostgreSQL knows to listen for connections from other users (thingworx user, default is twadmin) and/or other machines (ThingWorx installed on a separate server).
You will need to know where your PostgreSQL data directory resides for these steps. On Linux, the location of the data folder, or even the configuration files can change based on distribution and installation method (download or package manager install). This location will be referred to as <PGDATA> in these instructions.
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On Ubuntu, when installed via apt-get, the configuration files are located at /etc/postgresql/x.x/main/
Modify the pg_hba.conf file and add the following lines based on your desired configuration:
If you want to allow all IPv4 addresses to connect:
host all all 0.0.0.0/0 md5
If you want to allow only a specific IPv4 address to connect (Replace <ipAddress> with the IP address of the machine making the connection):
host all all <ipAddress>/32 md5
If you want to allow all IPv6 addresses to connect:
host all all ::0/0 md5
If you want to allow only a specific IPv6 address to connect (Replace <ipv6Address> with the appropriate address):
host all all <ipv6Address>/128 md5
Any other combination is possible by using additional allowance lines (individual IPs or ranges) or subnet masks appropriate to the machines that require access to the PostgreSQL database.
Any change to this file requires a restart of the database service.
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For additional information about configuring the pg_hba.conf file, see the PostgreSQL documentation.
Enabling PostgreSQL to listen for all Connections
On Linux installations of PostgreSQL, there is an additional configuration step required to configure the PostgreSQL server to listen for connections.
1. In the postgresql.conf file, uncomment and update the listen_addresses line:
Uncomment the listen_addresses line and change localhost to '*'
# Listen on all addresses. Requires restart.
listen_addresses = '*'
2. Restart the PostgreSQL server.
Configure and Execute the PostgreSQL Database Script
To set up the PostgreSQL database and tablespace, the thingworxPostgresDBSetup.sh script must be configured and executed.
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After ThingWorx 9.3.1, the ThingworxPostgresqlStorage folder creation or any -l parameter–related steps are no longer required, and the ThingWorx data will be stored at the default location of Postgresql.
1. Obtain the thingworxPostgresDBSetup.sh script from the ThingWorx software download package in the install folder. ThingWorx downloads are available in PTC Software Downloads.
2. If necessary, configure the script. Reference the options in the table below.
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This example uses the 9.x.x download from the PTC site. If necessary, change the file name to the version you are using.

$ sudo unzip MED-61111-CD-085_F000_ThingWorx-Platform-Postgres-9-x-x.zip
$ cd install
3. To set up the database and tablespace with a default PostgreSQL installation that has a PostgreSQL database and a PostgreSQL user name, enter:
$ sudo sh thingworxPostgresDBSetup.sh -a postgres -u <user role name> -l /ThingworxPostgresqlStorage
thingworxPostgresDBSetup Script Options
Option
Parameter
Default
Description
Example
t or -T
tablespace
thingworx
Tablespace name
-t thingworx
-p or -P
port
5432
Port number of PostgreSQL
-p 5432
-d or -D
database
thingworx
PostgreSQL Database name to create
-d thingworx
-l or -L
tablespace_location
/ThingworxPostgresqlStorage
Required in ThingWorx 9.3.0 and before. Location in the file system where the files representing database objects are stored. User needs to create this folder manually with permissions before executing the script and then specify the path, for example, -l /ThingworxPostgresqlStorage
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The folder must have appropriate ownership and access rights. It should be owned by the same user who runs the PostgreSQL service and has Full Control assigned to that user.
-l or -L
-h or -H
host
localhost
Name of the host
-h localhost
-a or -A
adminusername
postgres
Administrator Name
-a postgres
-u or -U
thingworxusername
twadmin
User name that has permissions to write to the database.
-u twadmin
4. Execute the script.
Configure and Execute the Model/Data Provider Schema Script
To set up the PostgreSQL model/data provider schema, the thingworxPostgresSchemaSetup.sh script must be configured and executed. This will set up the public schema under your database on the PostgreSQL instance installed on the localhost.
1. Obtain and open the thingworxPostgresSchemaSetup.sh file from the ThingWorx software download package. The script is located in the install folder.
2. If necessary, configure the script. Reference the options in the table below.
thingworxPostgresSchemaSetup Script Options
Option
Parameter
Default
Description
Example
-h or -H
host
localhost
IP or host name of the database.
-h localhost
-p or -P
port
5432
Port number of PostgreSQL.
-p 5432
-d or -D
database
thingworx
Database name to use.
-d thingworx
-s or -S
schema
public
Schema name to use.
-s myschema
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If public or $user is not used, you must edit the postgresql.conf file and add SEARCH_PATH to your schema. For example, search_path = '"$user", public, "myschema"'
-u or -U
username
twadmin
Username to update the database schema
-u twadmin
-o or -O
option
all
There are three options:
all: Sets up the model and data provider schemas into the specified database.
model: Sets up the model provider schema into the specified database.
data: Sets up the data provider schema into the specified database.
-o data
3. Execute the script. The script can be run with the default parameters as:
$ sudo sh thingworxPostgresSchemaSetup.sh
The username should match the PostgreSQL username that was previously created.
Configure platform-settings.json
1. Open platform-settings.json file located in the ThingworxPlatform.
2. Refer to the PostgresPersistenceProviderPackage configuration options in platform-settings.json Configuration Details and add to the platform-settings.json.
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If your PostgreSQL server is not the same as your ThingWorx server, and you are having issues with your ThingWorx installation, review your Tomcat logs and platform-settings.json file. The default installation assumes both servers are on the same machine.
Encrypt the PostgreSQL Password
Encrypt the password by following the steps in Encrypting Passwords.
(Optional) Installing the PostgreSQL Client Package and PostgreSQL User
In order to issue PostgreSQL commands from the client machine to the PostgreSQL server, do so from a PostgreSQL user. The postgresql-client-x.x package can be installed on the client machine, refer to your distributions documentation on how to install it. This package provides some administration tools such as psql.
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