PostgreSQL is an advanced open-source relational database management system widely used in applications. With Sevalla’s Database Hosting, you can easily add a new PostgreSQL database from the dashboard, click Databases > Add database and select the required options. When adding a new PostgreSQL database, you can enable the pgvector extension to store and query high-dimensional vectors efficiently. This is especially useful for AI, machine learning, and recommendation systems that rely on vector comparisons. If you have an existing database locally or with another hosting provider, you can import the PostgreSQL database into Sevalla’s Database Hosting using a third-party database tool or the Command Line Interface (CLI). Note: To import a database, you must create a new database in Sevalla first.

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Import a PostgreSQL database using a database tool

There are many database tools you can use to connect and manage your database; we have step-by-step instructions for TablePlus, as this tool allows you to manage all the database types you can host on Sevalla. You can use any database client or tool that supports your database type. While some specifics, like navigation and field names, may vary between database tools, the fundamental concepts are the same.

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Import a PostgreSQL database using the command line interface (CLI)

You can use the command line interface (CLI) to import your PostgreSQL database into Sevalla. The installation of the database server and commands vary for each database type. This article is specific to PostgreSQL. For other database types, see:

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Install PostgreSQL

If you do not yet have PostgreSQL installed on your local machine, you’ll need to install it to connect to your database. Depending on your operating system, you can install PostgreSQL in the following ways.

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Windows

Download and install the GUI installer or binaries for the Interactive installer by EDB.

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MacOS

With Homebrew, replace XX in the following command with the version of PostgreSQL you want to install: 
brew install postgresql@XX

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Debian-based Linux (Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, etc.)

Use the PostgreSQL APT repository and install the postgresql-client.

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RedHat-based Linux (RedHat Fedora, CentOS, etc.)

Use the PostgreSQL Yum repository and install the postgresql-client.

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Sevalla database credentials

You can find your database credentials under External connections on the database Overview page.

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Import a PostgreSQL database

Use the following command to export the database, replacing EXTERNAL_HOSTNAME, USERNAME, PORT, and DATABASE_NAME with the information from your database’s External connections. Replace export.sql with the path and name of the database you want to import: 
psql -h EXTERNAL_HOSTNAME -U USERNAME -p PORT -d DATABASE_NAME < export.sql
When prompted, enter the database password. No output will be produced unless there are errors, which will be printed to the command line. To verify a successful import, you can use dt or a similar command to review the data in your database.
If your database file is an archive format (e.g. .dump or .tar) you’ll need to use pg_restore instead of psql.

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Export a PostgreSQL database

Use the following command to export the database, replacing EXTERNAL_HOSTNAME, USERNAME, PORT, and DATABASE_NAME with the information from your database’s External connections. Replace export.sql with the path and file name of the database you want to export: 
pg_dump -h EXTERNAL_HOSTNAME -U USERNAME -p PORT -d DATABASE_NAME > export.sql
When prompted, enter the database password. Once the export is complete, your database file (e.g. export.sql) will be available at the path you specified in the pg_dump command. You can open a .sql file with a plain text editor (e.g. TextEdit, Notepad++, Sublime Text, etc.) or a database tool like TablePlus to review the exported data.
If you’re working with a large database, you may want to export the database as an archive file (e.g. .dump or .tar) to save space and make exporting quicker. To view the data in an archive file, you will need to restore the file to a database.