PGO quickstart: deploy PostgreSQL on Kubernetes fast

PGO makes it easy to run production PostgreSQL on Kubernetes. This quickstart walks you through installing the operator and creating your first PostgreSQL cluster with high availability, automated backups, and connection pooling — all from a single YAML manifest.

Prerequisites

kubectl installed and configured against a running Kubernetes cluster
Cluster-admin permissions (for installing CRDs and the operator)
Access to the Crunchy Data Developer Portal to pull container images

Install PGO

Fork and clone the examples repository

The quickest way to install PGO is via the official examples repository, which includes ready-to-use Kustomize overlays.

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/CrunchyData/postgres-operator-examples.git
cd postgres-operator-examples

Create the operator namespace

kubectl apply -k kustomize/install/namespace

Deploy the operator

kubectl apply --server-side -k kustomize/install/default

Verify the operator is running

kubectl get pods -n postgres-operator

You should see a pod named pgo in the Running state within about 30 seconds.

Create your first PostgreSQL cluster

Apply the following manifest to create a PostgreSQL 18 cluster named hippo with two backup repositories and pgBouncer connection pooling:

hippo.yaml

apiVersion: postgres-operator.crunchydata.com/v1beta1
kind: PostgresCluster
metadata:
  name: hippo
spec:
  postgresVersion: 18
  instances:
    - name: instance1
      dataVolumeClaimSpec:
        accessModes:
        - "ReadWriteOnce"
        resources:
          requests:
            storage: 1Gi
  backups:
    pgbackrest:
      repos:
      - name: repo1
        volume:
          volumeClaimSpec:
            accessModes:
            - "ReadWriteOnce"
            resources:
              requests:
                storage: 1Gi
      - name: repo2
        volume:
          volumeClaimSpec:
            accessModes:
            - "ReadWriteOnce"
            resources:
              requests:
                storage: 1Gi
  proxy:
    pgBouncer: {}

kubectl apply -f hippo.yaml

Watch the cluster come up:

kubectl get pods -l postgres-operator.crunchydata.com/cluster=hippo -w

Within a minute or two you’ll see pods for the Postgres instance, pgBackRest repository, and pgBouncer all reach Running.

Connect to your cluster

PGO automatically creates a secret with connection credentials. Retrieve the connection URI:

kubectl get secret hippo-pguser-hippo \
  -o jsonpath='{.data.uri}' | base64 -d

Connect directly with psql:

PG_URI=$(kubectl get secret hippo-pguser-hippo -o jsonpath='{.data.uri}' | base64 -d)
psql "$PG_URI"

To connect via pgBouncer (recommended for applications):

kubectl get secret hippo-pguser-hippo \
  -o jsonpath='{.data.pgbouncer-uri}' | base64 -d

The secret hippo-pguser-hippo contains keys for user, password, dbname, host, port, uri, jdbc-uri, and pgbouncer-uri. Use whichever format your application expects.

Next steps

Create a cluster

Learn all the options for provisioning and customizing your PostgresCluster.

Configure backups

Set up backup repositories on S3, GCS, Azure, or local storage.

High availability

Add replicas and configure automatic failover with Patroni.

Full installation guide

Explore all installation options including single-namespace mode.

Get Started

Installation

Core Operations

Day-Two Operations

Security

PGO quickstart: deploy PostgreSQL on Kubernetes fast

Prerequisites

Install PGO

Create your first PostgreSQL cluster

Connect to your cluster

Next steps

Create a cluster

Configure backups

High availability

Full installation guide

​Prerequisites

​Install PGO

​Create your first PostgreSQL cluster

​Connect to your cluster

​Next steps

Create a cluster

Configure backups

High availability

Full installation guide

Prerequisites

Install PGO

Create your first PostgreSQL cluster

Connect to your cluster

Next steps