Regarding "Installing PostgreSQL in a Docker container on your local machine" #6920
Description
Summary
The image name for the docker run command has to be after all the option flags, else all option flags after postgres will be interpreted as commands instead.
Where did you see the problem?
Expected behavior
Expected behavior
docker run --name my_postgres -d postgres -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword -v my_pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data -p 5432:5432 is expected to set the environment variables, instead, they are interpreted as commands.
{
"Id": "4dacbc723a86ec20e8162f42cfa565e4dc6200a49aed32829ddb6e667c131a55",
"Created": "2025-07-25T04:27:07.443229303Z",
"Path": "docker-entrypoint.sh",
"Args": [
"postgres"
],
"State": {
"Status": "running",
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"Error": "",
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"FinishedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z"
},
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"LogPath": "/var/lib/docker/containers/4dacbc723a86ec20e8162f42cfa565e4dc6200a49aed32829ddb6e667c131a55/4dacbc723a86ec20e8162f42cfa565e4dc6200a49aed32829ddb6e667c131a55-json.log",
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"my_pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data"
],
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"LogConfig": {
"Type": "json-file",
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},
"NetworkMode": "bridge",
"PortBindings": {
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{
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"HostPort": "5432"
}
]
},
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},
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"Privileged": false,
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"Runtime": "runc",
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"Memory": 0,
"NanoCpus": 0,
"CgroupParent": "",
"BlkioWeight": 0,
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"BlkioDeviceWriteBps": [],
"BlkioDeviceReadIOps": [],
"BlkioDeviceWriteIOps": [],
"CpuPeriod": 0,
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"CpusetMems": "",
"Devices": [],
"DeviceCgroupRules": null,
"DeviceRequests": null,
"MemoryReservation": 0,
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"Ulimits": [],
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"IOMaximumBandwidth": 0,
"MaskedPaths": [
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"/proc/acpi",
"/proc/interrupts",
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"/proc/keys",
"/proc/latency_stats",
"/proc/timer_list",
"/proc/timer_stats",
"/proc/sched_debug",
"/proc/scsi",
"/sys/firmware",
"/sys/devices/virtual/powercap"
],
"ReadonlyPaths": [
"/proc/bus",
"/proc/fs",
"/proc/irq",
"/proc/sys",
"/proc/sysrq-trigger"
]
},
"GraphDriver": {
"Data": {
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"UpperDir": "/var/lib/docker/overlay2/c549ae5a99b9fe9b415361eda7cad1b58c650e28b3e0ea9611a472e3b9e6e4a2/diff",
"WorkDir": "/var/lib/docker/overlay2/c549ae5a99b9fe9b415361eda7cad1b58c650e28b3e0ea9611a472e3b9e6e4a2/work"
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"Name": "overlay2"
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"Mounts": [
{
"Type": "volume",
"Name": "my_pgdata",
"Source": "/var/lib/docker/volumes/my_pgdata/_data",
"Destination": "/var/lib/postgresql/data",
"Driver": "local",
"Mode": "z",
"RW": true,
"Propagation": ""
}
],
"Config": {
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"Domainname": "",
"User": "",
"AttachStdin": false,
"AttachStdout": false,
"AttachStderr": false,
"ExposedPorts": {
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},
"Tty": false,
"OpenStdin": false,
"StdinOnce": false,
"Env": [
"POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres",
"PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/lib/postgresql/17/bin",
"GOSU_VERSION=1.17",
"LANG=en_US.utf8",
"PG_MAJOR=17",
"PG_VERSION=17.5-1.pgdg120+1",
"PGDATA=/var/lib/postgresql/data"
],
"Cmd": [
"postgres"
],
"Image": "postgres",
"Volumes": {
"/var/lib/postgresql/data": {}
},
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"Entrypoint": [
"docker-entrypoint.sh"
],
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"Labels": {},
"StopSignal": "SIGINT"
},
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"SandboxID": "c4bdbe07c7e77e7c2c760fa859cda2f047dd332cda22ca0ffb35b0a67c8cca68",
"SandboxKey": "/var/run/docker/netns/c4bdbe07c7e7",
"Ports": {
"5432/tcp": [
{
"HostIp": "0.0.0.0",
"HostPort": "5432"
},
{
"HostIp": "::",
"HostPort": "5432"
}
]
},
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}
}Current behavior
As seen in the log and inspection, the password is failed to be set.
2025-07-24 21:44:58.843 | Error: Database is uninitialized and superuser password is not specified.
2025-07-24 21:44:58.843 | You must specify POSTGRES_PASSWORD to a non-empty value for the
2025-07-24 21:44:58.843 | superuser. For example, "-e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password" on "docker run".
2025-07-24 21:44:58.843 |
2025-07-24 21:44:58.843 | You may also use "POSTGRES_HOST_AUTH_METHOD=trust" to allow all
2025-07-24 21:44:58.843 | connections without a password. This is *not* recommended.
2025-07-24 21:44:58.843 |
2025-07-24 21:44:58.843 | See PostgreSQL documentation about "trust":
2025-07-24 21:44:58.843 | https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/auth-trust.html
2025-07-24 21:45:06.357 | Error: Database is uninitialized and superuser password is not specified.
2025-07-24 21:45:06.357 | You must specify POSTGRES_PASSWORD to a non-empty value for the
2025-07-24 21:45:06.357 | superuser. For example, "-e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password" on "docker run".
2025-07-24 21:45:06.357 |
2025-07-24 21:45:06.357 | You may also use "POSTGRES_HOST_AUTH_METHOD=trust" to allow all
2025-07-24 21:45:06.357 | connections without a password. This is *not* recommended.
2025-07-24 21:45:06.357 |
2025-07-24 21:45:06.357 | See PostgreSQL documentation about "trust":
2025-07-24 21:45:06.357 | https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/auth-trust.html{
"Id": "d6482247d00a4ed4304ced165548eb4bc1445ef5637aaba873ce5a8e92cdc9bd",
"Created": "2025-07-25T04:44:58.584837548Z",
"Path": "docker-entrypoint.sh",
"Args": [
"-e",
"POSTGRES_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword",
"-v",
"my_pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data",
"-p",
"5432:5432"
],
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"StartedAt": "2025-07-25T04:45:06.259979427Z",
"FinishedAt": "2025-07-25T04:45:06.359067427Z"
},
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"/proc/sched_debug",
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"/sys/devices/virtual/powercap"
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"Driver": "local",
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}
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"GOSU_VERSION=1.17",
"LANG=en_US.utf8",
"PG_MAJOR=17",
"PG_VERSION=17.5-1.pgdg120+1",
"PGDATA=/var/lib/postgresql/data"
],
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"POSTGRES_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword",
"-v",
"my_pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data",
"-p",
"5432:5432"
],
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}
}
}Screenshots
Expected behavior
Current behavior
Browser / Platform
No response
Additional notes
No response