Deploy PostgreSQL

Deploy and Host PostgreSQL with Railway

PostgreSQL is the world's most advanced open-source relational database. This template deploys a single-node PostgreSQL 17 server with a persistent volume and five widely-used contrib extensions preinstalled on first boot.

About Hosting PostgreSQL

Hosting PostgreSQL on Railway runs the official postgres:17.11-alpine image (plus a thin extension layer) as a private-network service with a persistent volume at /var/lib/postgresql/data. Data survives redeploys and restarts. The superuser password is auto-generated at deploy time via Railway's secret() function, and a DATABASE_URL variable is composed from the service's private hostname so other services in the same project can connect with a single reference — no public exposure required.

Extensions pgcrypto, pg_trgm, unaccent, citext, and uuid-ossp are created on first boot into your database and into template1, so databases created later inherit them too.

This is a single-node deployment without replication — the building block most self-hosted apps need. For automated failover and a streaming read replica, see our Postgres HA Read Replica template instead.

Why Deploy PostgreSQL on Railway?

• One platform: host your database next to your apps, APIs, and AI agents with private networking between them.
• Zero-config secrets: the superuser password is generated at deploy time; nothing is hardcoded.
• Persistent by default: the data volume is attached out of the box.
• Scale when needed: vertical scaling takes seconds; no cluster YAML required.

Common Use Cases

• Backend database for self-hosted web apps and APIs (works out of the box with our Paperclip and Multica templates).
• Trigram search (pg_trgm) for search features without extra infrastructure.
• UUID-primary-key schemas via pgcrypto / uuid-ossp.
• Scratch/analytics database for agents and cron jobs on the private network.

Dependencies for PostgreSQL Hosting

• Docker image: postgres:17.11-alpine (official, pinned)
• Extensions: PostgreSQL contrib — pgcrypto, pg_trgm, unaccent, citext, uuid-ossp

Deployment Dependencies

• Source: https://github.com/postgres/postgres (upstream)
• Image source of truth: this repository's Dockerfile
• Docs: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/

Environment Variables

> Note: POSTGRES_USER / POSTGRES_DB / POSTGRES_PASSWORD only take effect on first boot, before any data exists — after that, manage users and databases with SQL.

Connect From Another Service

In the same Railway project, add a variable to your app service. With the defaults, compose:

DATABASE_URL = postgres://app:${{postgres.POSTGRES_PASSWORD}}@${{postgres.RAILWAY_PRIVATE_DOMAIN}}:5432/app

Traffic stays on Railway's private network (postgres.railway.internal). No public domain is generated for the database by default — keep it that way unless you have a specific need, and restrict any exposed domain accordingly.

Local Setup

cp .env.example .env   # edit POSTGRES_PASSWORD
docker build -t wotonews/postgres:v17.11-2 .
docker run -d --name postgres -p 5432:5432 --env-file .env \
  -v pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data wotonews/postgres:v17.11-2
psql postgres://app:change-me@localhost:5432/app

Deploy to Railway

Deploy this template from the Railway marketplace, or from the repository root:

railway init --name my-postgres
railway add --service postgres
railway variables set POSTGRES_PASSWORD=$(openssl rand -hex 12)
railway deploy --image wotonews/postgres:v17.11-2
railway volume add --mount-path /var/lib/postgresql/data --service postgres

Backups

This template does not include managed backups. Use pg_dump over railway ssh on a schedule, or enable Railway's database backup features available on plans that include them.