Installing PostgreSQL on your computer

PokerTracker 2 - Holdem version 2.17.4 BETA
October 25, 2013
  • Introduction

    This text has been taken from the help window that opens when you select the Help/PostgreSQL License Agreement/How To Install PostgreSQL option and click the link at the bottom of the window...

    Poker Tracker comes ready to use with a Microsoft Access database that stores the statistics and text of your hand histories. For most users, the Access database is sufficient and works just fine. However, for more advanced users and users that want to store a huge amount of hands, a more robust database option has been a requested for a long time. Enter PostgreSQL...

    "PostgreSQL is a highly scalable, SQL compliant, open source object-relational database management system. With more than 15 years of development history, it is quickly becoming the de facto database for enterprise level open source solutions."

  • Installation instructions

    Don't be intimidated by PostgreSQL. Following the steps listed in the link below, the average user will be able to download, install PostgreSQL and be up and running in Poker Tracker in very little time with very little effort.

    Attention Vista Users
    before installing PostgreSQL you have to disable the UAC first and then enable it later


    To install PostgreSQL on your computer, please follow the steps detailed below in
    How To Download and Install PostgreSQL.

    Also, make sure you are running the latest version of Poker Tracker. Check for a new patch in the Download Section

    After PostgreSQL is installed:

    1. In Poker Tracker, open the Utilities/PostgreSQL Settings window and enter your user name and password information. (NOTE: the user name, if you used the default will be "postgres").
    2. The next step would be to convert your Access database(s) to PostgreSQL, use the Utilities/Convert Database option for this purpose.
    3. After the conversion is done, go to the File/Maintain Database Names window and make the new PostgreSQL database the default database by checking the "Dflt" box next to the name. Click OK to save this change and then close and reopen Poker Tracker.
    4. If you are importing observed hands for Party or Full Tilt, you need to change the configuration so that observed hands will be going to the new PostgreSQL database as well. Open the Party or Full Tilt auto-import window, click on the Observed Hands tab. Click the "..." button next to the "What database should these hands be imported into" field and select the new PostgreSQL database from the list.
    5. Lastly, it would be a good idea if you were to use the "Compress" button on the Utilities/PostgreSQL Database Functions window to run a "Vacuum/Analyze" on the new PostgreSQL database. This will help speed up the queries. It would also probably be a good time to use the backup function of this window to backup your newly created PostgreSQL database. Backing up the database is something you should continue to do on a regular basis!!
    Please Note
    The conversion process could take a while depending on the size of your Access database. My database of 130,000 hands took about 2 hrs. 20 minutes to convert so please be prepared for this.

     

  • System Requirements
    • Windows version requirements - Only Windows XP, 2000 and 2003 (or higher) are supported. Poker Tracker users with Windows 98 or Windows ME cannot use the PostgreSQL option.
    • File system requirements - users must use the NTFS file system. Poker Tracker users with FAT or FAT32 file systems will not be able to install the PosgtreSQL database software.
    • To view the entire PostgreSQL for Windows FAQ, click here...
  • How To Download and Install PostgreSQL

    Download the Windows version of PostgreSQL 8.2.6 here. As of this writing, version was v8.2.6 is the latest official version. You can also check for newer versions directly on the PostgreSQL web site if you would like to.

    Download the file linked above to a folder on your hard drive.

    Extract all of the files from the zip file you downloaded to a folder on your hard drive. You must extract all of the files from the ZIP file into a folder or you will get errors if you try to run the installer.

    Double-click on the file "postgresql-8.2.msi" to begin the install.

    If you get this error message when you do this...

    • This installation package could not be opened. Verify that the package exists and that you can access it, or contact the application vendor to verify that this is a valid Windows Installer Package.

    Then you have not extracted the files from the ZIP file as detailed in the step above and you will need to do this first.

     

    The basic setup is all that is needed to run PostgreSQL with Poker Tracker.

    Please follow the steps below and do not deviate from them unless you know what you are doing.



     

    The first window to open will look something like this window to the left.

    Select English/English at the language and click the Start > button.



     

    On this window, click the Next button, leave everything as it is defaulted.



     

    Enter a password to use here. You can use something simple. It may tell you the password appears to be weak and ask if you want to have one generated for you. DO NOT USE THE OPTION TO HAVE THE PASSWORD GENERATED FOR YOU. Just allow it to use the simple password you have entered.



     

    Leave everything as defaulted again and enter another password where required. This password can be the same as the previous password if you want to make it simple.

    Please Note: make sure you write this password down. This will be the value you need to enter on the Utilities > PostgreSQL Settings window in Poker Tracker after you install PostgreSQL (along with user name which will be "postgres").



     

    Click the Next button, leave everything as defaulted.



     

     

    Click Next again and the install will begin.

    Once the install is done, you can convert your Access database(s) to PostgreSQL.

    Open the Utilities > Convert Database window in Poker Tracker and click the help link at the top right corner of that window for details on how to complete the process.

highfalutin