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PostgreSQL on AlmaLinux 9 — Support & Quick Start

PostgreSQL on AlmaLinux 9 — PostgreSQL on AlmaLinux 9: the world's most advanced open-source database on an enterprise-grade RHEL-compatible base. Published by Derek Coleman & Associates Inc on the Azure Marketplace, deployed in your own Azure subscription.

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Fixed on image version 2026.916.1436 (published 2026-09-16)

The generated superuser password now authenticates over TCP: first boot rewrites the two distro pg_hba.conf lines that mapped 127.0.0.1/32 and ::1/128 to `ident` (which refused every password login) to `md5`, and then proves `psql -h 127.0.0.1 -U postgres` with the password before writing /var/lib/pgsql/.superuser-password. `sudo -u postgres psql` keeps working via peer authentication as before.

If you deployed this VM before 2026-09-16, it came from the older image and is not changed by the new publication — redeploy from the current Marketplace version, or apply the one-time repair below:

  1. On a VM from an earlier image `psql -h 127.0.0.1 -U postgres` answers `FATAL: Ident authentication failed`. `sudo -u postgres psql` works (peer authentication — it is how first boot set the password).
  2. To enable password logins in place, change the two `host all all 127.0.0.1/32 ident` and `::1/128 ident` lines in /var/lib/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf to `md5` (or `scram-sha-256`) and reload — this is exactly what the fixed image does at first boot.
sudo -u postgres psql -c 'SELECT pg_reload_conf()'

Image change: see the pull request.

Source: the Marketplace live version set for this offer, read from Partner Center on 2026-09-16. New deployments take the newest version by default.

At a glance

Application ports5432 (PostgreSQL) — opened in firewalld at first boot; the server listens on localhost until you set listen_addresses
Admin credential filesudo cat /var/lib/pgsql/.superuser-password
Sign in aspostgres
Service(s)postgresql
Configuration/var/lib/pgsql/data/postgresql.conf (listen_addresses); /var/lib/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf
Logs/var/lib/pgsql/data/log/
VersionPostgreSQL (AlmaLinux 9 AppStream package)
PlatformAlmaLinux 9

Quick start

  1. Deploy from the Azure Marketplace (Get It Now → Create), choosing your SSH key at the Administration step.
  2. Allow inbound SSH (22) for yourself plus the application port(s): 5432 (PostgreSQL) — to your application subnets only — restrict to your own IP where possible. The in-image firewall already allows them; only the Network Security Group (NSG) keeps them closed.
  3. Connect locally with `sudo -u postgres psql`, or over TCP as postgres with the generated superuser password (see First login below).
  4. Set listen_addresses and a pg_hba.conf rule for your subnets, restart PostgreSQL, then open 5432 in the NSG to your app tier only.

First login / credentials

This image generates its admin credential on the VM at first boot — nothing is pre-set. SSH into the VM with the username + key you chose at deploy, then print the generated credential:

ssh <your-username>@<VM-IP>
sudo cat /var/lib/pgsql/.superuser-password

Sign in as postgres.

  1. Connect as the superuser with `sudo -u postgres psql` (peer authentication — works on every version of this image).
  2. The generated password in /var/lib/pgsql/.superuser-password is set on the postgres role at first boot and authenticates over TCP too: `psql -h 127.0.0.1 -U postgres`. First boot proves that connection before it writes the file. (On VMs deployed before 2026-09-16 it answers `FATAL: Ident authentication failed` — see the note at the top of this page.)
  3. For network clients set listen_addresses = '*' in postgresql.conf, add a `host ... scram-sha-256` rule for your subnets to pg_hba.conf, and `sudo systemctl restart postgresql`. Create your application role and database, change the postgres password (ALTER USER), and delete the file.

Sign in as postgres — either with `sudo -u postgres psql` (peer authentication) or with the generated password in /var/lib/pgsql/.superuser-password over TCP. Change the password and create a least-privilege application role before you open 5432 to anything.

Still stuck?

Email support@dcassociatesgroup.com (response within 1 business day) or send a message via the contact form. Include the offer name, VM size, region, and any log output — sudo journalctl -u <service> -n 100 usually tells the story.