Compiling from Source

PostGIS has many packaged installations, but if you are more adventurous and want to compile your own, refer to our source download and compilation instructions:

Source Download and Compile Instructions

Binary Installers

Binary distributions of PostGIS are available for various operating systems.

Windows

More details about getting up and running with windows can be found on Windows Downloads page.

OSX

The most reliable way to get PostGIS on OSX is to download and install Postgres.app. Great for development and testing. Do not mix with other installations.
The builds from KingChaos are sometimes more up-to-date. Read the instructions carefully. Do not mix with other installations.
The OSX PostgreSQL/Stackbuilder combination from EnterpriseDB has had mixed reliability. Avoid.
Instructions for MacPorts and HomeBrew would be welcome contributions.

Red Hat / Centos / Scientific Linux

The best place to get the latest binaries for both PostgreSQL and PostGIS is the PostgreSQL Yum repository
1. Choose the correct “repository RPM” for your distribution, download and install it.
2. Edit the yum configuration to exclude the base system PostgreSQL packages from yum (see the “Important note” section).
3. Remove any existing PostgreSQL server packages from your system, with rpm -e postgresql-server.
4. Install PostGIS and dependencies by running yum install postgis2.

Ubuntu / Debian

The PostgreSQL build team is working on an APT repository for PostgreSQL builds. They may include PostGIS builds in the future.
The DebianGIS project has built PostGIS in the past, but is currently not very up-to-date.

Getting Started

These instructions are for PostgreSQL 9.1 and higher, PostGIS 2.0 and higher.

Enabling PostGIS

PostGIS is an optional extension that must be enabled in your database before you can use it. Installing the software is just the first step.

Connect to your database with psql or PgAdmin. Run the following SQL:

-- Enable PostGIS (includes raster)
CREATE EXTENSION postgis;

Spatial SQL

See the documentation for more guidance.

-- Create table with spatial column
CREATE TABLE mytable ( 
  id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  geom GEOMETRY(Point, 26910),
  name VARCHAR(128)
); 
 
-- Add a spatial index
CREATE INDEX mytable_gix
  ON mytable 
  USING GIST (geom); 
 
-- Add a point
INSERT INTO mytable (geom) VALUES (
  ST_GeomFromText('POINT(0 0)', 26910)
);
 
-- Query for nearby points
SELECT id, name
FROM mytable
WHERE ST_DWithin(
  geom, 
  ST_GeomFromText('POINT(0 0)', 26910)),
  1000
);

PostGIS

Spatial and Geographic objects for PostgreSQL