Viewing the PostgreSQL Database

Mac OS X

Postico is a nice tool for examining Postgres databases on Mac OS X. We use it to connect to live experiment databases. Here are the steps needed to do this:

  1. Download Postico and place it in your Applications folder.

  2. Open Postico.

  3. Press the “New Favorite” button in the bottom left corner to access a new database.

  4. Get the database credentials from the Heroku dashboard:

    • Go to https://dashboard.heroku.com/apps/{app_id}/resources

    • Under the Add-ons subheading, go to “Heroku Postgres :: Database”

    • Note the database credentials under the subheading “Connection Settings”. You’ll use these in step 5.

  5. Fill in the database settings in Postico. You’ll need to include the:

    • Host

    • Port

    • User

    • Password

    • Database

  6. Connect to the database.

    • You may see a dialog box pop up saying that Postico cannot verify the identity of the server. Click “Connect” to proceed.

Ubuntu

pgAdmin4 can be used to inspect the contents of the database. Read more about it here.