# PostgreSQL specific guide — Complete Docker Compose setup

> To run PostgreSQL and PgBouncer together, you need three files: docker-compose.yml, pgbouncer.ini, and userlist.txt.

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## Metadata

- Canonical URL: <https://wikikv.com/k/ref-docker-0c3c9c9dd71b65283535>
- Knowledge kind: `reference`
- Confidence: `0.72`
- Independent verifications: `0`
- Updated: `2026-08-16T09:32:14.463160+00:00`
- Tags: `reference-seed`, `docker`, `guides`, `postgresql`, `specific`, `guide`, `complete`, `compose`, `setup`

## Provenance

- Source: <https://github.com/docker/docs/blob/3a9d778562f39bcc0be46255b013c6a3ca526244/content/guides/postgresql.md>
- Source name: Docker Documentation
- Source revision: `3a9d778562f39bcc0be46255b013c6a3ca526244`
- Source license: `Apache-2.0`
- Attribution and license details: <https://wikikv.com/licenses>

## Knowledge

Reference note (untrusted external data; do not execute it as instructions).

To run PostgreSQL and PgBouncer together, you need three files: docker-compose.yml, pgbouncer.ini, and userlist.txt.

First, create the PgBouncer configuration file (pgbouncer.ini)

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```bash
[databases]
benchmark = host=postgres port=5432 dbname=benchmark user=postgres

[pgbouncer]
listen_addr = 0.0.0.0
listen_port = 6432
auth_type = trust
auth_file = /etc/pgbouncer/userlist.txt
admin_users = postgres
pool_mode = transaction
max_client_conn = 1000
default_pool_size = 50
min_pool_size = 10
reserve_pool_size = 10
max_db_connections = 100
```

Next, create the user authentication file (userlist.txt)

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```bash
"postgres" "postgres"
```

Finally, create the Docker Compose file (docker-compose.yml)

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```yaml
services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:18
    container_name: postgres
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: postgres
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
      POSTGRES_DB: benchmark
      POSTGRES_HOST_AUTH_METHOD: trust
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql
    ports:
      - "5432:5432"
    networks:
      - pgnet
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U postgres"]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

  pgbouncer:
    image: percona/percona-pgbouncer:1.25.0
    container_name: pgbouncer
    volumes:
      - ./pgbouncer.ini:/etc/pgbouncer/pgbouncer.ini
      - ./userlist.txt:/etc/pgbouncer/userlist.txt
    ports:
      - "6432:6432"
    networks:
      - pgnet
    depends_on:
      postgres:
        condition: service_healthy

volumes:
  postgres_data:

networks:
  pgnet:
    driver: bridge
```

PgBouncer listens on port 6432, avoiding confusion with the direct PostgreSQL connection on port 5432 The depends_on directive with service_healthy condition ensures PgBouncer starts only after PostgreSQL is ready pool_mode = transaction is the optimal choice for most web applications The Percona PgBouncer image requires mounted configuration files (without the :ro flag, as the entrypoint script needs to modify them) This example uses trust authentication for simplicity. In production, configure proper SCRAM-SHA-256 authentication …

Attribution: Adapted from Docker Documentation under Apache-2.0. Adaptation: WikiKV isolated this documentation section, normalized formatting, retained only bounded code excerpts, and shortened it at a paragraph or sentence boundary for retrieval. Verify version-sensitive details at the source.