How to Allow Remote Access to PostgreSQL database

Question

I have PostgreSQL 9.2 Installed in Windows 7 and I have windows XP installed in Virtual Machine, how do I connect these two databases and allow remote access to add/edit the database from both Systems ?

Answer 1

In order to remotely access a PostgreSQL database, you must set the two main PostgreSQL configuration files:

postgresql.conf
pg_hba.conf

Here is a brief description about how you can set them (note that the following description is purely indicative: To configure a machine safely, you must be familiar with all the parameters and their meanings)

First of all configure PostgreSQL service to listen on port 5432 on all network interfaces in Windows 7 machine:
open the file postgresql.conf (usually located in C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\9.2\data) and sets the parameter

listen_addresses = '*'

Check the network address of WindowsXP virtual machine, and sets parameters in pg_hba.conf file (located in the same directory of postgresql.conf) so that postgresql can accept connections from virtual machine hosts.
For example, if the machine with Windows XP have 192.168.56.2 IP address, add in the pg_hba.conf file:

host all all 192.168.56.1/24 md5

this way, PostgreSQL will accept connections from all hosts on the network 192.168.1.XXX.

Restart the PostgreSQL service in Windows 7 (Services-> PosgreSQL 9.2: right click and restart sevice). Install pgAdmin on windows XP machine and try to connect to PostgreSQL.