error: pg_config executable not found

What is the pg_config executable file?

Pg_config is a command-line utility that prints configuration parameters of a PostgreSQL server. It can be used to determine the location of the data directory, the port number, and other information about the server.

Pg_config is invoked with the name of the PostgreSQL server to query. For example, the following command prints the location of the data directory for the server “postgres”:

pg_config –data-directory

The following command prints the port number for the server “postgres”:

pg_config –port

Pg_config can also be used to determine the version of PostgreSQL that is installed. For example, the following command prints the version number for the server “postgres”:

pg_config –version

Why do I need pg_config?

Pg_config is particularly important if you are using a third-party extension for PostgreSQL. The extension may require specific settings in your PostgreSQL configuration file in order to function correctly. By using pg_config, you can ensure that your PostgreSQL installation is configured correctly for the extension.

If you are having problems like this error: pg_config executable not found and also with a third-party extension, one of the first things you should do is check the extension’s documentation to see if it recommends using pg_config.

How do I fix the error: pg_config executable not found?

You can find pg_config is in the postgresql-devel package (libpq-dev in Debian/Ubuntu, libpq-devel on Centos/Fedora/Cygwin/Babun.)

For macOS X, You can solve it using the Homebrew package manager and try to run this command,

brew install postgresql