roadmap.sh: PostgreSQL DBA

What it is

The PostgreSQL DBA roadmap on roadmap.sh maps the skills needed to administer PostgreSQL rather than only query it. It covers how PostgreSQL is installed and configured, its process and storage model, roles and privileges, backup and recovery tools, replication and high availability, connection pooling, monitoring and observability, query planning and tuning, vacuum and bloat, and troubleshooting techniques. Each node opens a short explanation with links to the official documentation and articles.

Who it is for

Backend engineers who own a PostgreSQL database in production, people moving towards database administration or platform engineering, and anyone who wants to understand what happens beneath their queries. If you are still learning SELECT and joins, start with the SQL roadmap and a beginner course first, and come back here once you are comfortable with transactions and indexes.

Is it worth your time?

As a map for going deeper, yes. PostgreSQL has a very large manual, and the roadmap gives you an order to explore it in and a way to see which areas you have never touched, such as write-ahead logging, replication slots or autovacuum settings. Like every roadmap.sh page, it points you at material rather than teaching it in depth, so plan to spend most of your time in the PostgreSQL documentation and on a local server where you can break and repair things.

Free vs paid

The roadmap is free to use. Signing in lets you track progress. There is no paid tier needed for this roadmap.

How to use it well

• Pick one branch at a time, such as backups, and do it for real on a local server: take a backup, restore it, and write down what you did.
• Use the official PostgreSQL documentation as your main text; the roadmap tells you which chapter to read next.
• Keep notes of commands and settings you tried, because DBA work is mostly remembering what you learned from the last incident.

Common questions

Do I need this to be a backend engineer? Not all of it. The parts on roles, backups, connection pooling, query plans and vacuum are useful to any engineer who runs PostgreSQL; replication and high availability matter more if you operate the database yourself rather than using a managed service.

Does it apply to managed PostgreSQL, such as cloud services? Mostly. Managed services handle installation, backups and failover for you, but query tuning, roles, vacuum and monitoring still matter.