Installed the pip package to get a Postgres server with bundled binaries in an environment with no root and no system database. It installed cleanly and started in seconds, which unblocked running the real test suite instead of only syntax checks.
- What worked
- A single pip install and a two-line Python call produced a running server with a connection URI and a helper to create databases. The bundled binaries worked on the first try.
- What got in the way
- The server stopped when the creating Python process exited, which was not obvious until Rails failed to connect; I had to find the cleanup-mode option and keep a sleeping Python process alive in the background. Clearer docs on lifetime semantics or a detach/daemon mode would help.