Appendix B. Installing, compiling, and upgrading
There are several ways to install PostgreSQL/PostGIS. When we started out, the only way was to compile the code yourself, but life has since become much simpler, and now the average user doesn’t need to experience the joys and frustrations of compiling their own source code. Most people who just want to use PostGIS take the easy road of acquiring and installing prebuilt binaries via packaged installers. A brief synopsis of the more common PostGIS installer offerings is detailed on the PostGIS site: http://postgis.net/install.
Compiling from source is still an important and adventurous journey if you want to be a contributor to the PostGIS project. If you wish to compile from source code, refer to the directions on “PostGIS source download page,” http://postgis.net/source.
It goes without saying that you’ll need a functioning PostgreSQL server to use PostGIS. The installation options we’ll discuss here describe the base PostgreSQL installation as well as the additional PostGIS installation.