Getting the Source

Releases are available on the ProvSQL website and on the GitHub releases page. The source repository is hosted at https://github.com/PierreSenellart/provsql.

To clone the development version directly:

git clone https://github.com/PierreSenellart/provsql.git

Prerequisites

1. PostgreSQL ≥ 10. ProvSQL has been tested with versions 10–18 under Linux, macOS (x86-64 and ARM), and Windows Subsystem for Linux.

2. Build tools. make, a C/C++ compiler supporting C++17, and PostgreSQL development headers (e.g., postgresql-server-dev-XX on Debian-based systems, or the postgresql Homebrew formula on macOS).

3. uuid-ossp PostgreSQL extension (included with most PostgreSQL packages; compile contrib/ when building from source).

4. Boost libraries – libboost-dev and libboost-serialization-dev (Debian/Ubuntu), or equivalent.

5. (Optional) Knowledge-compilation tools for probability computation:

   • c2d
   • d4
   • dsharp
   • minic2d (also requires hgr2htree)
   • weightmc

   Each tool must be installed as an executable reachable in the PATH of the PostgreSQL server process (e.g., /usr/local/bin/).

6. (Optional) graph-easy for circuit visualisation (libgraph-easy-perl on Debian-based systems, or CPAN).

Installation

1. Compile:

   make
   

   To select a specific PostgreSQL installation, adjust the pg_config path in Makefile.internal.

2. Install (as a user with write access to the PostgreSQL directories):

   make install
   

3. Enable the extension hook. Add the following line to postgresql.conf (typically /etc/postgresql/VERSION/main/postgresql.conf on Linux):

   shared_preload_libraries = 'provsql'
   

   Then restart the PostgreSQL server:

   service postgresql restart
   

   Important

   The shared_preload_libraries step is mandatory. ProvSQL installs a planner hook that rewrites queries transparently; without it the extension loads but provenance tracking is silently disabled.

4. In each database where you want to use ProvSQL, load the extension:

   CREATE EXTENSION provsql CASCADE;
   

   The CASCADE keyword automatically installs the required uuid-ossp extension if it is not already present.

Upgrading an Existing Installation

Starting with 1.2.1, ProvSQL ships PostgreSQL extension upgrade scripts for the chain 1.0.0 → 1.1.0 → 1.2.0 → 1.2.1. To upgrade an existing installation:

1. Check out the new source, build, and install:

   make
   sudo make install
   

2. Restart PostgreSQL so the new shared library is loaded:

   service postgresql restart
   

3. In each database where provsql is already installed, issue:

   ALTER EXTENSION provsql UPDATE;
   

   PostgreSQL will find the chain of upgrade scripts between your current version and the newly installed one and apply them in order, inside a single transaction. The persistent provenance circuit (stored in memory-mapped files) is preserved across the upgrade.

Testing Your Installation

Run the full regression suite as a PostgreSQL superuser:

make test

If tests fail, the pager (usually less) is launched on the diff between expected and actual output.

ALTER USER your_login WITH SUPERUSER;

If your PostgreSQL server does not listen on the default port (5432), add --port=xxxx to the EXTRA_REGRESS_OPTS line of Makefile.internal.

Tests that depend on optional external tools (c2d, d4, dsharp, minic2d, weightmc, graph-easy) are automatically skipped if the tool is not found in $PATH.

Uninstalling

make uninstall

Then remove the provsql entry from shared_preload_libraries in postgresql.conf and restart the server.