The pg_service.conf File

Throughout the documentation, we reference pg_service.conf files. If you are not already familiar with the pg_service.conf file, be sure to read below.

About the pg_service.conf File

The pg_service.conf file is used to connect your QGIS project to a PostGIS database using only a Service Name.

It is important to use a pg_service.conf file rather than storing/saving your password inside of your QGIS Project file.

Contents of the pg_service.conf File

The form of the pg_service.conf file is like below. The Service Name is in brackets ([beeedatabse] below)

The pg_service.conf file can have multiple entries.

[beedatabase]
host=localhost
port=5432
dbname=beedatabase
user=admin1
password=DfBJdQTtQv

When you add a Data Source in your control panel, it automatically adds an entry to the pg_service.conf file located at:

/var/www/data/qgis/pg_service.conf

If you connect your QGIS Project to your PostGIS database, the same pg_service.conf entry is used on your local computer, but with the hostname pointed at your server.

For example, if our QuartzMap server is located at https://myserver.com, our hostname would be as below:

[beedatabase]
host=myserver.com
port=5432
dbname=beedatabase
user=admin1
password=DfBJdQTtQv

Video Tutorial

For a complete walkthrough of pg_service.conf files, see our video below.

Note

The video below is for Lizmap, but the same procedures apply to QuartzMap.