Docker PostgreSQL FATAL: password authentication failed for user “postgres”

Check if it is not the typos or cache

The normal procedure is to checking the typos in docker-compose.yml

Also most of us will try to force away the cache with 3 levels:

1. Container level
2. Volume level
   2.1. In default docker location
   2.2. In our directory / file mount
   (configured in the docker-compose.yml )
3. Everything — System prune

docker container prune

docker volume prune
# if container prune not work

ls -la
# see if any physical mount to local directory

docker system prune
# try to blow everything away

Unfortunately, in some case the error does not go away

Unintentional Postgres already in the machine

Without knowing, it is common that you have PostgreSQL already install in your machine

So when you connect to port 5432 you connect to that Machine Postgres

You can do the quick check by

# Linux Based
systemctl status postgresql

# MacOS
brew services list

For Linux you can see the status of the service by status command like below.

We see the villain here. Now stop it.

# Linux Based
sudo systemctl stop postgresql

# MacOS
brew services stop postgresql

Why we have this ?

Mostly when you install psql command line you will install library like postgres on apt or brew package manager.

The whole database is bundled in this package and ‘for convenient’ they will start the Postgres server to you.