I cannot for the life of me find the package that has `pg_config`

Sammyalhashe · June 30, 2025, 1:52am

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know where to get the pg_config executable from? I am trying to test a python application and create a flake.nix but for the life of me I cannot find where this executable could be located… I have tried the following package:

postgresql
libpq
libpq.dev (same package, different derivation I think)
postgresql_15[.dev]

Any help would be greatly appreciated here as I have reached my end and my brain hurts lol.

I have even tried writing some various enterShell hooks to attempt to find it with no luck…

waffle8946 · June 30, 2025, 2:14am

github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs

postgresql: missing `pg_config` executable in nixos-unstable and nixos-2505

opened 04:40PM - 19 May 25 UTC

closed 06:55PM - 19 May 25 UTC

tebuevd

0.kind: bug

### Nixpkgs version - Unstable (25.05) ### Describe the bug pg_config which i…s an executable that normally ships with postgresql packages is present in the 24.11 release (on the package postgresql_17), but missing on the unstable branch. It is needed among other things to build packages like psycopg2 for python. ### Steps to reproduce Install postgresql on unstable and the executable `pg_config` is missing ### Expected behaviour Expect the executable to be available ### Screenshots _No response_ ### Relevant log output ```console ``` ### Additional context _No response_ ### System metadata - system: `"aarch64-darwin"` - host os: `Darwin 24.5.0, macOS 15.5` - multi-user?: `yes` - sandbox: `no` - version: `nix-env (Determinate Nix 3.0.0) 2.26.3` - nixpkgs: `/nix/store/a4lkx9hmv2099n6p1rkzxm481hfw7pwr-source` ### Notify maintainers @thoughtpolice @Ma27 @wolfgangwalther --- **Note for maintainers:** Please tag this issue in your pull request description. (i.e. `Resolves #ISSUE`.) ### I assert that this issue is relevant for Nixpkgs - [x] I assert that this is a bug and not a support request. - [x] I assert that this is not a [duplicate of an existing issue](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%220.kind%3A+bug%22+-label%3A%226.topic%3A+darwin%22+-label%3A%226.topic%3A+nixos%22). - [x] I assert that I have read the [NixOS Code of Conduct](https://github.com/NixOS/.github/blob/master/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md) and agree to abide by it. ### Is this issue important to you? Add a :+1: [reaction] to [issues you find important]. [reaction]: https://github.blog/2016-03-10-add-reactions-to-pull-requests-issues-and-comments/ [issues you find important]: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+sort%3Areactions-%2B1-desc

Sammyalhashe · June 30, 2025, 3:38am

THANK YOU! Out of curiosity, what is the best way to find this information for next time?

wolfgangwalther · June 30, 2025, 6:34am

Out of curiosity, what is the best way to find this information for next time?

Where did you look for this information?

Maybe we can put it exactly there.

waffle8946 · June 30, 2025, 7:31am

I literally just searched in the nixpkgs repo for pg_config, looked through issues and code. Specifically because I’ve no idea what pg_config is

Ma27 · June 30, 2025, 12:14pm

A quick grep shows that this isn’t documented in the manual, but only in the release notes which doesn’t help if you’re a new user.

Sorry, I think I ticked the documentation part in my head while reviewing the change. Will add a section to our manual.

In case you didn’t do this already here, I recommend to check if a module has a dedicated section in there. If that’s the case, it’s usually quite useful.