Generate Millions of Records in PostgreSQL

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I’ll walk you through the steps to create a PostgreSQL database, generate fake employee data using Python, and then insert that data into your database. By the end of this article, you’ll have the skills to generate as much test data as you need, perfect for load testing or any other purpose.

Setting Up PostgreSQL with Docker

Before diving into the Python script, let’s set up PostgreSQL using Docker. This setup makes it easy to get PostgreSQL running on any machine without the hassle of manual installation.

Pull the PostgreSQL Image
First, we need to pull the PostgreSQL image from Docker Hub. Open your terminal and run the following command:

docker pull postgres

fig. 1

Run the PostgreSQL Container
Once the image is downloaded, you can run it with the necessary configurations:

docker run --name my_postgres -e POSTGRES_USER=postgres -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password -p 5432:5432 -d postgres