PostgreSQL fails to start

On 19/02/2010 13:10, Heddon's Gate Hotel wrote:

I've installed postgreSQL 8.4 on a Windows XP machine, and I can't get
it to start. Choosing Start Server from the menu produces a DOS box
that remains blank for about 3 minutes, then comes up with this error
message:

The postgresql-8.4 service is starting.................................
The postgresql-8.4 service could not be started.
The service did not report an error.
More help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 3534.
The start command returned an error (2)
Press <return> to continue...

Typing the suggested command actually produces no help other than what
has already been printed.

I do normally use NOD32 anti-virus and Windows Firewall. I uninstalled
NOD32 before installing postgreSQL, and disabled the firewall. This was
the state of the machine when the above error message was produced. I
get the same error if NOD32 and the firewall are running.

As far as I can tell, no log files have been produced. Therefore I am
at a loss as to how to proceed. Any ideas?

Something may have been written to the Windows event log - have a look
there.

Ray.

--
Raymond O'Donnell :: Galway :: Ireland
rod@iol.ie

Thanks very much for the tip, Ray - it has led me to discover the
Windows Event Viewer, which I did not even know existed. It was a sort
of help, because it enabled me - eventually - to diagnose that the
problem was to do with directory permissions.

I had installed PostgreSQL with its data directory set to be under the
Administrator's "home" directory, since that is the account I log on as.
It seems that PostgreSQL, running as user postgres, couldn't see this
directory. I have since reinstalled PostgreSQL, setting the data
directory to be somewhere that Windows doesn't seem to restrict the
permissions of (that weirdness is another whole story), and it runs fine.

This is a real gotcha in the PostgreSQL Windows installation process -
it should give you at least a warning about trying to create a data
directory in a location that is not accessible to the postgres user.

It also seems to show a weakness in PostgreSQL's logging, in that (a) it
would help a lot if it just printed its error to stderr, and (b) the log
message it did send to the event log was of the form "directory not
found" rather than "permission denied".

Eddie

Eddie,

It also seems to show a weakness in PostgreSQL's logging, in that (a) it
would help a lot if it just printed its error to stderr, and (b) the log
message it did send to the event log was of the form "directory not found"
rather than "permission denied".

problem for sending to stderr: there is no stderr for a service; so using
the eventlog is the "thing to do" for services.

And "permission denied" is the error PostgreSQL gets from the operating
system when trying to access its datadirectory; Windows will (correctly!)
not allow an non-permitted user to query for existence of things it has no
access to.

best wishes,

Harald

--
GHUM Harald Massa
persuadere et programmare
Harald Armin Massa
Spielberger Straße 49
70435 Stuttgart
0173/9409607
no fx, no carrier pigeon
-
%s is too gigantic of an industry to bend to the whims of reality

I have had the same/similar problem on a Mac. Postgres creates a user
"postgres" and the only way that user can see files is for them to
exist outside of any other particular user's home directory. I placed
the files in the root directory!? I would like, I think, to give
"postgres" privileges in my home directory (emphasis, I think). As a
sign of despicable laziness, could I ask where the granting of user
privileges is documented in the 8.4 docs?

John

On Feb 20, 2010, at 5:13 PM, Heddon's Gate Hotel wrote:

On 2/20/2010 4:42 PM, John Gage wrote:

I have had the same/similar problem on a Mac. Postgres creates a user
"postgres" and the only way that user can see files is for them to exist
outside of any other particular user's home directory. I placed the
files in the root directory!? I would like, I think, to give "postgres"
privileges in my home directory (emphasis, I think). As a sign of
despicable laziness, could I ask where the granting of user privileges
is documented in the 8.4 docs?

John

directory/file permissions is an OS behavior, not a postgresql behavior. Since OSX is unixen, you could make
sure that you and postgres are are members of a common group. Then, you can grant whatever group privileges
you want to the files/directories that you want common access to.

On 2/20/2010 4:42 PM, John Gage wrote:

I have had the same/similar problem on a Mac. Postgres creates a user
"postgres" and the only way that user can see files is for them to exist
outside of any other particular user's home directory. I placed the
files in the root directory!? I would like, I think, to give "postgres"
privileges in my home directory (emphasis, I think). As a sign of
despicable laziness, could I ask where the granting of user privileges
is documented in the 8.4 docs?

http://ss64.com/osx/chmod.html