Problem while installing PostgreSQL using make

On 4 Jul 2024, at 12:16, Mohab Yaser <mohabyaserofficial2003@gmail.com> wrote:

*** Flex version 2.5.35 or later is required, but this is C:\GnuWin32\bin\flex.exe version 2.5.4.

$ flex --version
C:\GnuWin32\bin\flex.exe version 2.5.4

You have all the information you need right there, your Flex is 31 minor
releases too old.

--
Daniel Gustafsson

Hi,

While I was trying to install PostgreSQL from the git repository to start contributing I faced this issue. When I try to type ./configure it gives me this error

checking for a thread-safe mkdir -p... /usr/bin/mkdir -p
checking for bison... /c/GnuWin32/bin/bison
configure: using bison (GNU Bison) 2.4.1
checking for flex... configure: error:
*** The installed version of Flex, /c/GnuWin32/bin/flex, is too old to use with PostgreSQL.
*** Flex version 2.5.35 or later is required, but this is C:\GnuWin32\bin\flex.exe version 2.5.4.

Look at the last two lines, the error says that the installed version of flex is too old and is 2.4 which is correct and not too old and should be valid but actually I can't proceed beyond this point. And I double checked the version of flex

$ flex --version
C:\GnuWin32\bin\flex.exe version 2.5.4

and made sure that it is properly included in PATH

$ which flex
/c/GnuWin32/bin/flex

Flex 2.5.4 is ancient. Version 2.5.39 was released in 2020 and I
didn't look further to figure out the exact release year of 2.5.4

You need something like flex 2.6.4 and bison >= 2.3. That's what I use.

--
Best regards,
Aleksander Alekseev

can you send me a link to download this version on windows as I didn't find
anything other than the one I already have downloaded

On Thu, Jul 4, 2024 at 1:21 PM Aleksander Alekseev <aleksander@timescale.com>
wrote:

Hi,

Flex 2.5.4 is ancient. Version 2.5.39 was released in 2020 and I
didn't look further to figure out the exact release year of 2.5.4

You need something like flex 2.6.4 and bison >= 2.3. That's what I use.

can you send me a link to download this version on windows as I didn't find anything other than the one I already have downloaded

We don't use top posing in this mailing list [1]https://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists.

Sorry, I only have Linux and MacOS. Here are the scripts I use [2]https://github.com/afiskon/pgscripts/.
Maybe someone who develops on Windows will answer your questions.
However IMO your learning curve will be less steep with a Linux
virtual machine.

[1]: https://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists
[2]: https://github.com/afiskon/pgscripts/

--
Best regards,
Aleksander Alekseev

On 4 Jul 2024, at 12:27, Aleksander Alekseev <aleksander@timescale.com> wrote:

Hi,

Flex 2.5.4 is ancient. Version 2.5.39 was released in 2020 and I
didn't look further to figure out the exact release year of 2.5.4

You need something like flex 2.6.4 and bison >= 2.3. That's what I use.

can you send me a link to download this version on windows as I didn't find anything other than the one I already have downloaded

We don't use top posing in this mailing list [1].

Sorry, I only have Linux and MacOS. Here are the scripts I use [2].
Maybe someone who develops on Windows will answer your questions.
However IMO your learning curve will be less steep with a Linux
virtual machine.

Flex/Bison are only required when building from a Git tree, downloading a
source archive and building from there might be easier to get started.

https://www.postgresql.org/ftp/source/

--
Daniel Gustafsson

Hi,

We don't use top posing in this mailing list [1].

Sorry, I only have Linux and MacOS. Here are the scripts I use [2].
Maybe someone who develops on Windows will answer your questions.
However IMO your learning curve will be less steep with a Linux
virtual machine.

Flex/Bison are only required when building from a Git tree, downloading a
source archive and building from there might be easier to get started.

https://www.postgresql.org/ftp/source/

It could work but personally I wouldn't recommend this path for
someone who wants to contribute.

--
Best regards,
Aleksander Alekseev

Hi,

Flex/Bison are only required when building from a Git tree, downloading a
source archive and building from there might be easier to get started.

https://www.postgresql.org/ftp/source/

It could work but personally I wouldn't recommend this path for
someone who wants to contribute.

Why that?

I believe you wanted to reply to the mailing list, not to me directly.
Please use the "Reply to All" button.

Because formatting/rebasing patches is most convenient when you have
git and `git format-path`. And in my humble experience this is
something done often.

--
Best regards,
Aleksander Alekseev

On 4 Jul 2024, at 12:34, Aleksander Alekseev <aleksander@timescale.com> wrote:

Sorry, I only have Linux and MacOS. Here are the scripts I use [2].
Maybe someone who develops on Windows will answer your questions.
However IMO your learning curve will be less steep with a Linux
virtual machine.

Flex/Bison are only required when building from a Git tree, downloading a
source archive and building from there might be easier to get started.

https://www.postgresql.org/ftp/source/

It could work but personally I wouldn't recommend this path for
someone who wants to contribute.

Absolutely, I don't disagree that, but there is value in not getting stuck
directly as well.

--
Daniel Gustafsson

On 2024-Jul-04, Mohab Yaser wrote:

can you send me a link to download this version on windows as I didn't find
anything other than the one I already have downloaded

Well,
https://packages.msys2.org/package/flex
has 2.6.4. I don't know what GnuWin32 is, but it looks abandoned.

--
Álvaro Herrera Breisgau, Deutschland — https://www.EnterpriseDB.com/
"Nunca se desea ardientemente lo que solo se desea por razón" (F. Alexandre)

Daniel Gustafsson <daniel@yesql.se> writes:

Flex/Bison are only required when building from a Git tree, downloading a
source archive and building from there might be easier to get started.
https://www.postgresql.org/ftp/source/

That's no longer true I think - as of v17 the source tarballs won't
contain any generated files, so you do need flex and bison if you want
to do any sort of development. I am mildly astonished to hear that
too-old versions of those tools aren't extinct in the wild, though.

In any case I agree with the recommendation to install and use git
rather than downloading source tarballs.

regards, tom lane

On 2024-07-04 Th 6:22 AM, Mohab Yaser wrote:

can you send me a link to download this version on windows as I didn't
find anything other than the one I already have downloaded

On Thu, Jul 4, 2024 at 1:21 PM Aleksander Alekseev
<aleksander@timescale.com> wrote:

Hi,

While I was trying to install PostgreSQL from the git repository

to start contributing I faced this issue. When I try to type
./configure it gives me this error

checking for a thread-safe mkdir -p... /usr/bin/mkdir -p
checking for bison... /c/GnuWin32/bin/bison
configure: using bison (GNU Bison) 2.4.1
checking for flex... configure: error:
*** The installed version of Flex, /c/GnuWin32/bin/flex, is too

old to use with PostgreSQL.

*** Flex version 2.5.35 or later is required, but this is

C:\GnuWin32\bin\flex.exe version 2.5.4.

Look at the last two lines, the error says that the installed

version of flex is too old and is 2.4 which is correct and not too
old and should be valid but actually I can't proceed beyond this
point. And I double checked the version of flex

$ flex --version
C:\GnuWin32\bin\flex.exe version 2.5.4

and made sure that it is properly included in PATH

$ which flex
/c/GnuWin32/bin/flex

Flex 2.5.4 is ancient. Version 2.5.39 was released in 2020 and I
didn't look further to figure out the exact release year of 2.5.4

You need something like flex 2.6.4 and bison >= 2.3. That's what I
use.

I assume this configure script is running under Msys2? Just install its
flex and bison (and remove these ancient versions):

   pacman -S bison flex

cheers

andrew

--
Andrew Dunstan
EDB:https://www.enterprisedb.com