> I tried this and got what I thought was a fairly reasonable error
> message:
>
> FATAL: StreamServerPort: bind() failed: Permission denied
> Is another postmaster already running on that port?
> If not, remove socket node (/tmp/.s.PGSQL.5432) and retry.
> postmaster: cannot create UNIX stream port
>
> "Permission denied" is what the kernel told us, and I don't think it's
> likely to be a good idea to second-guess why the kernel told us that.
> But the reference to /tmp/.s.PGSQL.5432 together with that error ought
> to be sufficient clue I would think...
Yes, that is what clued me off... now I'm not exactly a kernel hacker,
so be patient with me... : )
Postgres was the only program not able to bind a port - everything else
(web, mail, IRC, etc.) was able to run just dandy. From poking around in a
few config files, it looks like you get to choose whether you want to use
the file in /tmp or not. I imagine that the developpers must have had a
compelling reason to go with the former - would you care to explain just a
little of all of that to me?
steve