Re: Installation Postgresql - Mailing list pgsql-general

On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 10:22:36 -0700 Andrew Ayers <aayers@eldocomp.com> sat down,
thought long and then wrote:

> Bill Moran wrote:
> > Stephen Salbod wrote:
> > 
> >> My background is Windows and I just switched, yesterday to, Suse Linux 
> >> Professional 9.0. And I have a class project due Monday, which is on 
> >> why select postgresql as your DBMS. I am trying to install postgresql 
> 
> Let this be a lesson - never change your environment if it is "crunch 
> time", unless you have no other choice. I don't know your situation, but 
> it sounds like you picked the worst time to begin learning Linux...
> 
> >> and going nuts. I installed the postgresql package on to my machine. I 
> >> am following the short version installation instructions, but I got 
> >> stuck at the first step: ./configure . I've looked for it on my system 
> >> but to no avail. I just want to get postgresql up and running. Every 
> >> book I turn to has this configure file. I know it is my window 
> >> background that is messing me up--I can't think Linux right now. I 
> >> would appreciate if someone can give me hand so I can have a good 
> >> experience installing postgresql .

Hi,

if you are so short in time, go sit at your compi, open yast, install the SuSE
shipped rpm´s. Don´t even think about compiling and installing PostgreSQL from
the sources, it is easy, if you know about SuSE (or other type) Linux, but if
you come from the MS Windows side of life, even don´t know about things like
Cygwin on MS Windows - don´t. Leave that for a quiet moment without pressure.
It´s to much to learn about Linux and PostgreSQL at the same time within less
than one week.

After having installed the SuSE shipped PostgreSQL packages, you simply have to
start the database as root with "rcpostgresql start". If the database is not
initialized, the startup script will do this for you when you start it the first
time. After this you can do everything what´s written in the PostgreSQL
documentation about an _installed_ PostgreSQL system - create users, databases,
tables, queries, database applications... If you want to start PostgreSQL as a
"service" everytime you boot, go to/etc/init.d and say "insserv postgresql". Or
do this also inside yast.

You will not be on the bleeding edge of PostgreSQL databases (I think it is
7.4.0 or 7.4.1 what´s shipped with SuSE 9.0), but you will have a working
database system out of the box.

As soon as you know more about the structures and features of Linux and Unix
systems as a whole (for example, how to install executables out of a source
tarball with configure - make - make install and so on), you should go and
download the PostgreSQL sources and install PostgreSQL from these, because
usually the distribution shipped releases are one or two steps behind.

Good luck!

Frank.