Re: Error: Could not change user id - Mailing list pgsql-admin

From Russell Davie
Subject Re: Error: Could not change user id
Date
Msg-id 20060529154531.398578e0@localhost.localdomain
Whole thread Raw
In response to Re: Error: Could not change user id  (Tim Allen <tim@proximity.com.au>)
List pgsql-admin
On Mon, 29 May 2006 14:57:15 +1000
Tim Allen <tim@proximity.com.au> wrote:

> Russell Davie wrote:
> > On Sun, 28 May 2006 20:59:33 -0400 Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
> > wrote:
> >> There is no such error message anywhere in the PG 7.4 source code.
> >> I suppose it's coming out of whatever init script you're using;
> >> have you tried reading the init script for enlightenment?
>
> > Interesting! I never thought it could be the window manager. This is
> > still occurring using Metacity and it still happened in Enlightnement
> > and WindowMaker and also at CLI without any window-manager at all!
>
> I'm quite sure that Tom was referring to enlightenment in the general
> sense of the word, ie some init script (eg the one for the postgresql
> service) might enlighten you as to what is going on! :-)

thanks for that! <doh>
I *was* wondering what he meant and found the error message in start-up script /usr/share/postgresql-common/PgCommon.pm

Reading the script suggests that the user to be a member of the "shadow" group, which is now done.
However, postgresql is still not starting and produces the same errors:

postgres@XXXXX:~$ /etc/init.d/postgresql-7.4 start
chmod: changing permissions of `/var/run/postgresql': Operation not permitted
 * Starting PostgreSQL 7.4 database server:main
Error: Could not change user id                                     [fail]

Are there special privileges that the "shadow" group has?

What is eluding me is decyphering it into practical steps to getting postgresql working again.

TIA

Rusell

>
> Tim
>
> --
> -----------------------------------------------
> Tim Allen          tim@proximity.com.au
> Proximity Pty Ltd  http://www.proximity.com.au/
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