I have PostgreSQL 9.0.4-1 running as a service on Windows XP Home Edition,
with the command line of the service being:
D:\me\usr\PostgreSQL\bin/pg_ctl.exe runservice -N "pgsql" -D "d:/me/etc/PostgreSQL"
In the postgresql.conf file I have the following settings:
data_directory = '../../data/PostgreSQL'
external_pid_file = '../../var/run/PostgreSQL.pid'
log_directory = '../../var/log/PostgreSQL'
In this configuration the PostgreSQL service fails to start with the message:
FATAL: data directory "C:/WINDOWS/system32/../../data/PostgreSQL" does not exist
If using an absolute path for data_directory like this:
data_directory = 'd:/me/data/PostgreSQL'
then the service starts ok, with the curent directory of pg_ctl.exe
being C:\WINDOWS\system32\, while the pid file and the logs
are set to the desired location.
I can confirm this behavior by running postgres.exe from the console,
and for relative paths the data_directory is relative to the current folder
from where postgres.exe is launched, and both external_pid_file and log_directory
are relative to the directory specified with the -D option of the command line.
For the record, there is no PGDATA environment variable defined.
Have a nice day,
Eduard
