Re: Failing to boot Postgres on Red Hat Linux - Mailing list pgsql-novice

On Thu, 31 Aug 2000, Matthew Green wrote:

> Hello,
>
> Postmaster is not initializing when our Red Hat server is rebooting.
> We have followed what is stated in the manual with a slight modification to allow TCPIP connections.
>
> i.e.
> in the file /etc/inittab
>
> -----------------------------<SNIP>---------------------------------------------
> #   Run Postgres in standard runlevels
>
> pg:2345:respawn:/bin/su - postgres -c "/usr/local/pgsql/bin/postmaster -i -D /usr/local/pgsql/data >>
/usr/local/pgsql/logs/server.log2>&1 </dev/null" 
> -----------------------------<EOF>---------------------------------------------
>
> This seems to execute since if we introduce a deliberate error we get a warning on reboot.
> But with the line exactly as above we get no warnings, no server.log file is generated and the postmaster task is not
visibleif we run "ps -A" as root. 

> Any help would be gratefully received including alternative methods of forcing Postgres to initialize on reboot.
>
> Many Thanks,
>
> Matthew Green

Matthew, I use this line as printed on a slackware box except the port
(5432) and the redirect at the end - on mine it is to (>) /dev/null and
here you have it reversed.  Is this simply a typo in your email?

For RedHat:

What follows is Lamar Owen's script (RedHat) for firing up PG.
I simply place a call to it in rc.local so it starts on boot.
(I keep my hacked copy of Lamar's file in /usr/local/bin, the original
muzzled any logging output.) Note the rm -f of any stale locks.

Here is the line that turns on logging...
su -l postgres -c '/usr/bin/postmaster -i -D/var/lib/pgsql >> /var/lib/pgsql/postlog 2>&1 &' >/dev/null

Cheers,
Tom
----

Here is the script:

#! /bin/sh
# postgresql    This is the init script for starting up the PostgreSQL
#        server

# Version 6.5.2-0.2lo Lamar Owen
# Added code to determine if PGDATA exists, whether it is current version
#     or not, and initdb if no PGDATA (initdb will not overwrite a database).

# chkconfig: 345 85 15
# description: Starts and stops the PostgreSQL backend daemon that handles \
#           all database requests.
# processname: postmaster
# pidfile: /var/run/postmaster.pid
#

# Source function library.
. /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions

# Get config.
. /etc/sysconfig/network

# Check that networking is up.
# Pretty much need it for postmaster.
[ ${NETWORKING} = "no" ] && exit 0

[ -f /usr/bin/postmaster ] || exit 0

# This script is slightly unusual in that the name of the daemon (postmaster)
# is not the same as the name of the subsystem (postgresql)

# See how we were called.
case "$1" in
  start)
    echo -n "Checking postgresql installation: "
    # Check for the PGDATA structure
    if [ -f /var/lib/pgsql/PG_VERSION ] && [ -d /var/lib/pgsql/base/template1 ]
    then
    # Check version of existing PGDATA

        if [ `cat /var/lib/pgsql/PG_VERSION` != '6.5' ]
        then
            echo "old version. Need to Upgrade."
            echo "See /usr/doc/postgresql-6.5.2/README.rpm for more information."
            exit 1
        else
            echo "looks good!"
        fi

    # No existing PGDATA! Initdb it.

    else
        echo "no database files found."
                if [ ! -d /var/lib/pgsql ]
        then
            mkdir -p /var/lib/pgsql
            chown postgres.postgres /var/lib/pgsql
        fi
        su -l postgres -c '/usr/bin/initdb --pglib=/usr/lib/pgsql --pgdata=/var/lib/pgsql'
    fi

    # Check for postmaster already running...
    pid=`pidof postmaster`
    if [ $pid ]
    then
        echo "Postmaster already running."
    else
        #all systems go -- remove any stale lock files
        rm -f /tmp/.s.PGSQL.* > /dev/null
        echo -n "Starting postgresql service: "
        su -l postgres -c '/usr/bin/postmaster -i -D/var/lib/pgsql >> /var/lib/pgsql/postlog 2>&1 &' >/dev/null
        sleep 1
        pid=`pidof postmaster`
        if [ $pid ]
        then
            echo -n "postmaster [$pid]"
            touch /var/lock/subsys/postgresql
            echo $pid > /var/run/postmaster.pid
            echo
        else
            echo "failed."
        fi
    fi
    ;;
  stop)
    echo -n "Stopping postgresql service: "
    killproc postmaster
    sleep 2
    rm -f /var/run/postmaster.pid
    rm -f /var/lock/subsys/postgresql
    echo
    ;;
  status)
    status postmaster
    ;;
  restart)
    $0 stop
    $0 start
    ;;
  *)
    echo "Usage: postgresql {start|stop|status|restart}"
    exit 1
esac

exit 0


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