Thread: BUG #1245: Postgres won't start

The following bug has been logged online:

Bug reference:      1245
Logged by:          Windows Admin Bug

Email address:      dev@null.com

PostgreSQL version: 8.0 Beta

Operating system:   Windows 2000

Description:        Postgres won't start

Details:

PostgreSQL won't start because I'm logged on as a user with administrative
rights. This is good practice in Linux / Unix circles, but is unacceptable
on Windows. Most windows users use accounts that have Administrative
priveledges on their machines. The reason for that is so that we can
actually install things, and also because prior to Windows XP, you could not
log on with another user before logging off. I understand the security
reasons for implementing this, but it doesn't make sense to implement extra
(and in my opinion, useless) security on an operating system that is
inherantly insecure. The windows user model does not work at all like the
Linux / Unix user model. Neither do permissions and rights. A study of
Windows culture would have shown that windows culture differs greatly from
Unix culture and that almost everyone uses a user with administrative rights
to log on.

I am not asking that you remove this feature, as it highlights security and
might make the user think twice before running things as and Admin user, but
I really would like to see a command line argument that power users could
use to get Postgresql to run even when I'm logged on as a user in the
Administrative group.

I am a developer and would have liked to use PostgreSql as a database. If I
can't get it to run from the command line on my machine, it goes straight
into the recycle bin, no matter how good it is. Sorry :)

> PostgreSQL won't start because I'm logged on as a user with administrative
> rights.

That has be discussed in great detail during the pre-beta period. All
the arguments you do provide are quite correct and all of them have
been considered and discussed.

I myself did argue for "PostgreSQL as Admin on windows", with similiar
arguments as you.

core developers of PostgreSQL made it clear that PostgreSQL as Admin
will not happen in the official distribution. The arguments where
compelling and correct: MS itself is going that way of "non Admin" and
security

So your options are threefold:

a) create a user with limited privileges and run postgresql as this
user. (HINT: You can also runas /user:lowpriv cmd.exe and you will
have a suitable commandline(
[a is recommended]

The PostgreSQL MSI Binary installer is doing this job for you quite well.


b) patch the source to allow postgresql as Admin [not recommended]

c) dump postgresql [also not recommended]

Best wishes

Harald