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Thread: initdb, could not locate postgres executable

initdb, could not locate postgres executable

From
Grigoriy Puzankin
Date:
Hi,

Under CygWin on Windows XP Pro I've been using PostgreSQL 7.3 for a
year, then I decided to switch to PostgreSQL 7.4-1.

When I run initdb the following error occurs:

creating directory /cygdrive/d/pgsql.data... ok
creating directory /cygdrive/d/pgsql.data/base... ok
creating directory /cygdrive/d/pgsql.data/global... ok
creating directory /cygdrive/d/pgsql.data/pg_xlog... ok
creating directory /cygdrive/d/pgsql.data/pg_clog... ok
selecting default max_connections... 100
selecting default shared_buffers... 1000
creating configuration files... ok
creating template1 database in /cygdrive/d/pgsql.data/base/1... ok
initializing pg_shadow... FATAL: /usr/bin/postgres: could not locate postgres executable

I believe there might be an environment variable that is not set or
set incorrectly. I've tried to uninstall CygWin, cleared all related
Windows XP users account, cleared all CygWin environment variables.
Then I installed CygWin from scratch - no changes, I'm getting the
same error. I also tried to downgrade PostgreSQL to version 7.3 - the
same problem (at least it's not related to PostgreSQL 7.4).

If anyone has thoughts - please share with me.

--
Thanks in advance
Grigoriy Puzankin

Re: initdb, could not locate postgres executable

From
Daniel Convissor
Date:
On Fri, Nov 28, 2003 at 11:59:57AM +0300, Grigoriy Puzankin wrote:
... snip ...
> creating configuration files... ok
> creating template1 database in /cygdrive/d/pgsql.data/base/1... ok
> initializing pg_shadow... FATAL: /usr/bin/postgres: could not locate postgres executable

I got this same problem when I ran dbinit in a user account other than the
one that installed Cygwin.  I installed as administrator, then ran as
user.  Switching over to the admin account got it to run fine.

This is explained in the ms faq page patch I mailed to the list the other
day.

--Dan

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Re: initdb, could not locate postgres executable

From
Jason Tishler
Date:
On Fri, Nov 28, 2003 at 12:28:40PM -0500, Daniel Convissor wrote:
> On Fri, Nov 28, 2003 at 11:59:57AM +0300, Grigoriy Puzankin wrote:
> ... snip ...
> > creating configuration files... ok
> > creating template1 database in /cygdrive/d/pgsql.data/base/1... ok
> > initializing pg_shadow... FATAL: /usr/bin/postgres: could not locate postgres executable
>
> [snip]
>
> This is explained in the ms faq page patch I mailed to the list the
> other day.

It is also explained in the README that is part of the pre-built Cygwin
PostgreSQL package.  Specifically, the following:

    4. Cygwin PostgreSQL can fail to start or not function properly if
    certain files and directories have incorrect permissions.  The
    following usually solves these kinds of problems:

        $ chmod a+rwx /tmp
        $ chmod a+rx /usr/bin /usr/bin/*
        $ chmod a+rw /var/log # could adversely affect other daemons

Jason

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