Thread: alternative DB locations
Hi, I'm just trying the three lines from the initlocation online man page (version 7.0.2) as postgres. postgres owns the locations, and initlocation runs OK, but it don't like to create the DB. omni.ac.uk> whoami postgres omni.ac.uk> export PGDATA2=/public_searchable_0 omni.ac.uk> initlocation PGDATA2 The location will be initialized with username "postgres". This user will own all the files and must also own the server process. Fixing permissions on pre-existing directory /public_searchable_0 Fixing permissions on pre-existing directory /public_searchable_0/base initlocation is complete. You can now create a database using CREATE DATABASE <name> WITH LOCATION = 'PGDATA2' in SQL, or createdb <name> -D 'PGDATA2' from the shell. omni.ac.uk> createdb 'testdb' -D 'PGDATA2' ERROR: The database path 'PGDATA2' is invalid. This may be due to a character that is not allowed or because the chosen path isn't permitted for databases createdb: database creation failed The shell is bash. What am I missing please? Cheers, Bob Bob Parkinson rwp@biome.ac.uk ------------------------------------------------------------------ Technical Manager: Biome http://biome.ac.uk/ Greenfield Medical Library, Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham. 0115 9249924 x 42059 ------------------------------------------------------------------ We are stardust
Hi,
It sounds strange, but you have to export PGDATA2 variable BEFORE
starting Postgres. So you have to kill the postmaster, set the system variable
and start postmaster again.
Nelson
Bob Parkinson wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm just trying the three lines from the initlocation online man page
> (version 7.0.2) as postgres. postgres owns the locations, and initlocation
> runs OK, but it don't like to create the DB.
>
> omni.ac.uk> whoami
> postgres
> omni.ac.uk> export PGDATA2=/public_searchable_0
> omni.ac.uk> initlocation PGDATA2
> The location will be initialized with username "postgres".
> This user will own all the files and must also own the server process.
>
> Fixing permissions on pre-existing directory /public_searchable_0
> Fixing permissions on pre-existing directory /public_searchable_0/base
>
> initlocation is complete.
> You can now create a database using
> CREATE DATABASE <name> WITH LOCATION = 'PGDATA2'
> in SQL, or
> createdb <name> -D 'PGDATA2'
> from the shell.
>
> omni.ac.uk> createdb 'testdb' -D 'PGDATA2'
> ERROR: The database path 'PGDATA2' is invalid. This may be due to a
> character that is not allowed or because the chosen path isn't permitted
> for databases
> createdb: database creation failed
>
> The shell is bash. What am I missing please?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Bob
>
> Bob Parkinson
> rwp@biome.ac.uk
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> Technical Manager: Biome http://biome.ac.uk/
>
> Greenfield Medical Library,
> Queens Medical Centre,
> Nottingham. 0115 9249924 x 42059
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> We are stardust
Bob Parkinson <rwp@biome.ac.uk> writes:
omni.ac.uk> export PGDATA2=/public_searchable_0
omni.ac.uk> initlocation PGDATA2
...
omni.ac.uk> createdb 'testdb' -D 'PGDATA2'
> ERROR: The database path 'PGDATA2' is invalid. This may be due to a
> character that is not allowed or because the chosen path isn't permitted
> for databases
The backend will not take 'PGDATA2' as a location unless that
environment variable exists in the *postmaster's* environment.
Creating it in the client's environment won't do (except for
initlocation, which is only a shell script).
Don't forget to modify your startup scripts so that PGDATA2
is established for the postmaster on future restarts, too.
regards, tom lane
Bob Parkinson wrote: > > On Tue, 3 Oct 2000, Jeff Hoffmann wrote: > > :-) > > > RTFM. this is a pretty common problem. the environment variable > > I did. I've got the FM in front of me, and it does not mention > this. Cheers. > not to be pedantic, but just to make sure, i looked in the 7.0 docs and it says it plain as day on the "alternate locations" section from the admin guide, second paragraph "This environment variable must have been defined before the backend was started" this is an incredibly common question for being spelled out that directly in the documentation. this statement should probably be bold or italic or otherwise emphasized, since it is such an important point and apparently very easily overlooked. maybe tom lockhart & the other document editors will look kindly on this suggestion to alleviate some new user headaches in the future. -- Jeff Hoffmann PropertyKey.com
Jeff Hoffmann <jeff@propertykey.com> writes:
> not to be pedantic, but just to make sure, i looked in the 7.0 docs and
> it says it plain as day on the "alternate locations" section from the
> admin guide, second paragraph "This
> environment variable must have been defined before the backend was
> started" this is an incredibly common question for being spelled out
> that directly in the documentation. this statement should probably be
> bold or italic or otherwise emphasized,
Actually, first it should be *corrected*. It should say "... defined
before the POSTMASTER is started". Or even more directly, "... supplied
in the postmaster's environment variable set".
As is, it can reasonably be read that you just have to define the variable
in your own environment before starting a psql session (which starts a
backend of course).
The critical distinction that people aren't making is between their
client environment and the postmaster/backend environment, and the
existing text doesn't seem to help them.
regards, tom lane
Jeff Hoffmann writes: > not to be pedantic, but just to make sure, i looked in the 7.0 docs and > it says it plain as day on the "alternate locations" section from the > admin guide, second paragraph "This > environment variable must have been defined before the backend was > started" this is an incredibly common question for being spelled out > that directly in the documentation. this statement should probably be > bold or italic or otherwise emphasized, since it is such an important > point and apparently very easily overlooked. maybe tom lockhart & the > other document editors will look kindly on this suggestion to alleviate > some new user headaches in the future. The documentation for 7.1 emphasizes this point a bit more. See http://www.postgresql.org/docs/admin/managing-databases.htm#AEN2065 If something is still less than optimially clear, please submit a suggested new wording. -- Peter Eisentraut peter_e@gmx.net http://yi.org/peter-e/
Peter Eisentraut wrote: > The documentation for 7.1 emphasizes this point a bit more. See > > http://www.postgresql.org/docs/admin/managing-databases.htm#AEN2065 > > If something is still less than optimially clear, please submit a > suggested new wording. this is a lot better, although i'm still not a big fan of the online documentation. has someone brought up the "annotated documentation" format like that's used on the php web site? i think it's an excellent combination of documentation, FAQ, and hints that makes it a lot easier to find answers than the standard "RTFM - read FAQ - search mailing lists". -- Jeff Hoffmann PropertyKey.com
On Tue, 3 Oct 2000, Jeff Hoffmann wrote: > Peter Eisentraut wrote: > > > The documentation for 7.1 emphasizes this point a bit more. See > > > > http://www.postgresql.org/docs/admin/managing-databases.htm#AEN2065 > > > > If something is still less than optimially clear, please submit a > > suggested new wording. > > this is a lot better, although i'm still not a big fan of the online > documentation. has someone brought up the "annotated documentation" > format like that's used on the php web site? i think it's an excellent > combination of documentation, FAQ, and hints that makes it a lot easier > to find answers than the standard "RTFM - read FAQ - search mailing > lists". Yeah, but it's currently a matter of available time. When I get a few things cleared up I'll give it a look. Vince. -- ========================================================================== Vince Vielhaber -- KA8CSH email: vev@michvhf.com http://www.pop4.net 128K ISDN from $22.00/mo - 56K Dialup from $16.00/mo at Pop4 Networking Online Campground Directory http://www.camping-usa.com Online Giftshop Superstore http://www.cloudninegifts.com ==========================================================================
Jeff Hoffmann writes: > has someone brought up the "annotated documentation" format like > that's used on the php web site? i think it's an excellent > combination of documentation, FAQ, and hints that makes it a lot > easier to find answers than the standard "RTFM - read FAQ - search > mailing lists". As a PHP user I find that kind of helpful, because the PHP documentation is really bad, or at least it was last time I looked. As a PostgreSQL documentation writer I don't think this is such a good idea. It would create all kinds of alternative, unchecked, non-authorative information that would be distributed under the official PostgreSQL banner. If users have a suggestion, correction, or improvement for the documentation, all they have to do is write us and someone will surely integrate it. Additionally, I imagine a number of technical and logistical problems with this. The documentation is organized logically into chapters, sections, etc., not in terms of HTML pages. Other formats (ps, pdf, dvi, man) would not carry the benefit of these annotations. Even just a new stylesheet for HTML might invalidate the whole database. -- Peter Eisentraut peter_e@gmx.net http://yi.org/peter-e/
This has discussed before (I brougt it up) and there was talks of using the http://openacs.org/ site to do this. But I don't think there has happened anything on that matter. I think we should either use the openACS site, or write our own extension of the manual in PHP. Poul L. Christiansen Peter Eisentraut wrote: > > Jeff Hoffmann writes: > > > has someone brought up the "annotated documentation" format like > > that's used on the php web site? i think it's an excellent > > combination of documentation, FAQ, and hints that makes it a lot > > easier to find answers than the standard "RTFM - read FAQ - search > > mailing lists". > > As a PHP user I find that kind of helpful, because the PHP documentation > is really bad, or at least it was last time I looked. > > As a PostgreSQL documentation writer I don't think this is such a good > idea. It would create all kinds of alternative, unchecked, > non-authorative information that would be distributed under the official > PostgreSQL banner. > > If users have a suggestion, correction, or improvement for the > documentation, all they have to do is write us and someone will surely > integrate it. > > Additionally, I imagine a number of technical and logistical problems with > this. The documentation is organized logically into chapters, sections, > etc., not in terms of HTML pages. Other formats (ps, pdf, dvi, man) would > not carry the benefit of these annotations. Even just a new stylesheet > for HTML might invalidate the whole database. > > -- > Peter Eisentraut peter_e@gmx.net http://yi.org/peter-e/
> Jeff Hoffmann <jeff@propertykey.com> writes: > > not to be pedantic, but just to make sure, i looked in the 7.0 docs and > > it says it plain as day on the "alternate locations" section from the > > admin guide, second paragraph "This > > environment variable must have been defined before the backend was > > started" this is an incredibly common question for being spelled out > > that directly in the documentation. this statement should probably be > > bold or italic or otherwise emphasized, > > Actually, first it should be *corrected*. It should say "... defined > before the POSTMASTER is started". Or even more directly, "... supplied > in the postmaster's environment variable set". Agreed. Corrected. Man, initlocation is a mess of a configuration. -- Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us pgman@candle.pha.pa.us | (610) 853-3000 + If your life is a hard drive, | 830 Blythe Avenue + Christ can be your backup. | Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026
> Jeff Hoffmann writes: > > > not to be pedantic, but just to make sure, i looked in the 7.0 docs and > > it says it plain as day on the "alternate locations" section from the > > admin guide, second paragraph "This > > environment variable must have been defined before the backend was > > started" this is an incredibly common question for being spelled out > > that directly in the documentation. this statement should probably be > > bold or italic or otherwise emphasized, since it is such an important > > point and apparently very easily overlooked. maybe tom lockhart & the > > other document editors will look kindly on this suggestion to alleviate > > some new user headaches in the future. > > The documentation for 7.1 emphasizes this point a bit more. See > > http://www.postgresql.org/docs/admin/managing-databases.htm#AEN2065 > > If something is still less than optimially clear, please submit a > suggested new wording. The current SGML stated it had to be set before the "backend" was started. It says "postmaster" now. -- Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us pgman@candle.pha.pa.us | (610) 853-3000 + If your life is a hard drive, | 830 Blythe Avenue + Christ can be your backup. | Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026