Thread: pgsql 7.4 on minimal environment
Hi everyone, I'm trying to make PostgreSQL 7.4 to work on a minimal Linux (2.4.22/libc-2.3.1) environment comprised of selected libraries and the latest busybox. So far, the binaries: "initdb", "pg_ctl" and "initlocation" (initlocation: not really required) won't work, and terminates with the "SIGSEGV" message. All other pg binaries/executables do not report the said segfault message. To make the other pg binaries work, I've included each of the libraries (one after the other) as they are requested by the executables. On the other hand, "initdb", "pg_ctl" and "initlocation" do not suggest the dependencies that they require, thus, I am clueless as to what else to add/tweak on my minimal environment. - The PGSQL build on my dev't/slackware build machine has no problems. Any help/advise is greately appreciated. TIA - Vic
Quoting "Victor B. Berdin" <vic@digi.com.ph>: > Hi everyone, > > I'm trying to make PostgreSQL 7.4 to work on a minimal Linux > (2.4.22/libc-2.3.1) environment > comprised of selected libraries and the latest busybox. So far, the > binaries: "initdb", "pg_ctl" and > "initlocation" (initlocation: not really required) won't work, and > terminates with the "SIGSEGV" > message. All other pg binaries/executables do not report the said > segfault message. > To make the other pg binaries work, I've included each of the libraries > (one after the other) as > they are requested by the executables. On the other hand, "initdb", > "pg_ctl" and "initlocation" > do not suggest the dependencies that they require, thus, I am clueless > as to what else to add/tweak > on my minimal environment. > - The PGSQL build on my dev't/slackware build machine has no problems. > Any help/advise is greately appreciated. > > TIA - Vic > > > ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- > TIP 9: the planner will ignore your desire to choose an index scan if your > joining column's datatypes do not match > Thats interesting since "ldd initdb" and "ldd pg_ctl" show that there aren't any .so's needed. Have you tried using the debugger to see whats is causing the fault. If you are trying to build a "runtime" (Linux and PostgreSQL running live from a CD) you might want to use install a minimum files system first and then merge that filesystem that into something like the Slackware disc 2 CD. I've done that before to make customized runtime/recovery CD's. For PostgreSQL, you'd need a way to put it on a filesystem that it thinks is writeable so you'd probably need a kernel that supports a very large ramdisk. I'm just guessing since I've never attempted to put PostgreSQL on runtime CD but this has been discussed before so maybe someone else has had some success. -- Keith C. Perry, MS E.E. Director of Networks & Applications VCSN, Inc. http://vcsn.com ____________________________________ This email account is being host by: VCSN, Inc : http://vcsn.com
Hi Keith, everyone, > Thats interesting since "ldd initdb" and "ldd pg_ctl" show that there aren't any > .so's needed. Have you tried using the debugger to see whats is causing the fault. And this problem didn't exist on my old minimal system (Linux 2.2.20/libc-2.1.3) pg7.1.2 either. All of which are running from pure ramdisk. > If you are trying to build a "runtime" (Linux and PostgreSQL running live from a > CD) you might want to use install a minimum files system first and then merge > that filesystem that into something like the Slackware disc 2 CD. I've done > that before to make customized runtime/recovery CD's. Well, sort of. What i'm actually trying to create is an embedded environment using a Slackware 9 (kernel upgraded) setup as dev't machine. > For PostgreSQL, you'd need a way to put it on a filesystem that it thinks is > writeable so you'd probably need a kernel that supports a very large ramdisk. > I'm just guessing since I've never attempted to put PostgreSQL on runtime CD but > this has been discussed before so maybe someone else has had some success. Ok, here're some more details: My min environment is comprised of images (initrd, tgz, and cramfs) that boots off from a compact flash and then exploded/mounted into ramdisk. The tgz image tree serves as a backupable image, and holds all common writeable paths. It will also hold the future postgres database if it will be required that the DB should be backupable. The Postgres7.4 bins & libs (/usr/local/pgsql/*) on the other hand, is a cramfs image, and thus, is read-only. An attempt to create a DB on /tmp/db (/tmp is on ramdisk) yields to the "SIGSEGV" message. Any command involving "initdb", "pg_ctl" and "initlocation" yields to the said error. I repeat, this environment uses almost pure busybox (only "mount" is taken from slackware). Anymore hints/advise is very much appreciated. TIA & best regards - Vic
Hi Keith, everyone, ----- Original Message ----- From: "Keith C. Perry" <netadmin@vcsn.com> To: "Victor B. Berdin" <vic@digi.com.ph> Cc: <pgsql-general@postgresql.org> Sent: Monday, December 08, 2003 2:20 AM Subject: Re: [GENERAL] pgsql 7.4 on minimal environment OK, I've got it! What's causing the failure is that I've ran 'upx -9' on my PG binaries. And this trashed it! Thanks for your reply. Will experiment further on using upx :o). Best regards - Vic
"Victor B. Berdin" <vic@digi.com.ph> writes:
> I'm trying to make PostgreSQL 7.4 to work on a minimal Linux
> (2.4.22/libc-2.3.1) environment
> comprised of selected libraries and the latest busybox. So far, the
> binaries: "initdb", "pg_ctl" and
> "initlocation" (initlocation: not really required) won't work,
Uh, those are all shell scripts not binaries.
regards, tom lane
Quoting "Victor B. Berdin" <vic@digi.com.ph>: > Hi Keith, everyone, > > > Thats interesting since "ldd initdb" and "ldd pg_ctl" show that there > aren't any > > .so's needed. Have you tried using the debugger to see whats is > causing the fault. > > And this problem didn't exist on my old minimal system (Linux > 2.2.20/libc-2.1.3) > pg7.1.2 either. All of which are running from pure ramdisk. Ok, keep in mind though, Tom said those are all shell scripts so, you might want to parse through them and see whats going on. > > If you are trying to build a "runtime" (Linux and PostgreSQL running > live from a > > CD) you might want to use install a minimum files system first and > then merge > > that filesystem that into something like the Slackware disc 2 CD. > I've done > > that before to make customized runtime/recovery CD's. > > Well, sort of. What i'm actually trying to create is an embedded > environment > using a Slackware 9 (kernel upgraded) setup as dev't machine. What does "dev't" mean? I'm talking that to mean development machine. If so, then I'm not understanding why (or how for that matter) you are embedding the environment. Please advise... > > For PostgreSQL, you'd need a way to put it on a filesystem that it > thinks is > > writeable so you'd probably need a kernel that supports a very large > ramdisk. > > I'm just guessing since I've never attempted to put PostgreSQL on > runtime CD but > > this has been discussed before so maybe someone else has had some > success. > > > Ok, here're some more details: > My min environment is comprised of images (initrd, tgz, and cramfs) that > boots off > from a compact flash and then exploded/mounted into ramdisk. The tgz > image tree > serves as a backupable image, and holds all common writeable paths. It > will also > hold the future postgres database if it will be required that the DB > should be > backupable. > The Postgres7.4 bins & libs (/usr/local/pgsql/*) on the other hand, is a > cramfs > image, and thus, is read-only. An attempt to create a DB on /tmp/db > (/tmp is on ramdisk) yields to the "SIGSEGV" message. Any command > involving > "initdb", "pg_ctl" and "initlocation" yields to the said error. I > repeat, this environment > uses almost pure busybox (only "mount" is taken from slackware). > > Anymore hints/advise is very much appreciated. > > TIA & best regards - Vic Ok, It's been awhile since I've messed with busybox. At the time, I found it to be very confusing and awkward to build products from scratch. However, I have notice of previous Slackware installs that the busybox builds did not have have "full" commands. For example a command like "ls -lh" on the Slackware 9.0 bootdisks (NOT the CD) did not work because the "h" parameter was not recognized by the command. Of course in a full install it would be. If there are minor differences there, there *could* be minor differences elsewhere. Again, I don't quite understand busybox that well so maybe this is not an issue for you. SEGV are memory violation errors so I'm wondering if how you're using the ramdisk is an issue. I would think that if the entire runtime FS was not on the ramdisk you would get a problem. At the very least, /tmp and /var also would need to be there too. A certain test would be take a test box with pg on in run some queries (regression tests would probably be a good candidate) and then do a "find / -cmin -5". The 5 should be ajusted for the amount of time you were using the database. That command would give you a idea of what paths needs to be on the ramdisk. -- Keith C. Perry, MS E.E. Director of Networks & Applications VCSN, Inc. http://vcsn.com ____________________________________ This email account is being host by: VCSN, Inc : http://vcsn.com
Hi Keith, everyone, I'm sure you've caugth my last message as I was too hasty to post my replies right away. Anyways, it turned out that the only cause of my problem is that I 've applied "upx" on the binaries. It works though for my standard Slackware setup, but it does not for the busybox environment. Reverting the affected binaries to their original (un-upx'd) form fixes the problem. Even though it may no longer be relevant, here're some more details as to what I'm trying to do (which I also find very exciting): ----- Original Message ----- From: "Keith C. Perry" <netadmin@vcsn.com> To: "Victor B. Berdin" <vic@digi.com.ph> Cc: <pgsql-general@postgresql.org> Sent: Monday, December 08, 2003 9:24 AM Subject: Re: [GENERAL] pgsql 7.4 on minimal environment > What does "dev't" mean? I'm talking that to mean development machine. If so, Yes, that's exactly what it means. > then I'm not understanding why (or how for that matter) you are embedding the > environment. Please advise... Ok, the minimal environment will host a sort of POS (system) that uses PGSQL as its DB. We find PGSQL as the most rich, mature, stable, and fast open source DB around. Trully, it is :o). > Ok, It's been awhile since I've messed with busybox. At the time, I found it to > be very confusing and awkward to build products from scratch. However, I have > notice of previous Slackware installs that the busybox builds did not have have > "full" commands. For example a command like "ls -lh" on the Slackware 9.0 > bootdisks (NOT the CD) did not work because the "h" parameter was not recognized > by the command. Of course in a full install it would be. > If there are minor differences there, there *could* be minor differences > elsewhere. Again, I don't quite understand busybox that well so maybe this is > not an issue for you. SEGV are memory violation errors so I'm wondering if how > you're using the ramdisk is an issue. I would think that if the entire runtime > FS was not on the ramdisk you would get a problem. At the very least, /tmp and > /var also would need to be there too. A certain test would be take a test box > with pg on in run some queries (regression tests would probably be a good > candidate) and then do a "find / -cmin -5". The 5 should be ajusted for the > amount of time you were using the database. That command would give you a idea > of what paths needs to be on the ramdisk. Well actually, we're done with regressions, for our older products that uses PGSQL 7.1.2 at least. And now that 7.4 is here, it's worth giving a shot at embedding it for our newer products. And I strongly believe it will work! Anyways, we can always revert to the older versions if it doesn't. And btw, this may sound crazy but, I also had XF86-4.30 running on the said minimal/ busybox environment, including the standard MozillaFirebird (just for kicks). The environment still requires a lot of stripping though, but after seeing "initdb" and "pg_ctl" finally work, I'm all smiles already :o). Once more, many thanks! Best regards - Vic
"Victor B. Berdin" <vic@digi.com.ph> writes:
> I'm sure you've caugth my last message as I was too hasty to post my
> replies right away. Anyways, it turned out that the only cause of my
> problem is that I 've applied "upx" on the binaries.
Even more specifically, it sounds like the problem was with applying
"upx" to things that weren't binaries but shell scripts.
I don't know what upx is supposed to do, but one would think that if
it's a tool for modifying binaries, it should have enough smarts to not
mangle files that are not binaries. Perhaps you should file a bug
report with the upx developers.
regards, tom lane
Quoting "Victor B. Berdin" <vic@digi.com.ph>: > Hi Keith, everyone, > > I'm sure you've caugth my last message as I was too hasty to post my > replies > right away. Anyways, it turned out that the only cause of my problem is > that > I 've applied "upx" on the binaries. It works though for my standard > Slackware > setup, but it does not for the busybox environment. Reverting the > affected > binaries to their original (un-upx'd) form fixes the problem. > Even though it may no longer be relevant, here're some more details as > to > what I'm trying to do (which I also find very exciting): > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Keith C. Perry" <netadmin@vcsn.com> > To: "Victor B. Berdin" <vic@digi.com.ph> > Cc: <pgsql-general@postgresql.org> > Sent: Monday, December 08, 2003 9:24 AM > Subject: Re: [GENERAL] pgsql 7.4 on minimal environment > > > > What does "dev't" mean? I'm talking that to mean development machine. > If so, > > Yes, that's exactly what it means. > > > then I'm not understanding why (or how for that matter) you are > embedding the > > environment. Please advise... > > Ok, the minimal environment will host a sort of POS (system) that uses > PGSQL > as its DB. We find PGSQL as the most rich, mature, stable, and fast open > source > DB around. Trully, it is :o). > > > Ok, It's been awhile since I've messed with busybox. At the time, I > found it to > > be very confusing and awkward to build products from scratch. > However, I have > > notice of previous Slackware installs that the busybox builds did not > have have > > "full" commands. For example a command like "ls -lh" on the Slackware > 9.0 > > bootdisks (NOT the CD) did not work because the "h" parameter was not > recognized > > by the command. Of course in a full install it would be. > > If there are minor differences there, there *could* be minor > differences > > elsewhere. Again, I don't quite understand busybox that well so maybe > this is > > not an issue for you. SEGV are memory violation errors so I'm > wondering if how > > you're using the ramdisk is an issue. I would think that if the > entire runtime > > FS was not on the ramdisk you would get a problem. At the very least, > /tmp and > > /var also would need to be there too. A certain test would be take a > test box > > with pg on in run some queries (regression tests would probably be a > good > > candidate) and then do a "find / -cmin -5". The 5 should be ajusted > for the > > amount of time you were using the database. That command would give > you a idea > > of what paths needs to be on the ramdisk. > > Well actually, we're done with regressions, for our older products that > uses > PGSQL 7.1.2 at least. And now that 7.4 is here, it's worth giving a shot > at > embedding it for our newer products. And I strongly believe it will > work! > Anyways, we can always revert to the older versions if it doesn't. And > btw, > this may sound crazy but, I also had XF86-4.30 running on the said > minimal/ > busybox environment, including the standard MozillaFirebird (just for > kicks). > The environment still requires a lot of stripping though, but after > seeing "initdb" > and "pg_ctl" finally work, I'm all smiles already :o). > > Once more, many thanks! > > Best regards - Vic > > > ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- > TIP 5: Have you checked our extensive FAQ? > > http://www.postgresql.org/docs/faqs/FAQ.html > Sounds very interesting. I hope you get around that problem with upx compression. I would have thought that the busybox stuff wouldn't effect you. Maybe the library need for upx is conflicting with something. In any event good luck! -- Keith C. Perry, MS E.E. Director of Networks & Applications VCSN, Inc. http://vcsn.com ____________________________________ This email account is being host by: VCSN, Inc : http://vcsn.com