Thread: difficulty running pg on XP as appl.

I'm on Windows XP SP 2, trying to run PostgreSQL 8.3.4.

Running postgres.exe gives the error:

"Execution of PostgreSQL by a user with administrative permissions is
not permitted.
The server must be started under an unprivileged user ID to prevent
possible system security compromises. See the documentation for more
information on how to properly start the server.
"


Now, at the postgres wiki it says:
http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Running_%26_Installing_PostgreSQL_On_Native_Windows#Why_do_I_need_a_non-administrator_account_to_run_PostgreSQL_under.3F
" Why do I need a non-administrator account to run PostgreSQL under?

When a hacker gains entry to a computer using a software bug in a
package, she gains the permissions of the user account under which the
service is run. Whilst we do not know of any such bugs in PostgreSQL, we
enforce the use of a non-administrative service account to minimise the
possible damage that a hacker could do should they find and utilise a
bug in PostgreSQL to hack the system.

This has long been common practice in the Unix world, and is starting to
become standard practice in the Windows world as well as Microsoft and
other vendors work to improve the security of their systems.

Note, that with the release of PostgreSQL 8.2, it is possible to run
under a administrative account. PostgreSQL 8.2 and above are able to
irrevocably give up administrative rights at startup thus ensuring the
rest of the system remains secure in the extremely unlikely event that
PostgreSQL becomes compromised.
"


So, I'm running a recent enough version of pg, now how do I get it to
drop Administrator privs so it will run, rather than give me an error?
Is there some special command line -c option or something (I would have
thought this would be outomatic, but evidently not)?


TIA

PG Subscriber wrote:
> I'm on Windows XP SP 2, trying to run PostgreSQL 8.3.4.
>
> Running postgres.exe gives the error:
>
> "Execution of PostgreSQL by a user with administrative permissions is
> not permitted.
> The server must be started under an unprivileged user ID to prevent
> possible system security compromises. See the documentation for more
> information on how to properly start the server.
> "
>
>
> Now, at the postgres wiki it says:
>
http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Running_%26_Installing_PostgreSQL_On_Native_Windows#Why_do_I_need_a_non-administrator_account_to_run_PostgreSQL_under.3F
> " Why do I need a non-administrator account to run PostgreSQL under?
>
> When a hacker gains entry to a computer using a software bug in a
> package, she gains the permissions of the user account under which the
> service is run. Whilst we do not know of any such bugs in PostgreSQL, we
> enforce the use of a non-administrative service account to minimise the
> possible damage that a hacker could do should they find and utilise a
> bug in PostgreSQL to hack the system.
>
> This has long been common practice in the Unix world, and is starting to
> become standard practice in the Windows world as well as Microsoft and
> other vendors work to improve the security of their systems.
>
> Note, that with the release of PostgreSQL 8.2, it is possible to run
> under a administrative account. PostgreSQL 8.2 and above are able to
> irrevocably give up administrative rights at startup thus ensuring the
> rest of the system remains secure in the extremely unlikely event that
> PostgreSQL becomes compromised.
> "
>
>
> So, I'm running a recent enough version of pg, now how do I get it to
> drop Administrator privs so it will run, rather than give me an error?
> Is there some special command line -c option or something (I would have
> thought this would be outomatic, but evidently not)?
>
>
> TIA
>
Try using pg_ctl to start the server.
Regards
Garry

On Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 13:21, PG Subscriber<mypgsub@gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm on Windows XP SP 2, trying to run PostgreSQL 8.3.4.
>
> Running postgres.exe gives the error:
>
> "Execution of PostgreSQL by a user with administrative permissions is
> not permitted.
> The server must be started under an unprivileged user ID to prevent
> possible system security compromises. See the documentation for more
> information on how to properly start the server.
> "
>
>
> Now, at the postgres wiki it says:
>
http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Running_%26_Installing_PostgreSQL_On_Native_Windows#Why_do_I_need_a_non-administrator_account_to_run_PostgreSQL_under.3F
> " Why do I need a non-administrator account to run PostgreSQL under?
>
> When a hacker gains entry to a computer using a software bug in a
> package, she gains the permissions of the user account under which the
> service is run. Whilst we do not know of any such bugs in PostgreSQL, we
> enforce the use of a non-administrative service account to minimise the
> possible damage that a hacker could do should they find and utilise a
> bug in PostgreSQL to hack the system.
>
> This has long been common practice in the Unix world, and is starting to
> become standard practice in the Windows world as well as Microsoft and
> other vendors work to improve the security of their systems.
>
> Note, that with the release of PostgreSQL 8.2, it is possible to run
> under a administrative account. PostgreSQL 8.2 and above are able to
> irrevocably give up administrative rights at startup thus ensuring the
> rest of the system remains secure in the extremely unlikely event that
> PostgreSQL becomes compromised.
> "
>
>
> So, I'm running a recent enough version of pg, now how do I get it to
> drop Administrator privs so it will run, rather than give me an error?
> Is there some special command line -c option or something (I would have
> thought this would be outomatic, but evidently not)?
>

The privilege dropping functionality lives in pg_ctl, so it will only
work if you start the server through pg_ctl (or as a service).


--
 Magnus Hagander
 Me: http://www.hagander.net/
 Work: http://www.redpill-linpro.com/