Thread: re-install postgres/postGIS without Loosing data??

On 18/05/2011 7:13 AM, G. P. wrote:

> C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\9.0\bin>pg_ctl.exe -U postgres restart
> pg_ctl: PID file "C:/Program Files/PostgreSQL/9.0/data/postmaster.pid"

> */2011-05-18 02:09:26 EEST LOG: database system was shut down at
> 2011-05-17 22:45:00 EEST/*
> */2011-05-18 02:09:36 EEST LOG: could not remove cache file
> "base/32803/pg_internal.init": Permission denied/*
> */2011-05-18 02:09:36 EEST PANIC: could not open file
> "pg_xlog/000000010000000000000002" (log file 0, segment 2): Permission
> denied/*

You cannot restart postgresql using pg_ctl running under your normal
user account if it was originally set up as a Windows service running as
the "postgres" user. You must use runas.exe to run pg_ctl as user
"postgres", or just use the service control panel (services.msc) or "net
service" command to control it.

Rather than trying to reinstall, which might make the problem worse
rather than better, stop trying to change things and think for a moment.
Restart the computer, then check the services control panel and see if
postgresql is shown as running there. If it is not, try to start it. If
it does not start, examine the system event logs ("Event Viewer" in the
start menu) to see if there are any error messages from the service.
Also check the PostgreSQL logs, which will be in

   C:/Program Files/PostgreSQL/9.0/data/pg_log

to see if there are any informative error messages at the bottom of the
most recent log file.

Once you've done that, you'll have some idea what's wrong and what to do
next.

--
Craig Ringer

Tech-related writing at http://soapyfrogs.blogspot.com/

Hi,

We experienced similar problem : it was just the encoding of pg_hba.conf
that was accidentally changed when modifying it (UTF8/ansi)

Thierry

Le 18/05/2011 09:28, G. P. a écrit :
> Hi Craig,All
>
> when i try from the service control panel
>
> I get an
> *1053 error : the service did not respond to restart or control request
> in a timely fashion*
>
> Additionally no log is produced @
> *C:/Program Files/PostgreSQL/9.0/data/pg_log*
> *
> *
> I suspect a mesh with the postgres account. Can I re-install this account?
>
> thx
> george
>

On 05/18/2011 03:46 PM, Thierry Hauchard wrote:
> Hi,
>
> We experienced similar problem : it was just the encoding of pg_hba.conf
> that was accidentally changed when modifying it (UTF8/ansi)

The encoding should not matter unless there are characters above byte
128, because UTF-8 and the ANSI encoding are the same from 0-127.

I guess it's possible that Pg chokes if it finds a byte-order mark (BOM)
at the start of pg_hba.conf; I haven't tested this. A BOM is optional
for UTF-8 text but some text editors do add it, and I've run into
software that chokes on a BOM before. Many editors do assume unknown
text is UTF-8 if they can't identify it as some other known encoding,
and some would add a BOM on saving in this case.

If there is a byte order mark (BOM) you'll be able to tell because the
first three bytes of pg_hba.conf or postgresql.conf , when examined in a
hex editor, will be 0xEF 0xBB 0xBF .

--
Craig Ringer

On 05/18/11 4:31 AM, G. P. wrote:
> can I download from somewhere "clean" pg_hba.conf / postgresql.conf
> with default values, just to ensure that the failure is caused by them ?

those files are created by initdb

just run initdb on a scratch directory

On 05/18/2011 07:31 PM, G. P. wrote:
> can I download from somewhere "clean" pg_hba.conf / postgresql.conf with
> default values, just to ensure that the failure is caused by them ?

AFAIK they're generated by the installer, as they contain paths specific
to your installation. So not really.

It sounds like you might want to try to start Pg using pg_ctl via
runas.exe to run it as the postgres user account and see what error(s)
are produced.

See: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490994.aspx

--
Craig Ringer