Thread: Upgrading from v7.1.3 to v7.4

Hi,

I recently got a dedicated server at Rackspace.com that came with PostgreSQL
server version 7.1.3 installed.  I am installing a script that requires
PostgreSQL v 7.2 or greater so I decided to upgrade to the latest version
(7.4).  Unfortunately, Rackspace does not support PostgreSQL databases and I
could not find anyone to do this upgrade for me.

I am kind of new but feel confident I can upgrade/install to the new version
if someone can help me with a few questions:

Current configuration:

- My server is running Redhat Linux 2.1AS

- I have not created any databases yet.

- By default, there is a template0 and template1 databases which I guess are
required by PostgreSQL.

- There is a postgres user already created.

- PostgreSQL files are currently installed in the following folders:

/var/lib/pgsql/
/usr/share/pgsql/
/usr/local/webmin-1.090/postgresql/
/usr/bin/  (for postgres and postgresql-dump files)
/usr/include/pgsql/
/usr/lib/pgsql/
/etc/webmin/postgresql/


Questions:

I was reading the installation manual at postgresql.org, section 14.4 (If
you are upgrading) and saw I had to backup my databases located in
/usr/local/pgsql/data/ and also suggested to move the old installation out
of the way that is supposed to be in /usr/local/pgsql/

Obviously, if I install the version 7.4, it will be installed in this folder
so I have nothing to move.

1)  Do I have to uninstall the current version 7.1.3 to install this new
version 7.4?  If yes, how do I uninstall the current version?

2)  If I only need to stop the current PostgreSQL server and install and run
the new one, will there be any conflict issues later on?  If yes, what can I
do to prevent this?

3)  Is there anyone experienced enough that could help me with all this in
case I need it?


I would appreciate any help on this.

Regards,

Sergio L. Garza M.

"Sergio L. Garza M." <sergio_gza@checo.tv> writes:
> I was reading the installation manual at postgresql.org, section 14.4 (If
> you are upgrading) and saw I had to backup my databases located in
> /usr/local/pgsql/data/ and also suggested to move the old installation out
> of the way that is supposed to be in /usr/local/pgsql/

Since you have no existing data, you can ignore the advice about backing
up.

> 1)  Do I have to uninstall the current version 7.1.3 to install this new
> version 7.4?  If yes, how do I uninstall the current version?

If it was installed from RPMs (the likely case on a Red Hat system) then
"rpm -e" is what you want.  You might also consider installing the new
version from RPM rather than building your own.  I'm not sure if there
are prebuilt binary RPMs of 7.4 available for RHAS 2.1, but if not you
could grab the source RPM (SRPM) and build it yourself.

> 2)  If I only need to stop the current PostgreSQL server and install and run
> the new one, will there be any conflict issues later on?

No.  If you were wanting to run both versions in parallel then some care
would be needed, but you don't seem to need that.

> 3)  Is there anyone experienced enough that could help me with all this in
> case I need it?

pgsql-admin would probably be a better source of advice than
pgsql-novice.

            regards, tom lane