Thread: BUG #15108: Initialization problem postgresql-10-setup initdb

The following bug has been logged on the website:

Bug reference:      15108
Logged by:          Alertas DBA
Email address:      alertas.dba@click-it.es
PostgreSQL version: 10.3
Operating system:   Centos 7.4.1708
Description:

The problem is reported when executing database initialization command,
postgresql-10-setup initdb.
In the official documentation
(https://www.postgresql.org/docs/10/static/app-initdb.html) indicates that
it must be executed with the user postgres, but the command only works if I
execute it as root.

This command does not seem to interpret the parameter step indicated in the
documentation, these are the problem:

(run as root) yum install -y
https://download.postgresql.org/pub/repos/yum/10/redhat/rhel-7-x86_64/pgdg-centos10-10-2.noarch.rpm
(run as root) yum install -y postgresql10 postgresql10-server
(run as root) cd /
(run as root) mkdir data
(run as root) chown -R postgres.postgres data
(run as postgres) /usr/pgsql-10/bin/postgresql-10-setup initdb
-bash-4.2$ /usr/pgsql-10/bin/postgresql-10-setup initdb -D /data -A trust -U
postgres
systemctl: invalid option -- 'D'
failed to find PGDATA setting in -D.service

-bash-4.2$ /usr/pgsql-10/bin/postgresql-10-setup initdb -D /data/ -A trust
-U postgres
systemctl: invalid option -- 'D'
failed to find PGDATA setting in -D.service

-bash-4.2$ /usr/pgsql-10/bin/postgresql-10-setup initdb --pgadata=/data/ -A
trust -U postgres
systemctl: unrecognized option '--pgadata=/data/.service'
failed to find PGDATA setting in --pgadata=/data/.service

Should the environment variable PGDATA in
/usr/lib/systemd/system/postgresql-10.service be overwrited after the
database is initialized?

Hello!
Why you tried using /usr/pgsql-10/bin/postgresql-10-setup instead /usr/pgsql-10/bin/initdb ?

regards, Sergei

Hi,

On Tue, 2018-03-13 at 12:12 +0000, PG Bug reporting form wrote:
> The problem is reported when executing database initialization command,
> postgresql-10-setup initdb.
> In the official documentation
> (https://www.postgresql.org/docs/10/static/app-initdb.html) indicates that
> it must be executed with the user postgres, but the command only works if I
> execute it as root.
>
> This command does not

postgresql-10-setup is a wrapper around initdb (which solves many problems),
*not* the initdb binary, and needs to be run as root. You can always run initdb
directly with:

/usr/pgsql-10/bin/initdb

Regards,

--
Devrim Gündüz
EnterpriseDB: https://www.enterprisedb.com
PostgreSQL Consultant, Red Hat Certified Engineer
Twitter: @DevrimGunduz , @DevrimGunduzTR

Hi,

On Fri, 2018-03-16 at 08:29 +0100, alertas wrote:

> I don't understand, in the official documentation appear "initdb must be
> run as the user that will own the server process, because the server
> needs to have access to the files and directories that initdb creates.
> *Since the server cannot be run as root, you must not run initdb as root
> either*. (It will in fact refuse to do so.)"

As I wrote in my previous post:

The "initdb" that the documentation mentions is:

/usr/pgsql-10/bin/initdb

which must be run by non-root user.

Then, there is a setup script:

/usr/pgsql-10/bin/postgresql-10-setup

which is a wrapper around initdb (and some other things), and the related lines
are:

 # Initialize the database
    initdbcmd="$PGENGINE/initdb --pgdata='$PGDATA' --auth='ident'"
    initdbcmd+=" $PGSETUP_INITDB_OPTIONS"

    $SU -l postgres -c "$initdbcmd" >> "$PGLOG" 2>&1 < /dev/null


So, when user runs

/usr/pgsql-10/bin/postgresql-10-setup initdb

the word "initdb" is a *parameter* to the script, and as written in the
documentation, we run initdb as the postgres user.

-HTH

Regards,
--
Devrim Gündüz
EnterpriseDB: https://www.enterprisedb.com
PostgreSQL Consultant, Red Hat Certified Engineer
Twitter: @DevrimGunduz , @DevrimGunduzTR

Hello
Official documentation about initdb binary itself. Not about any wrappers such a postgresql-10-setup.

regards, Sergei