Re: MDTFATAL: could note create log file . . . permission denied

On Apr 18, 2011, at 7:47 PM, Pyrogerg wrote:

> After many more hours than it would've taken someone more competent, I
> finally have postgresql 9.0 installed on my Mac (OS 10.6). Now I'm trying to
> start the server and create a test database, but I've run into a problem . .
> .
>
> gpennhost:data postgres$ /usr/local/pgsql/bin/pg_ctl -D
> /usr/local/pgsql/data -l logfile start
> server starting
> gpennhost:data postgres$ createdb test
> createdb: could not connect to database postgres: could not connect to
> server: No such file or directory
> Is the server running locally and accepting
> connections on Unix domain socket "/tmp/.s.PGSQL.5432"?
> gpennhost:data postgres$
>
> I've looked at the config file, and verified that the port defaults to 5432,
> but I don't know what else to do. I've spent 10 hours today getting to this
> point, and searching this forum and others hasn't turned up a solution. If
> you have advice on how to proceed, please keep in mind that I am very new to
> this.
>
> Thanks in advance.

The logfile is set to the current directory. Try using the full path to the logfile. It needs to be in a directory that the postgres owner can write to.

gpennhost: data postgres$ /usr/local/pgsql/bin/pg_ctl -D /usr/local/pgsql/data -l /some/path/here/logfile start

Brent D.