Russell Davie <rjrd(at)exemail(dot)com(dot)au> writes:
> Manually starting postgresql by the user postgres:
> postgres(at)XXXX:/etc/init.d$ ./postgresql-7.4 start
> chmod: changing permissions of `/var/run/postgresql': Operation not permitted
> * Starting PostgreSQL 7.4 database server:main
> Error: Could not change user id [fail]
There is no such error message anywhere in the PG 7.4 source code.
I suppose it's coming out of whatever init script you're using;
have you tried reading the init script for enlightenment?
(FWIW, init scripts are almost always designed to be executed as
root, not as random unprivileged users like postgres. sudo might
help.)
regards, tom lane