Re: location of the configuration files

On Thursday 13 February 2003 08:32, Christopher Browne wrote:
> In the last exciting episode, cjs(at)cynic(dot)net (Curt Sampson) wrote:
> > Everybody has room in /etc for another 10K of data. Where you have
> > room for something that might potentially be a half terrabyte of
> > data, and is not infrequently several gigabytes or more, is pretty
> > system-depenendent.

> 1. It assumes that there is "a location" for "the configuration files
> for /the single database instance./"

> If I have a second database instance, that may conflict.

If you run multiple servers of any kind, the second and subsequent servers
must have a command line switch specifying the location of the config file.
This is the way named, sendmail, et al do it. I have run multiple nameds on
a single box, by using alternate config file locations.

> 2. It assumes I have write access to /etc

> If I'm a Plain Old User, as opposed to root, I may only have
> read-only access to /etc.

So you start postmaster with a config file switch pointing to your config file
in your tree. Or you specify the default location with a configure switch at
compile time. Or you do it the same way you would run any other typical
daemon as a regular user. How does Apache, AOLserver (my favorite),
sendmail, jabberd, named, or any other typical daemon do it?

For example, AOLserver can easily be installed and run as a plain user (just
not on port 80). The command line switch '-t' specifies the tcl
configuration script's location. There is no default. The configuration
script then specifies pageroot and the like -- and a webserver is very much
like running PostgreSQL -- you have configuration, you have logs, and you
have the spool (database or pageroot). All can be in different locations at
the discretion of the admin. And hardcoding dependencies like this stifles
the discretion of the admin.

> These conditions have both been known to occur...

Just because the situation is known to occur doesn't mean the whole direction
of a project should hinge on those corner cases. They should be allowed but
not forced.

For better or for worse, thanks to Karl DeBisschop, the latest RPMs have the
ability to start multiple postmasters with their data trees and
configurations in different places. This is all done in the startup script,
and required no new functionality from postmaster. I personally think it is
for the better; YMMV.
--
Lamar Owen
WGCR Internet Radio
1 Peter 4:11