Re: We should Axe /contrib/start-scripts

"Kevin Grittner" <Kevin(dot)Grittner(at)wicourts(dot)gov> writes:
> Right -- we did run into this in spades when our backup server,
> running dozens of instances of PostgreSQL in "warm standby" to confirm
> the integrity of the files received, crashed hard. I wasn't sure if
> this was the problem being addressed. One obvious solution, which we
> now rigorously observe, is to use a different OS user for each
> PostgreSQL instance. I assume that pg_ctl is safe in such an
> environment?

Well, using a different user per instance is a good idea because then
the safety analysis I gave holds rigorously for each instance. It
doesn't get you out of the problem by itself, because the problem as
described can happen with just one instance.

> It must buy something in our environment, because our attempts to use
> the sample script with minimal modification were problematic.
> Unfortunately I forget the details, but our problems vanished when we
> switched to pg_ctl. (Well, except for that one unfortunate episode
> mentioned above.)

Hmm. As stated, I would expect pg_ctl to make it worse. It would be
interesting to have a closer look at your before-and-after scripts.

regards, tom lane