Re: Failing to boot Postgres on Red Hat Linux

On Thu, 31 Aug 2000, Matthew Green wrote:

> Hello,
>
> Postmaster is not initializing when our Red Hat server is rebooting.
> We have followed what is stated in the manual with a slight modification to allow TCPIP connections.
>
> i.e.
> in the file /etc/inittab
>
> -----------------------------<SNIP>---------------------------------------------
> # Run Postgres in standard runlevels
>
> pg:2345:respawn:/bin/su - postgres -c "/usr/local/pgsql/bin/postmaster -i -D /usr/local/pgsql/data >> /usr/local/pgsql/logs/server.log 2>&1 </dev/null"
> -----------------------------<EOF>---------------------------------------------
>
> This seems to execute since if we introduce a deliberate error we get a warning on reboot.
> But with the line exactly as above we get no warnings, no server.log file is generated and the postmaster task is not visible if we run "ps -A" as root.

> Any help would be gratefully received including alternative methods of forcing Postgres to initialize on reboot.
>
> Many Thanks,
>
> Matthew Green

Matthew, I use this line as printed on a slackware box except the port
(5432) and the redirect at the end - on mine it is to (>) /dev/null and
here you have it reversed. Is this simply a typo in your email?

For RedHat:

What follows is Lamar Owen's script (RedHat) for firing up PG.
I simply place a call to it in rc.local so it starts on boot.
(I keep my hacked copy of Lamar's file in /usr/local/bin, the original
muzzled any logging output.) Note the rm -f of any stale locks.

Here is the line that turns on logging...
su -l postgres -c '/usr/bin/postmaster -i -D/var/lib/pgsql >> /var/lib/pgsql/postlog 2>&1 &' >/dev/null

Cheers,
Tom
----

Here is the script:

#! /bin/sh
# postgresql This is the init script for starting up the PostgreSQL
# server

# Version 6.5.2-0.2lo Lamar Owen
# Added code to determine if PGDATA exists, whether it is current version
# or not, and initdb if no PGDATA (initdb will not overwrite a database).

# chkconfig: 345 85 15
# description: Starts and stops the PostgreSQL backend daemon that handles \
# all database requests.
# processname: postmaster
# pidfile: /var/run/postmaster.pid
#

# Source function library.
. /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions

# Get config.
. /etc/sysconfig/network

# Check that networking is up.
# Pretty much need it for postmaster.
[ ${NETWORKING} = "no" ] && exit 0

[ -f /usr/bin/postmaster ] || exit 0

# This script is slightly unusual in that the name of the daemon (postmaster)
# is not the same as the name of the subsystem (postgresql)

# See how we were called.
case "$1" in
start)
echo -n "Checking postgresql installation: "
# Check for the PGDATA structure
if [ -f /var/lib/pgsql/PG_VERSION ] && [ -d /var/lib/pgsql/base/template1 ]
then
# Check version of existing PGDATA

if [ `cat /var/lib/pgsql/PG_VERSION` != '6.5' ]
then
echo "old version. Need to Upgrade."
echo "See /usr/doc/postgresql-6.5.2/README.rpm for more information."
exit 1
else
echo "looks good!"
fi

# No existing PGDATA! Initdb it.

else
echo "no database files found."
if [ ! -d /var/lib/pgsql ]
then
mkdir -p /var/lib/pgsql
chown postgres.postgres /var/lib/pgsql
fi
su -l postgres -c '/usr/bin/initdb --pglib=/usr/lib/pgsql --pgdata=/var/lib/pgsql'
fi

# Check for postmaster already running...
pid=`pidof postmaster`
if [ $pid ]
then
echo "Postmaster already running."
else
#all systems go -- remove any stale lock files
rm -f /tmp/.s.PGSQL.* > /dev/null
echo -n "Starting postgresql service: "
su -l postgres -c '/usr/bin/postmaster -i -D/var/lib/pgsql >> /var/lib/pgsql/postlog 2>&1 &' >/dev/null
sleep 1
pid=`pidof postmaster`
if [ $pid ]
then
echo -n "postmaster [$pid]"
touch /var/lock/subsys/postgresql
echo $pid > /var/run/postmaster.pid
echo
else
echo "failed."
fi
fi
;;
stop)
echo -n "Stopping postgresql service: "
killproc postmaster
sleep 2
rm -f /var/run/postmaster.pid
rm -f /var/lock/subsys/postgresql
echo
;;
status)
status postmaster
;;
restart)
$0 stop
$0 start
;;
*)
echo "Usage: postgresql {start|stop|status|restart}"
exit 1
esac

exit 0

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Thomas Good tomg@ { admin | q8 } .nrnet.org
IS Coordinator / DBA Phone: 718-354-5528
Fax: 718-354-5056
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