Re: Patch for text of HOWTO entitled "How to install PostgreSQL

Paul,

PostgreSQL's dependency on 'crypt', like answers to many install
questions related to Cygwin, is well known...and well documented in a
file that's installed in Cygwin at

/usr/share/doc/Cygwin/postgresql-7.x.README

If you read that document, or the online version thereof, at

http://www.tishler.net/jason/software/postgresql/

it may help. Jason's done a great job helping more people get up and
running under Cygwin (myself included), and his writeup can save you
some headaches.

In fact, crypt is the very first package listed as being "required to
build and/or execute Cygwin PostgreSQL" in his README. Just FYI.

As for your second issue, read the error message. It indicates that
psql (the client program) doesn't get an answer when it tries to do a
TCP/IP connection (to the postmaster server). Normally this is due to
not running 'postmaster' with the appropriate switches or the proper
config. Assuming you followed Jason's README and are using the latest
version of PostgreSQL (7.4.1-3 as I write this), your data store is in
/var/postgresql/data. Check and READ through the following files in
that directory:

pg_hba.conf == controls who can access postmaster
postgresql.conf == PostgreSQL config file (where you specify things
like how postmaster "listens", as in via local
sockets and/or via TCP/IP)

and make sure you understand what they do. Most likely you will need to
adjust them in order to get what you want. For example, by default
PostgreSQL will not listen for incoming TCP/IP connections. You need to
set

tcpip_socket = true

in postgresql.conf, and then you need to make sure you you have
pg_hba.conf set correctly to allow through who should get through and
deny who should not.

If you don't have a book (online version or dead tree variety) on
PostgreSQL, I suggest you get one. I found Bruce Momjian's book,
'PostgreSQL: Introduction and Concepts'

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0201703319/qid=1077163377/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-4665371-3488024?v=glance&s=books

indispensible when I first started working with PostgreSQL (and the fact
Bruce is one of the core developers doesn't hurt). Of course, your
mileage may vary, but there are several books out there now:

http://www.postgresql.org/users-lounge/books.html

There's also the online docs at

http://www.postgresql.org/docs

As a quick note, whenever I setup PostgreSQL, the first thing I do is
the most basic of connections. Instead of firing off psql with '-l'
"from anywhere", I first try using psql on the SAME box that the
postmaster process is running on, and I try a simple connection using

psql -U postgres template1

The -U is to force the username to be the only one that initially exists
in a newly minted PostgreSQL data store (and the one you can usually
guarantee exists), because without this, psql will take your currently
logged in username. I also specify the template1 db as it's the only
one that exists as well (and again, you can count on it being there).

This connection also is done internally via sockets, as opposed to
attempting a TCP/IP connection, so if it fails, odds are I've really
mucked things up. Once this works, I then try a connection via TCP/IP
using a test like

psql -h localhost -U postgres template1

again, from the same box that postmaster is running on.

Once I can connect via the loopback address, I try the actual
IP/hostname of the box in place of 'localhost'. And only then do I try
from another machine. If at any stage the test fails, I start looking
at the appropriate files mentioned above, as short of 'postmaster' not
running (which I also check in the Windows Task Manager), this is where
you can almost guaranteed find your problem. I also type commands like
'netstat -an' to see whether TCP port 5432 is in use (which indicates a
process is listening on that port, which hopefully is 'postmaster' as
this is the standard port for PostgreSQL).

Well, hope that helps. If you still can't get things working, please
write back with more specific details on your setup (version of Cygwin,
PostgreSQL, Windows, etc.), the more the better. When asking someone to
help you troubleshoot, it's always best to describe your configuration
in as much detail as possible, as the more facts people have, the better
the chance of resolving the problem.

>PaulBowman(at)HBOSplc(dot)com wrote:
> <<InstallWin32Patch>>
>
> Basically the current version on Postgres that comes with Cygwin also seems to have a dependency on the crypt library (it kept falling over with a message about missing dll with a name LIKE '%crypt%' - I guessed on the crypt lib and that seemed to cure it OK. BTW failed to book-mark exactly which page text appears on - ask for full text if you can't identify it from title.
>
> Currently I now have an instance running according to Cygwin - only problem is I can't seem to psql to it from anywhere (tried opening a second Cygwin window and...
>
> ****
> $ psql -l
> psql: could not connect to server: Connection refused
> Is the server running on host "localhost" and accepting
> TCP/IP connections on port 5432?
>
> ****
>
> Any tips would be appreciated.
>
> cheers,
>
> Paul Bowman
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> TIP 4: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster