Commands were tested on RedHat Linux version 4.2 using the bash shell. Except where noted, they will probably work on most systems. Commands like ps and tar vary wildly on what options you should use on each platform. Use common sense before typing in these commands.
For a fresh install or upgrading from previous releases of Postgres:
Postgres Regression Configuration
The file /usr/src/pgsql/src/test/regress/README has detailed instructions for running and interpreting the regression tests. A short version follows here:
If the postmaster is not already running, start the postmaster on an available window by typing
postmaster
or start the postmaster daemon running in the background by
typing
cd
nohup postmaster > regress.log 2>&1 &
Run postmaster from your Postgres super user account (typically account postgres).
Note: Do not run postmaster from the root account.
If you have previously invoked the regression test, clean up the working directory with:
cd /usr/src/pgsql/src/test/regress
gmake clean
You do not need to type "gmake clean" if this is the first time you are running the tests.
Build the regression test. Type
cd /usr/src/pgsql/src/test/regress
gmake all
Run the regression tests. Type
cd /usr/src/pgsql/src/test/regress
gmake runtest
You should get on the screen (and also written to file ./regress.out) a series of statements stating which tests passed and which tests failed. Please note that it can be normal for some of the tests to "fail". For the failed tests, use diff to compare the files in directories ./results and ./expected. If float8 failed, type something like:
cd /usr/src/pgsql/src/test/regress
diff -w expected/float8.out results
After running the tests and examining the results, type
destroydb regression
cd /usr/src/pgsql/src/test/regress
gmake clean
to recover the temporary disk space used by the tests.