Re: Postgres upgrade trouble

On Mon, May 28, 2018 at 01:48:58PM -0400, Bruce Momjian wrote:
> On Fri, May 11, 2018 at 07:15:41AM +0000, PG Doc comments form wrote:
> > The following documentation comment has been logged on the website:
> >
> > Page: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/10/static/pgupgrade.html
> > Description:
> >
> > This is a non IT specialist question / comments. I like postgres, except the
> > current automatic upgrade mechanism working on my server...
> > On my Ubuntu 16.04 machine, when a postgres upgrade comes and installs
> > automatically, this creates a real nightmare: neither pgAdminIII not my
> > application can access the DB. (connection refused. Is the server running...
> > ...on port 5432?)
> > Trying to understand in the documentation what to do is very difficult
> > because there is no clear example on how to retreive the 'old' or 'new'
> > parameters. So, I wonder why there is no automatic mechanism coming with the
> > upgrade to change the settings automatically, or alternatively to keep the
> > 'old' version up and running correctly (and in this case the end user should
> > have an easy way to know that he has to launch an upgrade when he wants to,
> > and an utility -for instance in pgAdmin- should guide him along this upgrade
> > mechanism, ensuring I do not loose time nor any data).
> > Thanks for your efforts to offer Postgres to the IT community!
>
> This is really something for you to address with Ubuntu. The Postgres
> community provides the tools, but the user interface is often up to the
> packagers. I agree the interface is complex.
>
I agree this is really a distro and user problem. Most upgrades are
"fire and forget" process, but databases and some other applications
really need user input for successful completion. Unfortunately, this
requires the user to have the necessary level of expertise, preferably
before the update takes place.
I'm guessing that Ubuntu, or other distro has decided to be prudent in
their process and settings. Their choice may be to make things easy and
place the user's data at risk, or to provide via an abundance of caution,
a more difficult experience for the user.
For example, I have altered the postgres files that control configuration
and access. It is clearly my responsibility to record and maintain
those files. Similarly, while the distro may provide a "Are you Sure"
type query during the database upgrade process, the settings for the
dist-upgrade in apt-get or dselect are under my control, and I can defer
the upgrade to a time of my choosing, usually as part of a more major
upgrade. That said, I've been through the process the OP describes.

HTH

Richard A Lough