Re: Postgres service not starting on windows after install if not installed into standard locations

On Mon, 2024-11-18 at 17:22 +0000, Thomas Schweikle wrote:
> Had installed PostgreSQL 16.5 on Windows 10:
>
> Install directory: "C:\PRGS\pgSQL\16"
> DB-Directory:      "C:\DB\pgSQL\16\data"
>
> Environment variable "PGDATA" is set to "C:\DB\pgSQL\16\data".
>
> Initialized the database. Then started postgres services using:
>
> c:\PRGS\pgSQL\16\bin\pg_ctl.exe start
>
> Worked nice. Server starts, the serves as expected. But: if I try to
> start the service by "net start pgSQL" I am reported that "pg_ctl.exe"
> could not find "postgres.exe".
>
> What I've tried:
> - added environment variable "PGPATH" pointing to "C:\PRGS\pgSQL\16\bin"
>    -> did not help.
>
> - added "C:\PRGS\pgSQL\16\bin" to path. -> did not help either, even
> after rebooting. I've added it to system path.
>
> Are paths somewhere within some configuration file or registry entry?
> And set to standard install locations?

How exactly is the Windows service defined?
Perhaps you need to use an absolute path for the executable.

Yours,
Laurenz Albe