Re: [BUGS] BUG #14814: Documentation errors for OpenBSD

Hi Paul,

(I'm keeping the post posting).
Thanks for your message. I agree with Tom. The PostgreSQL's documentation must stay "generic".
The PostgreSQL's package on OpenBSD already have a README file with all the OpenBSD specific instructions.
You can find it in /usr/local/share/doc/pkg-readmes (or online version here:

https://cvsweb.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/ports/databases/postgresql/pkg/README-server?rev=1.23&content-type=text/x-cvsweb-markup
)

Feel free to ask me directly if you have any questions.

Regards,



On Thu, Sep 14, 2017 at 09:43:32AM +0200, Pierre-Emmanuel André wrote:
> Hi Paul,
> 
> (I'm keeping the post posting).
> Thanks for your message. I agree with Tom. The PostgreSQL's documentation must stay "generic".
> The PostgreSQL's package on OpenBSD already have a README file with all the OpenBSD specific instructions.
> You can find it in /usr/local/share/doc/pkg-readmes (or online version here:
>
https://cvsweb.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/ports/databases/postgresql/pkg/README-server?rev=1.23&content-type=text/x-cvsweb-markup
)
> 
> Feel free to ask me directly if you have any questions.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> 
> 
> On Wed, Sep 13, 2017 at 02:00:33PM -0500, Paul Covello wrote:
> > Thanks for the response, Tom.  I am cc’ing the OpenBSD port maintainer here just for visibility.
> > 
> > Port maintainer:
> > 
> > I am not a developer or even a DBA.  I am just an end user learning to set up PostGresql on OpenBSD 6.1.  After
installingthe package using pkg_add, I began to delve into the documentation at postgresql.org.
 
> > 
> > I got to this section on starting the server:
> > 
> > https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.6/static/server-start.html
> > 
> > 
> > The documentation did not match my experience (postgresql did not start) which prompted me to file a postgresql bug
report#14814 on the documentation.
 
> > 
> > Specifically, the instructions on what to put in rc.local for openbsd in the documentation says this:
> > 
> > if [ -x /usr/local/pgsql/bin/pg_ctl -a -x /usr/local/pgsql/bin/postgres ]; then
> >     su -l postgres -c '/usr/local/pgsql/bin/pg_ctl start -s -l /var/postgresql/log -D /usr/local/pgsql/data'
> >     echo -n ' postgresql'
> > fi
> > 
> > However, after taking the time to troubleshoot:  This is what winds up working:
> > 
> > if [ -x /usr/local/bin/pg_ctl -a -x /usr/local/bin/postgres ]; then
> >     su -l _postgresql -c '/usr/local/bin/pg_ctl start -s -l /var/postgresql/logfile -D /var/postgresql/data'
> >     echo -n ' postgresql'
> > fi
> > 
> > Knowing that it is openbsd policy to have service names begin with an _ (underscore) and believing that the path
listedto the executable does not seem to match the hier man page on openbsd, I thought this might be a documentation
bug.
> > 
> > I want to save other users the time I spent figuring this out which is what brought me here.  In Tom’s response to
mebelow, he believes this to be a port issue.
 
> > 
> > Thanks for looking into this! 
> > 
> > — Paul.
> > 
> > > On Sep 13, 2017, at 8:54 AM, Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> wrote:
> > > 
> > > pfcovello@gmail.com writes:
> > >> In section 18.3. Starting the Database Server there are instructions for
> > >> starting the server on OpenBSD:
> > >> ...
> > >> However, there are several problems with this instruction.
> > > 
> > > You seem to want us to adjust the community documentation to match
> > > someone's packaging of Postgres.  We can't really track every random
> > > decision that packagers make; and if we tried, then the documentation
> > > would be inaccurate for installations built directly from source.
> > > 
> > > Really, best practice for a packager who is modifying the default
> > > configuration like this is to also modify the copy of the documentation
> > > they ship, or at least make it very plain in a README file how their
> > > installation differs from the out-of-the-box defaults.
> > > 
> > > In short, I think you've got a complaint for your packager here,
> > > not one for the PG community.
> > > 
> > >             regards, tom lane
> > 


-- 
Sent via pgsql-bugs mailing list (pgsql-bugs@postgresql.org)
To make changes to your subscription:
http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-bugs