Andrew Dunstan <andrew@dunslane.net> writes:
> We can also try to come up with a better scheme for verifying that we
> have started properly - I will think about that.
There have been previous suggestions for a "pg_ping" functionality, in
which you could simply send a packet to the postmaster and it would
answer back if it's open for business. You can approximate this by
sending a deliberately invalid login packet, but it's not quite the same
thing. I think there were some concerns about security though; check
the archives.
In any case, a C-code pg_ctl could eliminate most of the problems
directly, simply because it wouldn't have to rely on psql.
regards, tom lane