Re: pg_ctl idempotent option

On 1/28/13 9:29 PM, Bruce Momjian wrote:
> pg_upgrade uses that to find out of the server was already running or if
> we started it.  This is to start the server to remove the
> postmaster.pid file.

It's currently a bit missed up anyway.  pg_ctl start is successful if
the server is already started, but pg_ctl -w start fails.

What pg_upgrade is doing doesn't sound particularly safe, for example
when something is concurrently starting or stopping the server.

> Also, no one has explained how not knowing if -o
> options were used was a safe.

Hmm, good point.  But we already have this problem -- see above.