Amol-
Answers to your several questions:
> $psql Connection to database 'amol' failed. FATAL 1: Database
> amol does not exist in pg_database
This message simply means the database doesn't exist yet.
> command $createdb mydb Connection to database 'template1' failed.
> FATAL 1: SetUserId: user 'amol' is not in 'pg_shadow'
This looks like the heart of your problem. You need to set your linux user
to postgres ("su - postgres" from root), and do a "createuser amol" if you
want to use the databse from your account.
> do I
> have to connect using 'postgres' user ..what is the password by
> default
Generally, by default the authorization method is "peer sameuser" after
initial install, meaning that if you are logged into linux as a user that
exists in pg_shadow, you are authorized. the user "postgres" is initially
there, so just su to postgres while you create other user accounts using
createuser. Later you may want to choose a more secure auth method. Search
the interactive documentation for "pg_hba.conf" to learn more about
authorization methods & how to set them.
Hope this helps you get started! Welcome to postgresql.
-Nick
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Nick Fankhauser nickf@ontko.com Phone 1.765.935.4283 Fax 1.765.962.9788
Ray Ontko & Co. Software Consulting Services http://www.ontko.com/