Обсуждение: problems installing postgresql 8.0 on Mac OS 10.3.9

Hello People,

Mac OS 10.3.9
PostgreSQL 8.0

Background: I was reading a book titled Mac OS X Hacks,
which has a brief
section on installing PostgreSQL. It suggested one start by
installing Fink,
which I successfully did. Then I used FinkCommander to
install PostgreSQL
8.0, which seemed to be successful (it reported no
problems).

Unfortunately, I'd forgotten to first create a Postgres user
on my machine (i.e.
admin/host), and when I tried to do that, I was told such a
user (short) name
already existed--although it does not appear in my list of
users.

When I open pgadmin3 (which I also used FinkCommander to
install), it says I
have zero servers.

In Terminal, if I try: createdb mydb

I get the response:

createdb: could not connect to database template1: could not
connect to
server: No such file or directory
        Is the server running locally and accepting
        connections on Unix domain socket
"/tmp/.s.PGSQL.5432"?

The help file for pgadmin3 says this means the server was
not started, or not
started where createdb expected it. Unfortunately, it merely
says to consult
one's administrator, which in my case is me.

Can anyone please tell me where I can get some info. to
figure out what I need
to do to set up a) my server, b) my Postgres user, c) the
PostgreSQL
configurations?

I have looked on the web and found a number of sources (e.g.
apple) that
show beginners like me what to do to install PostgreSQL, but
they all seem to
work with/from source code, compiled via Terminal. I had
thought I was
making things simpler by using FinkCommander to do the
installation for me,
especially given my lack of experience with Terminal. I
imagine it would be a
mistake to try to install PostgreSQL from source afresh,
just so as to follow the
steps described on the web, in the hope that I might thereby
make a proper
installation.

Basically, my aim is to simply set up PostgreSQL to run, so
that I can then
begin the process of learning how to use it. My database
experience is limited
to FileMaker 6, but I am interested in learning how to use a
true relational
database.

Cheers!

Joe

On Jun 7, 2007, at 8:12 PM, jbar@es.co.nz wrote:

> Can anyone please tell me where I can get some info. to
> figure out what I need
> to do to set up a) my server, b) my Postgres user, c) the
> PostgreSQL
> configurations?


The easiest way to determine if PostgreSQL is running is to use
Activity Monitor (in Applications/Utilities). Look for a process
named postgres.

8.0 is fairly old, so if that is the latest on Fink you should look
elsewhere. If you are new to PostgreSQL, there is no reason to start
with an old version.

You can find a Mac PostgreSQL installer here with some admin tools:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/pgsqlformac/


It appears to have been updated recently with the latest version of
PostgreSQL.


John






John DeSoi, Ph.D.
http://pgedit.com/
Power Tools for PostgreSQL

jbar@es.co.nz writes:
> Background: I was reading a book titled Mac OS X Hacks, which has a
> brief section on installing PostgreSQL. It suggested one start by
> installing Fink, which I successfully did. Then I used FinkCommander
> to install PostgreSQL 8.0, which seemed to be successful (it reported
> no problems).

I recall hearing complaints that the Fink packaging of Postgres was
bizarrely nonstandard.  I don't recall any details, but it might be
worth your trouble to troll the PG list archives for mentions of Fink.

Anyway, it sounds like Fink installed the software but didn't actually
start the database server for you (which is a good thing, really).
Your next steps are probably "initdb" and then "pg_ctl start".
You might be able to use pgadmin3 to do those for you.

            regards, tom lane