These messages from pg_ctl are not useful
$ pg_ctl -D nonexistent stop
pg_ctl: PID file "nonexistent/postmaster.pid" does not exist
Is server running?
The message should say
pg_ctl: Data Directory "nonexistent" does not exist
$ pg_ctl -D nonexistent start
postgres cannot access the server configuration file
"/usr/local/pgsql/nonexistent/postgresql.conf": No such file or
directory
server starting
The message should say
pg_ctl: Data Directory "nonexistent" does not exist
and should not say "server starting" at all.
Any objections to changing them?
-- Simon Riggs 2ndQuadrant http://www.2ndQuadrant.com