Stuart Grimshaw <stuart.pgsql@smgsystems.co.uk> writes:
> It turns out that the live server we've rented is
> a Cobalt RAQ4 server, which uses Postgresql 7.0.3
That's a step forward; the last I heard, Cobalt was using 6.something.
> I've enquired on the RAQ4 support forums about upgrading Postgres, but
> the server uses it for to keep track of all it's system settings, and
> I have been warned off upgrading by a couple of people.
I wouldn't try it either without a good understanding of what Cobalt
uses it for, and what system services might stop working if one shuts
down the postmaster...
However, the fact that there is a 7.0.* server present on the machine
doesn't mean you have to use 7.0.* too. There's nothing to stop you
from running another postmaster of a more recent vintage in parallel
with the built-in server. (I currently have 7.0.3, 7.1.3, and 7.2devel
servers running on the machine I'm typing this on.) You just need to
build the extra server with a nonstandard install directory and port.
For example, I configure my devel server with
./configure --with-pgport=5440 --prefix=/home/postgres/testversion ...
and then I don't have to think about it. The devel version of psql
(installed in /home/postgres/testversion/bin) automatically defaults
to using port 5440 instead of 5432, so as long as I keep the right
version of psql at the front of my PATH, everything works nicely.
You would need to fix the system boot scripts to start the extra
postmaster as well as the regular one, but I assume you can manage
that.
regards, tom lane