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Postgres Installation
For a fresh install or upgrading from previous releases of Postgres:
Read any last minute information and platform specific porting notes. There are some platform specific notes at the end of this file for Ultrix4.x, Linux, BSD/OS and NeXT. There are other files in directory /usr/src/pgsql/doc, including files FAQ-Irix and FAQ-Linux. Also look in directory ftp://ftp.postgresql.org/pub. If there is a file called INSTALL in this directory then this file will contain the latest installation information.
Please note that a "tested" platform in the list given earlier simply means that someone went to the effort at some point of making sure that a Postgres distribution would compile and run on this platform without modifying the code. Since the current developers will not have access to all of these platforms, some of them may not compile cleanly and pass the regression tests in the current release due to minor problems. Any such known problems and their solutions will be posted in ftp://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/INSTALL.
Create account postgres if it does not already exist.
Log into account postgres.
Check that you have sufficient disk space. You will need about 17 Mbytes for /usr/src/pgsql, about 2 Mbytes for /usr/local/pgsql (excluding your database) and 1 Mbyte for an empty database. The database will temporarily grow to about 20 Mbytes during the regression tests. You will also need about 3 Mbytes for the distribution tar file.
We therefore recommend that during installation and testing you have well over 20 Mbytes free under /usr/local and another 25 Mbytes free on the disk partition containing your database. Once you delete the source files, tar file and regression database, you will need 2 Mbytes for /usr/local/pgsql, 1 Mbyte for the empty database, plus about five times the space you would require to store your database data in a flat file.
To check for disk space, use df -k.
Ftp file ftp://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/postgresql-v6.3.tar.gz from the Internet. Store it in your home directory.
Some platforms use flex. If your system uses flex then make sure you have a good version. To check, type flex --version.
If the flex command is not found then you probably do not need it. If the version is 2.5.2 or 2.5.4 or greater then you are okay. If it is 2.5.3 or before 2.5.2 then you will have to upgrade flex. You may get it at ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/flex-2.5.4.tar.gz.
If you need flex and don't have it or have the wrong version, then you will be told so when you attempt to compile the program. Feel free to skip this step if you aren't sure you need it. If you do need it then you will be told to install/upgrade flex when you try to compile.
To install it, type the following:
cd
gunzip -c flex-2.5.4.tar.gz | tar xvf -
cd flex-2.5.4
configure --prefix=/usr
make
make check
# You must be root when typing the next line.
make install
cd
rm -rf flex-2.5.4
This will update files /usr/man/man1/flex.1, /usr/bin/flex, /usr/lib/libfl.a, /usr/include/FlexLexer.h and will add link /usr/bin/flex++ which points to flex.
If you are upgrading an existing system then back up your database. For alpha- and beta-level releases, the database format is liable to change often every few weeks with no notice besides a quick comment in the HACKERS mailing list. Full releases always require a dump/reload from previous releases. It is therefore a bad idea to skip this step. Also, do not use the pg_dumpall script from v6.0 or everything will be owned by the Postgres super user. Type (with the gunzip line and the following line typed as one line):
cd
gunzip -c postgresql-v6.3.tar.gz |
tar xvf - src/bin/pg_dump/pg_dumpall
chmod a+x src/bin/pg_dump/pg_dumpall
src/bin/pg_dump/pg_dumpall > db.out
rm -rf src
If you wish to preserve object id's (oids), then use the -o option when running pg_dumpall. However, unless you have a special reason for doing this, don't do it.
If the pg_dumpall command seems to take a long time and you think it might have died, then, from another terminal, use "ls -l db.out" several times to see if the size of the file is growing.
Please note that if you are upgrading from a version prior to Postgres95 v1.09 then you must back up your database, install Postgres95 v1.09, restore your database, then back it up again. You should also read files /usr/src/pgsql/migration/*.
You must make sure that your database is not updated in the middle of your backup. If necessary, bring down postmaster, edit the permissions in file /usr/local/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf to allow only you on, then bring postmaster back up.
If you are upgrading an existing system then kill the postmaster. Type
ps -ax | grep postmaster
This should list the process numbers for a number of
processes. Type the following line, with "???" replaced by the
process id for process "postmaster". (Do not use the id for process
"grep postmaster".) Type kill ??? with "???" modified as indicated.
If you are upgrading an existing system then move the old directories out of the way. If you are short of disk space then you may have to back up and delete the directories instead. If you do this, save the old database in the /usr/local/pgsql/data directory tree. At a minimum, save file /usr/local/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf.
Type the following: su cd /usr/src mv pgsql pgsql_6_0 cd /usr/local mv pgsql pgsql_6_0 exit
If you are not using /usr/local/pgsql/data as your data directory (check to see if environment variable PGDATA is set to something else) then you will also want to move this directory in the same manner.
Make new source and install directories. The actual paths can be different for your installation; be consistant throughout this procedure. Type
su
cd /usr/src
mkdir pgsql
chown postgres:postgres pgsql
cd /usr/local
mkdir pgsql
chown postgres:postgres pgsql
exit
Unzip and untar the new source file. Type
cd /usr/src/pgsql
gunzip -c ~/postgresql-v6.3.tar.gz | tar xvf -
Configure the source code for your system. It is this step at which you can specify your actual source path and installation paths for the build process (see the --prefix option below). Type
cd /usr/src/pgsql/src
./configure
The configure program will list the template files available and ask you to choose one. A lot of times, an appropriate template file is chosen for you, and you can just press Enter to accept the default. If the default is not appropriate, then type in the appropriate template file and press Enter. (If you do this, then send email to [email protected] stating the output of the program './config.guess' and what the template file should be.)
Once you have entered the template file, you will be asked a number of questions about your particular configuration. These can be skipped by adding parameters to the configure command above. The following parameters can be tagged onto the end of the configure command:
--prefix=BASEDIR Selects a different base directory for the
installation of the Postgres configuration.
The default is /usr/local/pgsql.
--enable-hba Enables Host Based Authentication (DEFAULT)
--disable-hba Disables Host Based Authentication
--enable-locale Enables USE_LOCALE
--disable-locale Disables USE_LOCALE (DEFAULT)
--enable-cassert Enables ASSERT_CHECKING
--disable-cassert Disables ASSERT_CHECKING (DEFAULT)
--with-template=TEMPLATE
Use template file TEMPLATE - the template
files are assumed to be in the directory
src/template, so look there for proper values.
(If the configure script cannot find the
specified template file, it will ask you for
one).
--with-pgport=PORT Sets the port that the postmaster process
listens for incoming connections on. The
default for this is port 5432.
As an example, here is the configure script I use on a Sparc Solaris 2.5 system with /opt/postgres being the install base.
./configure --prefix=/opt/postgres \
--with-template=sparc_solaris-gcc --with-pgport=5432 \
--enable-hba --disable-locale
Of course, in a real shell, you would type these three lines
all on the same line.
Compile the program. Type
cd /usr/src/pgsql/src
gmake all >& make.log &
tail -f make.log
The last line displayed will hopefully be "All of PostgreSQL is successfully made. Ready to install." At this point, or earlier if you wish, type control-C to get out of tail. (If you have problems later on you may wish to examine file make.log for warning and error messages.)
If your computer does not have gmake (GNU make) then try running make instead throughout the rest of these notes.
Please note that you will probably find a number of warning messages in make.log. Unless you have problems later on, these messages may be safely ignored.
If the compiler fails with an error stating that the flex command cannot be found then install flex as described earlier. Next, change directory back to this directory, type "make clean", then recompile again.
Install the program. Type
cd /usr/src/pgsql/src
gmake install >& make.install.log &
tail -f make.install.log
The last line displayed will be "gmake[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/pgsql/src/man'". At this point, or earlier if you wish, type control-C to get out of tail.
If necessary, tell UNIX how to find your shared libraries. If you are using Linux-ELF do ONE of the following, preferably the first:
As root, edit file /etc/ld.so.conf. Add line /usr/local/pgsql/lib to the file. Then run command /sbin/ldconfig.
In a bash shell, type
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/pgsql/lib
In a csh shell, type
setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH /usr/local/pgsql/lib
Please note that the above commands may vary wildly for different operating systems. Check the platform specific notes, such as those for Ultrix4.x or and for non-ELF Linux.
If, when you create the database, you get the message "pg_id: can't load library 'libpq.so'" then the above step was necessary. Simply do this step, then try to create the database again.
If it has not already been done, then prepare account postgres for using Postgres. Any account that will use Postgres must be similarily prepared. (The following instructions are for a bash shell. Adapt accordingly for other shells.)
Add the following lines to your login shell, ~/.bash_profile:
PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/pgsql/bin
MANPATH=$MANPATH:/usr/local/pgsql/man
PGLIB=/usr/local/pgsql/lib
PGDATA=/usr/local/pgsql/data
export PATH MANPATH PGLIB PGDATA
Make sure that you have defined these variables before continuing with the remaining steps. The easiest way to do this is to type:
source ~/.bash_profile
Create the database. Do not do the following as root! This would be a major security hole. Type
initdb
Set up permissions to access the database system. Do this by editing file /usr/local/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf. The instructions are included in the file. (If your database is not located in the default location, i.e. if PGDATA is set to point elsewhere, then the location of this file will change accordingly.) This file should be made read only again once you are finsihed. If you are upgrading from v6.0 you can copy file pg_hba.conf from your old database on top of the one in your new database, rather than redoing this from scratch.
You may wish to skip the regression tests. However, we think skipping the tests is a BAD idea!
The file /usr/src/pgsql/src/test/regress/README has detailed instructions for running and interpreting the regression tests. A short version follows here:
Start the postmaster daemon running in the background by typing
cd
nohup postmaster > regress.log 2>&1 &
Run postmaster from your Postgres super user account (typically account postgres). DO NOT RUN POSTMASTER FROM THE ROOT ACCOUNT.
Run the regression tests. Type
cd
cd /usr/src/pgsql/src/test/regress
gmake clean
gmake all runtest
You do not need to type "gmake clean" if this is the first time you are running the tests.
You should get on the screen (and also written to file ./regress.out) a series of statements stating which tests passed and which tests failed. Please note that it can be normal for some of the tests to "fail". For the failed tests, use diff to compare the files in directories ./results and ./expected. If float8 failed, type something like:
cd /usr/src/pgsql/src/test/regress
diff -w expected/float8.out results
"Failed" tests may have failed due to slightly different error messages, output formatting, failure to set the timezone correctly for your platform, etc. "Failures" of this type do not indicate a problem with Postgres.
For a i686/Linux-ELF platform, no tests failed since this is the v6.3 regression testing reference platform.
For the SPARC/Linux-ELF platform, using the 970525 beta version of Postgres v6.2 the following tests "failed": float8 and geometry "failed" due to minor precision differences in floating point numbers. select_views produces massively different output, but the differences are due to minor floating point differences.
Conclusion? If you do see failures, try to understand the nature of the differences and then decide if those differences will affect your intended use of Postgres. However, keep in mind that this is likely to be the most solid release of Postgres to date, incorporating many bug fixes from v6.2.1, and that previous versions of Postgres have been in use successfully for some time now.
After running the tests, type
destroydb regression
cd /usr/src/pgsql/src/test/regress
gmake clean
Stop the postmaster as described in step 7. Then restore the timezone to it's normal setting. If you changed the timezone by modifying environment variable TZ then one way to do this is to log out of, then back into, account postgres.
Start the postmaster daemon running. Type
cd
nohup postmaster > server.log 2>&1 &
Run postmaster from your Postgres super user account
(typically account postgres). DO NOT RUN POSTMASTER FROM THE ROOT
ACCOUNT.
If you haven't already done so, this would be a good time to modify your computer so that it will automatically start postmaster whenever you boot your computer. Here are some suggestions on how to do this, contributed by various users. Whatever you do, postmaster must be run by user postgres AND NOT BY ROOT. This is why all of the examples below start by switching user (su) to postgres. These commands also take into account the fact that environment variables like PATH and PGDATA may not be set properly. The examples are as follows. Use them with extreme caution. a) Edit file rc.local on NetBSD or file rc2.d on SPARC Solaris 2.5.1 to contain the following single line: su postgres -c "/usr/local/pgsql/bin/postmaster -S -D /usr/local/pgsql/data" b) In FreeBSD 2.2-RELEASE edit /usr/local/etc/rc.d/pgsql.sh to contain the following lines and make it chmod 755 and chown root:bin. #!/bin/sh [ -x /usr/local/pgsql/bin/postmaster ] && { su -l pgsql -c 'exec /usr/local/pgsql/bin/postmaster -D/usr/local/pgsql/data -S -o -F > /usr/local/pgsql/errlog' & echo -n ' pgsql' } You may put the line breaks as shown above. The shell is smart enough to keep parsing beyond end-of-line if there is an expression unfinished. The exec saves one layer of shell under the postmaster process so the parent is init. Note: Unlike most other examples, this one has been tested. c) In RedHat v4.0 Linux edit file /etc/inittab to contain the following single line: pg:2345:respawn:/bin/su - postgres -c "/usr/local/pgsql/bin/postmaster -D/usr/local/pgsql/data >> /usr/local/pgsql/server.log 2>&1" /dev/null (The author of this example says this example will revive the postmaster if it dies, but he doesn't know if there are other side effects.) d) The contrib/linux area of the Postgres distribution has an example init.d script compatible with and tested using recent RedHat packages.
If you haven't already done so, this would be a good time to modify your computer to do regular maintainence. The following should be done at regular intervals: a) Run the SQL command vacuum. This will clean up your database. b) Back up your system. (You should probably keep the last few backups on hand.) Ideally, no one else should be using the system at the time. Ideally, the above tasks should be done by a shell script that is run nightly or weekly by cron. Look at the man page for crontab for a starting point on how to do this. (If you do it, please e-mail us a copy of your shell script. We would like to set up our own systems to do this too.)
If you are upgrading an existing system then install your old database. Type
cd
psql -e template1 < db.out
If your pre-v6.2 database uses either path or polygon
geometric data types, then you will need to upgrade any columns
containing those types. To do so, type (from within psql)
update YourTable set PathCol = UpgradePath(PathCol);
update YourTable set PolyCol = UpgradePoly(PolyCol);
...
vacuum;
UpgradePath() checks to see that a path value is consistant
with the old syntax, and will not update a column which fails that
examination. UpgradePoly() cannot verify that a polygon is in fact
from an old syntax, but RevertPoly() is provided to reverse the
effects of a mis-applied upgrade.
If you are a new user, you may wish to play with Postgres as described below.
Clean up after yourself. Type
rm -rf /usr/src/pgsql_6_0
rm -rf /usr/local/pgsql_6_0
# Also delete old database directory tree if it is not in
# /usr/local/pgsql_6_0/data
rm ~/postgresql-v6.2.1.tar.gz
You will probably want to print out the documentation. Here is how you might do it if you have Ghostscript on your system and are writing to a laserjet printer. alias gshp='gs -sDEVICE=laserjet -r300 -dNOPAUSE' export GS_LIB=/usr/share/ghostscript:/usr/share/ghostscript/fonts # Print out the man pages. man -a -t /usr/local/pgsql/man/*/* > manpage.ps gshp -sOUTPUTFILE=manpage.hp manpage.ps rm manpage.ps lpr -l -s -r manpage.hp # Print out the Postgres95 User Manual, version 1.0, # Sept. 5, 1996. cd /usr/src/pgsql/doc gshp -sOUTPUTFILE=userguide.hp userguide.ps lpr -l -s -r userguide.hp If you are a developer, you will probably want to also print out the Postgres Implemention Guide, version 1.0, October 1, 1995. This is a WWW document located at http://www.postgresql.org/docs/impguide.
The Postgres team wants to keep Postgres working on all of the supported platforms. We therefore ask you to let us know if you did or did not get Postgres to work on you system. Please send a mail message to [email protected] telling us the following: - The version of Postgres (v6.2.1, 6.1.1, beta 970703, etc.). - Your operating system (i.e. RedHat v4.0 Linux v2.0.26). - Your hardware (SPARC, i486, etc.). - Did you compile, install and run the regression tests cleanly? If not, what source code did you change (i.e. patches you applied, changes you made, etc.), what tests failed, etc. It is normal to get many warning when you compile. You do not need to report these.
Now create, access and manipulate databases as desired. Write client programs to access the database server. In other words, ENJOY!
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