Installing and configuring postgresql using Macports is a nightmare. Documentation is very difficult to find. Trawling the blogosphere, I have assembled the following procedure that I have had to follow to make it all happen, as it should.
To install postgresql84 on Snow Leopard (10.6) using Macports, execute the following commands:
sudo port install postgresql84-server sudo mkdir -p /opt/local/var/db/postgresql84/defaultdb sudo chown postgres:postgres /opt/local/var/db/postgresql84/defaultdb sudo -u postgres /opt/local/lib/postgresql84/bin/initdb -D /opt/local/var/db/postgresql84/defaultdb
Now to make sure that the postgres user account can be executed using the su command, we need to give postgres a shell:
sudo dscl . -create /Users/postgres UserShell /bin/sh
Then merge the Sys V Shared Memory Kernel parameters from the /etc/sysctl.conf.pg file with your existing /etc/sysctl.conf file (if you already have one):
sudo sh -c "cat /etc/sysctl.conf.pg >>/etc/sysctl.conf"
You can reboot at this point so that the new Sys V shared memory configuration in /etc/sysctl.conf is loaded by the kernel. Alternately, being a UNIX you can execute the following command to get you going right away:
sudo sysctl -w `cat /etc/sysctl.conf.pg`
Next, we need to create the logfile directory and make it writable by the postgres user:
sudo mkdir -p /opt/local/var/log/postgresql84 sudo chown postgres:postgres /opt/local/var/log/postgresql84
Next, add to the /opt/local/lib/postgresql84/bin directory to your path variable in either /etc/profile or ~/.profile and you should be set
export PATH=/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:/opt/local/lib/postgresql84/bin:$PATH
Now create yourself a postgres database user account
$ createuser `whoami` Shall the new role be a superuser? (y/n) y
To make the database server accessible via a TCP socket, edit the /opt/local/var/db/postgresql84/defaultdb/pg_hba.conf file and add the following two lines:
host all all 127.0.0.1/32 md5 host all all 0.0.0.0/0 md5
Edit the /opt/local/var/db/postgresql84/defultdb/postgresql.conf file and add the following line:
listen_addresses = '*'
Now, we should be right to start the server. We use MacOS’ launchctl command:
sudo launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.macports.postgresql84-server.plist
Now you can connect to the database server with:
psql template1 psql (8.4.7) Type "help" for help. template1=#
Hopefully this has been useful to someone else, as I have spent over 2 hours *&^%*&% around with this to get it working.
Damien.
