PostgreSQL-7.3.2

Introduction to PostgreSQL7.3.2

Download location (HTTP):       http://www.ca.postgresql.org/ftpsite/v7.3.2/postgresql-7.3.2.tar.gz
Download location (FTP):        ftp://ftp8.us.postgresql.org/pub/pgsql/source/v7.3.2/postgresql-7.3.2.tar.gz
Version used:                   7.3.2
Package size:                   11 MB
Estimated Disk space required:  68 MB

The PostgreSQL package contains the PostgreSQL RDBMS, client utilities and language bindings.

PostgreSQL depends on:
readline-4.3

Installation of PostgreSQL

Install PostgreSQL with the following commands:

./configure --prefix=/usr && make && make install

Initialize a database cluster with the following commands:

mkdir -p /var/pgsql/data && useradd -d /var/pgsql/data postgres && chown postgres /var/pgsql/data && su - postgres -c '/usr/bin/initdb -D /var/pgsql/data'

Start the database server with the following command:

su - postgres -c '/usr/bin/postmaster -D /var/pgsql/data > \ /var/pgsql/data/logfile 2>&1 &'

Now we can create a database and verify the installation:

su - postgres -c '/usr/bin/createdb test' echo "create table t1 ( name varchar(20), state_province varchar(20) );" \ | (su - postgres -c '/usr/bin/psql test ') echo "insert into t1 values ('Billy', 'NewYork');" \ | (su - postgres -c '/usr/bin/psql test ') echo "insert into t1 values ('Evanidus', 'Quebec');" \ | (su - postgres -c '/usr/bin/psql test ') echo "insert into t1 values ('Jesse', 'Ontario');" \ | (su - postgres -c '/usr/bin/psql test ') echo "select * from t1;" | (su - postgres -c '/usr/bin/psql test ')

Command explanations

useradd -d /var/pgsql/data postgres : Add an unprivileged user to run the database server. Running the server as root is dangerous, and moreover simply will not work.

su - postgres -c '/usr/bin/initdb -D /var/pgsql/data' : Initialize the database tablespace. This command may not be executed by root.

su - postgres -c '/usr/bin/postmaster -D /var/pgsql/data > \ /var/pgsql/data/logfile 2>&1 &' : Start the database server. User postgres must execute this command as well.

createdb test, create table t1 , insert into t1 values..., select * from t1 : Create a database, add a table to it, insert some rows into the table and select them to verify that the installation is working properly.

Configuring PostgreSQL

cat > /etc/rc.d/init.d/postgres << "EOF"

#!/bin/bash
# Begin $rc_base/init.d/postgres

# Based on sysklogd script from LFS-3.1 and earlier.
# Rewritten by Gerard Beekmans  - gerard@linuxfromscratch.org

source /etc/sysconfig/rc
source $rc_functions

case "$1" in
        start)
                echo "Starting PostgreSQL daemon..."
		su - postgres -c '/usr/bin/pg_ctl start -W -D /var/pgsql/data \
                               -l /var/pgsql/data/logfile -o "-i" '
                evaluate_retval
                ;;

        stop)
                echo "Stopping PostgreSQL daemon..."
                /usr/bin/pg_ctl stop -m smart -D /var/pgsql/data
		evaluate_retval
                ;;

        restart)
                $0 stop
                sleep 1
                $0 start
                ;;

        status)
                /usr/bin/pg_ctl status -D /var/pgsql/data
                ;;

        *)
                echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart|status}"
                exit 1
                ;;
esac

# End $rc_base/init.d/

EOF
chmod 755 /etc/rc.d/init.d/postgres

cd /etc/rc.d/init.d &&
ln -sf ../init.d/postgres ../rc0.d/K26postgres &&
ln -sf ../init.d/postgres ../rc1.d/K26postgres &&
ln -sf ../init.d/postgres ../rc2.d/K26postgres &&
ln -sf ../init.d/postgres ../rc3.d/S34postgres &&
ln -sf ../init.d/postgres ../rc4.d/S34postgres &&
ln -sf ../init.d/postgres ../rc5.d/S34postgres &&
ln -sf ../init.d/postgres ../rc6.d/K26postgres

Contents

The PostgreSQL RDBMS contains createdb, createlang, createuser, dropdb, droplang, dropuser, ecpg, initdb, initlocation, ipcclean, pg_config, pg_ctl, pg_dump, pg_dumpall, pg_passwd, pg_restore, pgaccess, pgtclsh, pgtksh, postgres, postmaster, psql and vacuumdb.

Description