2

I am trying to use PostgreSQL on Ubuntu. I installed it and everything was working fine. However, I needed to change the location of my database due to space constraints so I tried an online guide to do it.

I proceeded to stop postgresql, create a new empty directory and give it permissions by using

chown postgres:postgres /my/dir/path

That worked fine too. Then I used 

initdb -D /my/dir/path

to enable my database. I also changed the path_data in the postgresql.conf file to my new directory.

When I now try to start the database, it says: The postgresql server failed to start, please check the log file. However, there is no log file! Something got screwed up when I changed the default directory. How do I fix this?

Improve this question
3
  • Please include basic information like your Ubuntu and PostgreSQL version, and the exact text of any error messages. Commented Jul 20, 2012 at 2:21
  • You got poor answers to this question because it lacks the minimum reasonable amount of information. "An online guide"? Which one. Link to it. When you say you edited postgresql.conf - where was that file? /etc/postgresql/ ? Your datadir? When you "try to start the database" - using which exact command ? Show error messages and exact commands. Be detailed and specific. Commented Jul 23, 2012 at 13:37
  • Reposted as stackoverflow.com/questions/11608482/… and reposted again as dba.stackexchange.com/questions/21312/… . Commented Jul 23, 2012 at 13:38

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4

First: You may find it easier to manage your Pg installs on Ubuntu using the custom tools Ubuntu provides as part of pg_wrapper: pg_createcluster, pg_dropcluster, pg_ctlcluster etc. These integrate with the Ubuntu startup scripts and move the configuration to /etc/postgresql/ where Ubuntu likes to keep it, instead of the PostgreSQL default of in the datadir. To move where the actual files are stored, use a symbolic link (see below).

When you have a problem, how are you starting PostgreSQL?

If you're starting it via pg_ctl it should work fine because you have to specify the data directory location. If you're using your distro package scripts, though, they don't know you've moved the data directory.

On Ubuntu, you will need to change configuration in /etc/postgresql to tell the scripts where the data dir is, probably pg_ctl.conf or start.conf for the appropriate version. I'm not sure of the specifics as I've never needed to do it. This is why:

There's a better way, though. Use a symbolic link from your old datadir location to the new one. PostgreSQL and the setup scripts will happily follow it and you won't have to change any configuration.

cd /var/lib/postgresql/9.1/main
mv main main.old
ln -s /new/datadir/location main

I'm guessing "9.1" because you didn't give your Ubuntu version or your PostgreSQL version.

An alternative is to use mount -o bind to map your new datadir location into the old place, so nothing notices the difference. Then add the bind mount to /etc/fstab to make it persistent across reboots. You only need to do that if one of the tools doesn't like the symbolic link approach. I don't think that'll be an issue with pg_wrapper etc.

You should also note that since you've used initdb manually, your new datadir will have its configuration directly inside the datadir, not in /etc/postgresql/.

It's way easier if you just use the Ubuntu cluster management scripts instead.

Improve this answer
Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.