Starting PostgreSQL server failed after modification of postgresql.conf using the sudo command

Question

I wanted to change the "shared_buffers" parameter in my postgresql.conf file.

The problem is that I used the sudo command and it gave the ownership to the root.

-rw-rw-rw-   1 root root  13661 Mar 14 15:36 postgresql.conf

Then I used the following command to get back the ownership to postmaster :

sudo chown postgres:postgres /var/lib/pgsql/data/postgresql.conf

So I tried the command :

postgres -D /var/lib/pgsql/data

I was badly surprised to still get the following error message

postgres cannot access the server configuration file "/var/lib/pgsql/data/postgresql.conf": Permission denied

below id the result of the "ls" command in the directory realted to postgreSQL :

sudo ls -l /var/lib/pgsql/data/
total 208
drwx------  19 postgres postgres   4096 Mar 13 17:23 base
drwx------   2 postgres postgres   4096 Mar 14 14:30 global
drwx------   2 postgres postgres   4096 Mar  5 14:26 pg_clog
-rw-------   1 postgres postgres   3365 Mar  1  2006 pg_hba.conf
-rw-------   1 postgres postgres   3182 Mar  1  2006 pg_hba.conf.old
-rw-------   1 postgres postgres   1460 Feb 24  2006 pg_ident.conf
drwx------   2 postgres postgres 139264 Mar 14 00:00 pg_log
drwx------   4 postgres postgres   4096 Feb 24  2006 pg_multixact
drwx------   2 postgres postgres   4096 Mar 14 10:42 pg_subtrans
drwx------   2 postgres postgres   4096 Feb 24  2006 pg_tblspc
drwx------   2 postgres postgres   4096 Feb 24  2006 pg_twophase
-rw-------   1 postgres postgres      4 Feb 24  2006 PG_VERSION
drwx------   3 postgres postgres   4096 Mar 14 14:30 pg_xlog
-rw-rw-rw-   1 postgres postgres  13661 Mar 14 15:36 postgresql.conf
-rw-------   1 postgres postgres     49 Jan  2 17:15 postmaster.opts

If someone have an idea of could be the way to fix this problem.

Thanks in advance.

Fred

Clodoaldo Neto · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-14 15:55:11Z

8

Check how is SELinux running:

# sestatus

If it is in enforcing mode check the log:

# less /var/log/audit/audit.log

If you find SELinux blocking then temporarily disable SELinux just to confirm it is the culprit:

# setenforce 0

Now try to start the server. If it works then reenable SELinux:

# setenforce 1

Search for how to restore SELinux settings for that file.

answered Mar 14, 2012 at 15:55

Clodoaldo Neto

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6 Comments

Fred FLECHE Over a year ago

Thanks a lot for your time. I got "bash: sestatus: command not found". Do you have another suggestion in mind ? Cause I am starting to be crazy after one afternoon browsing the web without no clue.

Clodoaldo Neto Over a year ago

@Fred Given the file path I thought you were using a RedHat derived OS. What is the OS?

Fred FLECHE Over a year ago

FYI : I am under RedHat Enterprise Linux WS Release 4

Clodoaldo Neto Over a year ago

@Fred did you try to start the server as root or as postgres? To start the server do (as root) # service postgresql start

Fred FLECHE Over a year ago

no unfortunatelly I also got bash: setenforce: command not found

|

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-13 12:13:38Z

1

I got the same error right after a fresh install.
First the default file mode bits of all files in /var/lib/pgsql/data/ are set to 600 and yours postgresql.conf has 666. This isn't the problem in the case but it's good to keep the things as they are.
I am not familiar with RedHat distro but from the comments it seems that this is not a problem with SELinux.
On my Fedora 20 running:

$ systemctl start postgresql.service

seems to run the server.

And if you want to execute some commands in PosgtreSQL for first time - like creating your own user for ex. you may find this question helpful: https://serverfault.com/questions/110154/whats-the-default-superuser-username-password-for-postgres-after-a-new-install

edited Apr 13, 2017 at 12:13

CommunityBot

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answered Sep 5, 2014 at 14:49

nyxz

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