Re: WIP: remove use of flat auth file for client authentication

On Sat, 2009-08-29 at 01:00 -0400, Tom Lane wrote:

> Attached is a patch that removes the use of the flat auth file during
> client authentication, instead using regular access to the pg_auth
> catalogs. As previously discussed, this implies pushing the
> authentication work down to InitPostgres. I didn't yet do anything
> about the idea of falling back to connecting to "postgres" when the
> specified target DB doesn't exist, but other than that small change
> I think it's about ready to go.

I get the feeling that part of the inspiration for this is that Hot
Standby must maintain this file. If not, I'm curious as to the reasons
for doing this. No objections however, just curiosity.

Specifically, should I remove the parts of the HS patch that refresh
those files?

> I suspect that
> this means some things are actively broken during InitPostgres's
> initial
> transaction --- for example, if it happens to try to take a lock that
> completes a deadlock cycle, the deadlock won't be detected because the
> lock timeout SIGALRM interrupt will never occur. Another example is
> that SI inval messaging isn't working during InitPostgres either.

Are we doing anything in the initial transaction that *could* deadlock,
or cause an SI inval message?

--
Simon Riggs www.2ndQuadrant.com