Re: BUG #4787: Hardlink (ln) causes startup failure with bizarre "timezone_abbreviations" error

"Mark Kramer" <root(at)asarian-host(dot)net> writes:
> I have my PostgreSQL installed in /usr/local/PostgreSQL/ (cleaner for
> updates, instead of just /usr/local) As a result, I made hard-links like
> this,

> cd /usr/local/bin/
> ln /usr/local/PostgreSQL/bin/pg_ctl pg_ctl

This isn't going to work because pg_ctl assumes it can find postgres in
the same directory it is in. Try using a symlink instead. (It'll be
less likely to fail miserably after an upgrade, too.)

> I get this error, though:
> May 1 04:40:26 asarian-host postgres[9742]: [6-1] FATAL: invalid value for
> parameter "timezone_abbreviations": "Default"

I agree this is an odd error message though. Perhaps you hardlinked a
few other things you didn't tell us about? I'm not sure what it would
take to make this be the first complaint. What is probably happening is
that postgres is trying to find /usr/local/PostgreSQL/share/ relative
to itself, but I'd have thought it would notice the problem sooner.

regards, tom lane