Re: PostgreSQL 9.1 "database system was interrupted; last known up at"

"Boylan, Ross" <Ross(dot)Boylan(at)ucsf(dot)edu> writes:
> I had to power cycle my system because it became unresponsive. Now PosgtreSQL will not start. I would like advice about how to proceed; I think pg_resetxlog is my next step. I have made a copy of the current database files.
> <log file="postgresql-9.1-main.log">
> 2015-05-25 10:44:21 PDT LOG: database system was interrupted; last known up at 2015-05-22 09:22:25 PDT
> 2015-05-25 10:44:21 PDT LOG: incomplete startup packet
> 2015-05-25 10:44:21 PDT FATAL: could not open file "/etc/ssl/certs/ssl-cert-snakeoil.pem": Permission denied

You did not say, but I'm betting you recently updated to last week's
release, 9.1.16?

If so, this is an unforeseen side-effect of a patch to forcibly fsync
everything in the PG data directory after a crash, see
http://www.postgresql.org/message-id/flat/20150523172627(dot)GA24277(at)msg(dot)df7cb(dot)de

We're debating how to fix it for real, but in the meantime the easiest
workaround is to change the permissions on that file so it's writable by
Postgres. (Yeah, I know, ick. Make a note to undo that after we fix
the fsync'ing logic.)

regards, tom lane