Doug Silver <dsilver(at)urchin(dot)com> writes:
> I've searched around but didn't see this answered (at least in the first 100
> answers!). If the postgres user has a password (in Postgres, not the system)
> *and* the hba_conf file does not trust the 127.0.0.1 host but requires a
> password, how can you start up Postgresql?
The postmaster doesn't need a password to start. If it can access the
data directory it figures you're authorized to start it.
regards, tom lane