Re: OS X Install

I recently installed PostGreSQL-7.4.5 on my OSX 10.3.5 system. I did
not, however
have the problem you're encountering. There was no "postgres" user
already
created on my system.

1. It's not like postgres just rolls off the tongue. It's hard to
imagine another user of
your system choosing that name for some reason ;)

2. If the postgres user was created by/during your install, then there
should be some
recourse for setting its password. I don't remember offhand, but I
think NetInfo uses
a klein star "*" to denote that the password is NOT set -- then
allowing you to set it
(hopefully ...)

3. If your is a single user system, I'd say that MAYBE you could
remove the postgres
user and create it fresh to complete the install.

4. I'm still very new to PostGreSQL, but I'd hazard to guess that
there's nothing so
explicitly intrinsic to the username "postgres" that you couldn't
create a new user,
"postgresfoo" and continue with the install instructions using that
username.

G'luck!
Scott

On Oct 15, 2004, at 5:09 PM, Nathan Mealey wrote:

> I am trying to install PostgreSQL on OS X 10.3, using the package from
> Entropy.ch. The installation instructions there, as well as anywhere
> else I have seen them on the net, say to create a user (using the
> System Preferences pane) with a shortname "postgres". The problem is,
> this user already exists in my netinfo database/domain, and so I
> cannot either create a new user with the same short name, or use this
> user, because I do not know the password (I assume it is a system
> default user). Thus, I am unable to complete the installation,
> because I cannot run the following commands as user postgres.
>
> /usr/local/bin/initdb -D /usr/local/pgsql/data
>
> /usr/local/bin/pg_ctl -D /usr/local/pgsql/data -l postgres.log start
>
> Has anyone else encountered this before? I'm so confused by
> this...why does this user already exist, and why can't I make use of
> it for this installation? Should I create a different user?
>
> NM
> --
> Nathan Mealey
> Director of Operations
> Cycle-Smart, Inc.
> P.O. Box 1482
> Northampton, MA
> 01061-1482
> nathan(at)cycle-smart(dot)com
> (413) 587-3133
> (413) 210-7984 Mobile
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