Re: postgres source code installation vs rpm based installation

On 5/06/19 8:00 AM, Pavan Kumar wrote:
> Hello Experts,
>
> I have couple of questions on postgres installation.
>
> 1. which way of installation is better ? source code or rpm based ?
> 2. for instance , If we need to install same version postgres on
> multiple times on same server. how do we need to handle this with rpm ?
> 3. If I go with source code installation, in case we need to upgrade
> OS(6 to 7) , do we need to recompile existing postgres binaries ?
>
> kindly share your experience.
>
>

Hi,

Some thoughts on these points:

Re 1: Source based is better if you want to customize compile time
variables (block size etc). However the (substantial) down side of that
approach is you need to be rebuilding for all the point releases (i.e
bug and security updates) as they come out- it is easy to forget or not
bother and end up way behind. This is where the rpm approach shines as
it does this for you.

Re 2: not sure (I use debs not rpms), however typically the install path
for binaries is fixed (i.e so you cannot install the same version in
multiple places). Also I'm not clear why you would want to do this.

Re 3: you might need to recompile in some cases after an upgrade
(dynamic linking to libraries outside the Postgres src that can get
their versions changed to the point where Postgres libs won't load
anymore). However testing should highlight this.

regards

Mark