Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Postgres95
-Last updated: Fri Sep 27 17:48:23 EDT 1996
+Last updated: Mon Oct 14 08:05:23 EDT 1996
Version: 2.0
Current maintainer: Bruce Momjian (maillist@candle.pha.pa.us)
The most recent version of this document can be viewed at the postgres95 Web
site, http://www.ki.net/postgres95.
+Linux-specific questions are answered in
+http://www.ki.net/postgres95/docs/FAQ-Linux.phtml.
+
+Irix-specific questions are answered in
+http://www.ki.net/postgres95/docs/FAQ-Irix.phtml.
+
Changes in this version (* = modified, + = new):
- * *3.23) How do I create a serial field?
+ * *3.41) What is the meaning of some of the terms used in Postgres?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.6) Latest release of Postgres95
-The latest release of postgres95 is version 1.07.
+The latest release of postgres95 is version 1.08.
1.7) Is there a commercial version of Postgres95?
1.10) Does Postgres95 work with databases from earlier versions of postgres?
-Postgres95 v1.07 is compatible with databases created with v1.01. Those
+Postgres95 v1.08 is compatible with databases created with v1.01. Those
upgrading from 1.0 should read the directions in the MIGRATION_1.0_TO_1.02
directory.
* majordomo@listserv.direct.net
OpenLink ODBC is currently in beta under Linux. You can get it from
-http://www.openlinksw.com/postgre s.html. It works with our standard ODBC
+http://www.openlinksw.com/postgres.html. It works with our standard ODBC
client software so you'll have Postgres ODBC available on every client
platform we support (Win, Mac, Unix, VMS).
Postgres does not allow the user to specifiy a user column as type SERIAL.
Instead, you can use each row's oid field as a unique value. However, if you
need to dump and reload the database, you need to be using postgres version
-1.07 or 2.* with pgdump's -o option or COPY's WITH OIDS option to preserver
-the oids.
+1.07 or later or 2.* with pgdump's -o option or COPY's WITH OIDS option to
+preserver the oids.
Another valid way of doing this is to create a function:
desired time will not appear.
Vacuum removes rows that are no longer current. This time-warp feature is
-used by the engine for rollback and crash recovery.
+used by the engine for rollback and crash recovery. Expiration times can be
+set with purge.
3.38) How do I tune the database engine for better performance?
* retrieve, select
* replace, update
* oid, serial value
+ * portal, cursor
+ * range variable, table name, table alias
Please let me know if you think of any more.
--- /dev/null
+====================================================
+Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Postgres95
+IRIX Specific
+TO BE READ IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE NORMAL FAQ
+====================================================
+last updated: Fri Oct 11 14:45:00 BST 1996
+
+current maintainer: Andrew C.R. Martin (martin@biochem.ucl.ac.uk)
+original author: Andrew C.R. Martin (martin@biochem.ucl.ac.uk)
+
+
+Changes in this version (* = modified, + = new):
++3.1) How do I compile a C program to create a function for extending
+ Postgres95
+
+
+This file is divided approximately as follows:
+0.*) Bugs in Postgres95 V1.08
+1.*) Installing Postgres95
+2.*) Uninstalling Postgres95
+3.*) Extending Postgres95
+
+
+Questions answered:
+0.1) What bugs do I need to fix before Postgres95 will compile
+ under Irix?
+1.1) What extra items do I need to install Postgres95 under Irix?
+1.2) What changes do I need to make to src/Makefile.global?
+1.3) What are the references in X11_LIB to libsocket and libnsl in
+ src/Makefile.global?
+1.4) Are there any other changes I should make?
+2.1) Why can't I move the executable files?
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+Section 0: Bugs in Postgres95 V1.08
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+0.1) What bugs do I need to fix before Postgres95 will compile
+ under Irix?
+
+ a) Fix the bug in src/Makefile.global:
+ Change
+ # Globally pass PORTNAME
+ CFLAGS+= -DPORTNAME_$(PORTNAME)
+ CFLAGS += -I ../../backend/port/$(PORTNAME)
+ to
+ # Globally pass PORTNAME
+ CFLAGS+= -DPORTNAME_$(PORTNAME)
+ CFLAGS += -I../../backend/port/$(PORTNAME)
+
+ (i.e. remove the space after the -I)
+
+
+ b) Add the missing prototype to src/bin/pg_dump/pg_dump.h
+ After the line
+ extern int findLastBuiltinOid();
+ add
+ extern void setMaxOid(FILE *fout);
+
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+Section 1: Installing Postgres95
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+1.1) What extra items do I need to install Postgres95 under Irix?
+
+ You *must* have the following installed:
+ a) Gnu make (installed as gmake)
+
+ You are recommended to install the following:
+ a) GNU install (installed as ginstall)
+
+ You may choose to install the following:
+ a) GNU readline library (if you wish psql to have readline
+ support).
+ b) tcl/tk (if you wish to compile pgtclsh)
+
+1.2) What changes do I need to make to src/Makefile.global?
+
+ You *must* set the following variables:
+ PORTNAME= irix5
+ IPCSDIR= /usr/sbin
+
+ You will also need to change the following to match your own
+ installation:
+ SRCDIR
+ POSTGRESDIR
+
+ If you switch on the USE_TCL option, you will need to set these:
+ TCL_INCDIR=
+ TCL_LIBDIR=
+ TCL_LIB =
+ TK_INCDIR=
+ TK_LIBDIR=
+ TK_LIB =
+
+ You may also make any other changes you need as documented in
+ the INSTALL file and in Makefile.global
+
+1.3) What are the references in X11_LIB to libsocket and libnsl in
+ src/Makefile.global?
+
+ These are Sun Solaris specific and shouldn't be in Makefile.global
+ The compile (including pgtclsh) seems to go OK even though
+ these don't exist...
+
+1.4) Are there any other changes I should make?
+
+ If you have installed the GNU install program (ginstall), you
+ should edit src/mk/port/postgres.mk.irix5
+ and change the line:
+ INSTALL=/usr/bin/X11/bsdinst
+ to
+ INSTALL=ginstall
+
+ For an explanation as to why this is a good idea, see Question 2.1
+
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+Section 2: Deinstalling Postgres95
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+2.1) Why can't I move the executable files?
+
+ By default, the IRIX port uses the BSD compatible version of
+ install from /usr/bin/X11. If you read the man page for this
+ version of install, you will see that it is not meant for
+ end-user use; it has the interesting side-effect of chowning
+ files it installs to root.
+
+ You should still be able to delete the files as you (the
+ postgres user) will own the directory in which they are
+ stored.
+
+ The normal IRIX install program cannot be used easily as it
+ takes its arguments in the reverse order. It is therefore
+ recommended to use the GNU version of install (ginstall).
+ See Question 1.4
+
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+Section 3: Extending Postgres95
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+3.1) How do I compile a C program to create a function for extending
+ Postgres95
+
+ Here is a sample command line:
+
+ cc -I/usr/local/postgres95/include/ -I/usr/local/postgres95/src/backend
+ -shared -o funcs.so funcs.c
+
+****************************************************************************
+Dr. Andrew C.R. Martin, University College London & SciTech Software
+EMAIL: martin@biochem.ucl.ac.uk Tel:(Work) +44(0)171 419 3890
+URL: http://www.biochem.ucl.ac.uk/~martin (Home) +44(0)1372 275775
+****************************************************************************
--- /dev/null
+====================================================
+Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Postgres95
+Linux Specific
+TO BE READ IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE NORMAL FAQ
+====================================================
+last updated: Mon Oct 14 11:00:00 BST 1996
+
+current maintainer: Andrew C.R. Martin (martin@biochem.ucl.ac.uk)
+original author: Andrew C.R. Martin (martin@biochem.ucl.ac.uk)
+
+
+Changes in this version (* = modified, + = new):
+*1.3) [REDHAT] Why do I get problems with missing libdl and dlfcn.h?
+*1.14) [DEBIAN] Where is libtermcap?
+
+
+This file is divided approximately as follows:
+0.*) Bugs in Postgres95 V1.08
+1.*) Installing Postgres95
+2.*) Compiling accessory programs
+3.*) Runtime Problems
+4.*) Spurious Problems in Need of Verification
+
+
+Questions answered:
+0.1) What bugs do I need to fix before Postgres95 will compile
+ under Linux?
+1.1) What changes do I need to make to src/Makefile.global
+1.2) Why do I get problems with missing libreadline?
+1.3) [REDHAT] Why do I get problems with missing libdl and dlfcn.h?
+1.4) [SLACKWARE 3.1] Why do I get problems with missing libdl and dlfcn.h?
+1.5) My compile of the backend dies complaining about the include file
+ dlfcn.h missing
+1.6) GCC complains about an ignored option -fpic
+1.7) I get warnings of the form
+ warning: cast from pointer to integer of different size
+1.8) [SuSE-Linux 4.2] Where is curses and termcap?
+1.9) Why do I get problems with ld.so?
+1.10) Why do I get `yy_flush_buffer undefined' errors?
+1.11) How do I compile Postgres95 on an a.out system?
+1.12) Why does make fail with:
+ yacc -d /disk2/postgres95/src/backend/parser/gram.y
+ make: /usr/bin/make: cannot execute binary file
+1.13) What are the references in X11_LIB to libsocket and libnsl in
+ src/Makefile.global?
+1.14) [DEBIAN] Where is libtermcap?
+2.1) The linker fails to find libX11 when compiling pgtclsh
+3.1) I get an error reporting _fUnKy_POSTPORT_sTuFf_ undefined when
+ running scripts like createuser
+3.2) I run postmaster and after that system says 'Bad system call(Core
+ dumped)'
+3.3) When I try to start the Postmaster, why do I get an error of the form
+ Failed Assertion("!(file != 0):(null)", File:
+ "/usr/local/postgres95/src/backend/storage/file/fd.c", Line: 257)
+ !(file != 0) (0)
+ initdb: could not create template database
+ initdb: cleaning up.
+3.4) Why doesn't createuser work?
+4.1) Why doesn't the postmaster start the first time?
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+Section 0: Bugs in Postgres95 V1.08
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+0.1) What bugs do I need to fix before Postgres95 will compile
+ under Linux?
+
+ a) Fix the bug in src/Makefile.global:
+ Change
+ # Globally pass PORTNAME
+ CFLAGS+= -DPORTNAME_$(PORTNAME)
+ CFLAGS += -I ../../backend/port/$(PORTNAME)
+ to
+ # Globally pass PORTNAME
+ CFLAGS+= -DPORTNAME_$(PORTNAME)
+ CFLAGS += -I../../backend/port/$(PORTNAME)
+
+ (i.e. remove the space after the -I)
+
+
+ b) Add the missing prototype to src/bin/pg_dump/pg_dump.h
+ After the line
+ extern int findLastBuiltinOid();
+ add
+ extern void setMaxOid(FILE *fout);
+
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+Section 1: Compiling Postgres95
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+1.1) What changes do I need to make to src/Makefile.global
+
+ You *must* set the following variables:
+ PORTNAME= linux
+
+ You will also need to change the following to match your own
+ installation:
+ SRCDIR
+ POSTGRESDIR
+
+ If you switch on the USE_TCL option, you will need to set these:
+ TCL_INCDIR=
+ TCL_LIBDIR=
+ TCL_LIB=
+ TK_INCDIR=
+ TK_LIBDIR=
+ TK_LIB=
+ X11_INCDIR=
+ X11_LIBDIR=
+ X11_LIB=
+
+ On my Slackware3.0 system, these are:
+ TCL_INCDIR= /usr/include/tcl
+ TCL_LIBDIR= /usr/lib
+ TCL_LIB= -ltcl
+ TK_INCDIR= /usr/include/tcl
+ TK_LIBDIR= /usr/lib
+ TK_LIB= -ltk
+ X11_INCDIR= /usr/include/X11
+ X11_LIBDIR= /usr/X386/lib
+ X11_LIB= -lX11
+
+ You may also make any other changes you need as documented in
+ the INSTALL file and in Makefile.global
+
+
+1.2) Why do I get problems with missing libreadline?
+
+ Linux systems generally don't come with the GNU readline library
+ installed. Either comment out the USE_READLINE variable in
+ src/Makefile.global or install the GNU readline library.
+
+1.3) [REDHAT] Why do I get problems with missing libdl and dlfcn.h?
+
+ The libdl library is used for dynamic linking of user-supplied
+ functions at run-time. For some reason this library was missed out
+ from the Redhat distribution.
+
+ You can obtain the library and the header file from:
+
+ ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/packages/GCC/ld.so-1.7.14.tar.gz
+
+ Alternatively, you may find precompiled binaries in
+ distributions/debian/buzz/binary-i386/base/ld.so-1.7.14-4.deb
+ on the same site, or follow the instructions given for question 1.2 for
+ correcting the same error with early releases of Slackware 3.1.
+
+1.4) [SLACKWARE 3.1] Why do I get problems with missing libdl and dlfcn.h?
+
+ See the answer to question 1.1. Slackware up to version 3.0 was
+ supplied with this library and include file and they seem to be
+ back in again in the latest versions of 3.1, but the early 3.1
+ releases (before 9th September 1996) had them missing and many
+ CD-ROM versions will have been pressed from the first 3.1 releases.
+
+ The easiest fix is to obtain the file ldso.tgz from the a4 disk of
+ a more recent Slackware 3.1 distribution and unpack this file
+ from the root (/) directory, then do
+
+ sh install/doinst.sh
+
+ to complete the installation. Follow this with
+
+ ldconfig
+
+ If you want to install manually, you must first install the file
+ dlfcn.h in /usr/include.
+
+ Second, install the file libdl.so.1.7.14 (or whatever the latest
+ release is) in /lib, then do:
+
+ cd /lib
+ ln -sf libdl.so.1.7.14 libdl.so.1
+ ln -sf libdl.so.1 libdl.so
+
+ On some systems (depending on your GCC configuration) it may be
+ necessary to do:
+
+ cd /usr/lib
+ ln -sf /lib/libdl.so .
+
+ Finally
+
+ ldconfig
+
+
+1.5) My compile of the backend dies complaining about the include file
+ dlfcn.h missing
+
+ See the answer to question 1.2. Don't forget that if you are using
+ an a.out system you must first have installed the dld package
+ (which is not supplied with most a.out systems) to have dlfcn.h
+ at all. See Question 1.11.
+
+
+1.6) GCC complains about an ignored option -fpic
+
+ Earlier versions of GCC accepted either -fpic or -fPIC.
+ It appears that more recent versions (V2.7.2?) require -fPIC.
+ If you are using an ELF version of Linux, this can safely be
+ ignored as -fPIC is the default.
+
+ You can correct this by editing
+ src/mk/port/postgres.mk.linux
+
+
+1.7) I get warnings of the form
+ warning: cast from pointer to integer of different size
+
+ These can safely be ignored
+
+1.8) [SuSE-Linux 4.2] Where is curses and termcap?
+
+ SuSE-Linux has ncurses but not curses. Edit src/bin/psql/Makefile and
+ Change
+ LIBCURSES= -lcurses
+ to
+ LIBCURSES= -lncurses
+
+ SuSE-Linux has the termcap library is in /usr/lib/termcap instead of
+ in /usr/lib
+ Edit src/bin/psql/Makefile and
+ Change
+ ifeq ($(PORTNAME), linux)
+ LD_ADD += -ltermcap
+ else
+ to
+ ifeq ($(PORTNAME), linux)
+ LD_ADD += -L/usr/lib/termcap -ltermcap
+ else
+
+1.9) Why do I get problems with ld.so?
+
+ If you get problems with ld.so, another library required under
+ ELF for dynamic loading, then you have messed up your installation
+ or (more likely) upgrade of Linux.
+
+ See the answers to Question 1.2. You may need to install
+ ld.so.x.y.z in /lib and run ldconfig.
+
+ The most recent stable release of the ld package is 1.7.14
+ At the time of writing, 1.8.x versions of ld are experimental.
+
+1.10) Why do I get `yy_flush_buffer undefined' errors?
+
+ This isn't really Linux specific, but is common on older Linux
+ installations. You must have a recent version of flex (2.5.2 or later)
+ to compile Postgres95. Note that flex 2.5.3 has a bug: see
+ Question 3.4.
+
+1.11) How do I compile Postgres95 on an a.out system?
+
+ First, you must install the dld library. This may be obtained
+ from Sunsite as:
+ Linux/libs/dld.3.2.7.tar.gz
+
+ Second, comment out the LINUX_ELF line in src/mk/port/postgres.mk.linux
+
+1.12) Why does make fail with:
+ yacc -d /disk2/postgres95/src/backend/parser/gram.y
+ make: /usr/bin/make: cannot execute binary file
+
+ yacc is generally implemented as a script which invokes bison -y
+ For some reason (certain versions of make? certain versions of
+ bash?) make is unable to execute this script file.
+
+ To correct this, simply edit src/mk/port/postgres.mk.linux
+ and, at the end of the file, change:
+ # YACC = bison -y
+ to
+ YACC = bison -y
+
+1.13) What are the references in X11_LIB to libsocket and libnsl in
+ src/Makefile.global?
+
+ These are Sun Solaris specific and shouldn't be in Makefile.global
+ The compile (including pgtclsh) seems to go OK even though
+ these don't exist...
+
+1.14) [DEBIAN] Where is libtermcap?
+
+ Debian Linux comes without the termcap library and uses ncurses
+ (which uses terminfo instead). There is no need to change the
+ LIBCURSES variable in src/bin/psql/Makefile since Debian provides
+ a link from libncurses to libcurses (unlike SuSE-Linux --- see
+ Question 1.8).
+
+ Edit src/bin/psql/Makefile and change:
+
+ ifeq ($(PORTNAME), linux)
+ LD_ADD += -ltermcap
+ else
+
+ to
+
+ ifeq ($(PORTNAME), linux)
+ CFLAGS +=
+ else
+
+
+
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+Section 2: Compiling accessory programs
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+2.1) The linker fails to find libX11 when compiling pgtclsh
+
+ Modify the src/Makefile.global to change
+ X11_LIBDIR = /usr/lib
+ to
+ X11_LIBDIR = /usr/X11R6/lib
+
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+Section 3: Runtime Problems
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+3.1) I get an error reporting _fUnKy_POSTPORT_sTuFf_ undefined when
+ running scripts like createuser
+
+ This is a bug in V1.06-V1.07 of Postgres and is fixed in V1.08
+
+3.2) I run postmaster and after that system says 'Bad system call(Core
+ dumped)'
+
+ This indicates that you have no compiled shared memory support
+ into your kernel. You need to recompile the Linux kernel to add this
+ feature.
+
+
+3.3) When I try to start the Postmaster, why do I get an error of the form
+ Failed Assertion("!(file != 0):(null)", File:
+ "/usr/local/postgres95/src/backend/storage/file/fd.c", Line: 257)
+ !(file != 0) (0)
+ initdb: could not create template database
+ initdb: cleaning up.
+
+ Your permissions on the file /dev/null are wrong.
+
+ ls -l /dev/null should give you something like:
+
+ crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 2, 2 Oct 8 18:41 /dev/null
+
+ Correct the permissions using:
+
+ chmod a+rw /dev/null
+
+3.4) Why doesn't createuser work?
+
+ There is a problem with Version 2.5.3 of GNU flex and createuser.
+ Your options are to downgrade flex to V2.5.2, apply a patch to
+ V2.5.3 (supplied in doc/README.flex) or wait for V2.5.4 which
+ will fix the bug.
+
+
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+Section 4: Spurious Problems in Need of Verification
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+4.1) Why doesn't the postmaster start the first time?
+
+ Pawko Olszewski <alder@amg.com.pl> reported a problem that, using
+ Linux kernel 2.0.18, the postmaster wouldn't start the first time
+ it is run using
+
+ postmaster -B 256
+
+ but if run as
+
+ postmaster -B 64
+
+ killed and then restarted as
+
+ postmaster -B 256
+
+ everything was OK.
+
+ I haven't been able to repeat this problem! Nobody else has
+ reported anything similar.
+
+****************************************************************************
+Dr. Andrew C.R. Martin, University College London & SciTech Software
+EMAIL: martin@biochem.ucl.ac.uk Tel:(Work) +44(0)171 419 3890
+URL: http://www.biochem.ucl.ac.uk/~martin (Home) +44(0)1372 275775
+****************************************************************************
projects / postgresql / commitdiff