Final update:
I had forgotten to run the initdb command.
By running this command
ps auxwww | grep postgres I see that postgres is not running
> ps auxwww | grep postgres remcat 1789 0.0 0.0 2434892 480 s000 R+ 11:28PM 0:00.00 grep postgres This raises the question:
How do I start the PostgreSQL server?
Update:
> pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres -l /usr/local/var/postgres/server.log start server starting sh: /usr/local/var/postgres/server.log: No such file or directory Update 2:
The touch was not successful, so I did this instead:
> mkdir /usr/local/var/postgres > vi /usr/local/var/postgres/server.log > ls /usr/local/var/postgres/ server.log But when I try to start the Ruby on Rails server, I still see this:
Is the server running on host "localhost" and accepting TCP/IP connections on port 5432?
Update 3:
> pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres status pg_ctl: no server running Update 4:
I found that there wasn't any pg_hba.conf file (only file pg_hba.conf.sample), so I modified the sample and renamed it (to remover the .sample). Here are the contents:
# IPv4 local connections: host all all 127.0.0.1/32 trust # IPv6 local connections: host all all ::1/128 trust But I don't understand this:
> pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres -l /usr/local/var/postgres/server.log start server starting > pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres status pg_ctl: no server running Also:
sudo find / -name postgresql.conf find: /dev/fd/3: Not a directory find: /dev/fd/4: Not a directory Update 5:
sudo pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres -l /usr/local/var/postgres/server.log start Password: pg_ctl: cannot be run as root Please log in (using, e.g., "su") as the (unprivileged) user that will own the server process. Update 6:
This seems odd:
> egrep 'listen|port' /usr/local/var/postgres/postgresql.conf egrep: /usr/local/var/postgres/postgresql.conf: No such file or directory Though, I did do this:
>sudo find / -name "*postgresql.conf*" find: /dev/fd/3: Not a directory find: /dev/fd/4: Not a directory /usr/local/Cellar/postgresql/9.0.4/share/postgresql/postgresql.conf.sample /usr/share/postgresql/postgresql.conf.sample So I did this:
egrep 'listen|port' /usr/local/Cellar/postgresql/9.0.4/share/postgresql/postgresql.conf.sample #listen_addresses = 'localhost' # what IP address(es) to listen on; #port = 5432 # (change requires restart) # supported by the operating system: # %r = remote host and port So I tried this:
> cp /usr/local/Cellar/postgresql/9.0.4/share/postgresql/postgresql.conf.sample /usr/local/Cellar/postgresql/9.0.4/share/postgresql/postgresql.conf > cp /usr/share/postgresql/postgresql.conf.sample /usr/share/postgresql/postgresql.conf I am still getting the same "Is the server running?" message.
1236 Answers
The Homebrew package manager includes launchctl plists to start automatically. For more information, run brew info postgres.
Start manually
pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres start
Stop manually
pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres stop
Start automatically
"To have launchd start postgresql now and restart at login:"
brew services start postgresql
What is the result of pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres -l /usr/local/var/postgres/server.log start?
What is the result of pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres status?
Are there any error messages in the server.log?
Make sure tcp localhost connections are enabled in pg_hba.conf:
# IPv4 local connections: host all all 127.0.0.1/32 trust Check the listen_addresses and port in postgresql.conf:
egrep 'listen|port' /usr/local/var/postgres/postgresql.conf
#listen_addresses = 'localhost' # What IP address(es) to listen on; #port = 5432 # (change requires restart) Cleaning up
PostgreSQL was most likely installed via Homebrew, Fink, MacPorts or the EnterpriseDB installer.
Check the output of the following commands to determine which package manager it was installed with:
brew && brew list|grep postgres fink && fink list|grep postgres port && port installed|grep postgres If you want to manually start and stop PostgreSQL (installed via Homebrew), the easiest way is:
brew services start postgresql and
brew services stop postgresql If you have a specific version, make sure to suffix the version. For example:
brew services start postgresql@10 I had almost the exact same issue, and you cited the initdb command as being the fix. This was also the solution for me, but I didn't see that anyone posted it here, so for those who are looking for it:
initdb /usr/local/var/postgres -E utf8 If your computer was abruptly restarted
You may want to start PG server but it was not.
First, you have to delete the file /usr/local/var/postgres/postmaster.pid Then you can restart the service using one of the many other mentioned methods depending on your install.
You can verify this by looking at the logs of Postgres to see what might be going on: tail -f /usr/local/var/postgres/server.log
For specific version:-
tail -f /usr/local/var/postgres@[VERSION_NUM]/server.log Eg: tail -f /usr/local/var/postgres@11/server.log Another approach is using the lunchy gem (a wrapper for launchctl):
brew install postgresql initdb /usr/local/var/postgres -E utf8 gem install lunchy To start PostgreSQL:
lunchy start postgres To stop PostgreSQL:
lunchy stop postgres For further information, refer to: "How to Install PostgreSQL on a Mac With Homebrew and Lunchy"
1Here my two cents: I made an alias for postgres pg_ctl and put it in file .bash_profile (my PostgreSQL version is 9.2.4, and the database path is /Library/PostgreSQL/9.2/data).
alias postgres.server="sudo -u postgres pg_ctl -D /Library/PostgreSQL/9.2/data" Launch a new terminal.
And then? You can start/stop your PostgreSQL server with this:
postgres.server start postgres.server stop The cleanest way by far to start/stop/restart PostgreSQL if you have installed it through brew is to simply unload and/or load the launchd configuration file that comes with the installation:
launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.postgresql.plist launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.postgresql.plist The first line will stop PostgreSQL and the second line will start it. There isn't any need to specify any data directories, etc. since everything is in that file.
3To start the PostgreSQL server:
pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres -l /usr/local/var/postgres/server.log start To end the PostgreSQL server:
pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres stop -s -m fast You can also create an alias via CLI to make it easier:
alias pg-start='pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres -l /usr/local/var/postgres/server.log start' alias pg-stop='pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres stop -s -m fast' With these you can just type "pg-start" to start PostgreSQL and "pg-stop" to shut it down.
1For test purposes, I think PostgreSQL App is the best option!
Run an app, and the server is up and running.
Close the app, and the server goes down.
0If you have installed using Homebrew, the below command should be enough.
brew services restart postgresql This sometimes might not work. In that case, the below two commands should definitely work:
rm /usr/local/var/postgres/postmaster.pid pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres start # Remove old database files (if there was any) $ rm -rf /usr/local/var/postgres # Install the binary $ brew install postgresql # init it $ initdb /usr/local/var/postgres # Start the PostgreSQL server $ postgres -D /usr/local/var/postgres # Create your database $ createdb mydb # Access the database $ psql mydb psql (9.0.1) Type "help" for help. When you install PostgreSQL using Homebrew,
brew install postgres at the end of the output, you will see this methods to start the server:
To have launchd start postgresql at login: ln -sfv /usr/local/opt/postgresql/*.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents Then to load postgresql now: launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.postgresql.plist Or, if you don't want/need launchctl, you can just run: postgres -D /usr/local/var/postgres I think this is the best way.
You can add an alias into your .profile file for convenience.
0I had the same problem and performed all updates from the first post. But after checking the log file,
/usr/local/var/postgres/server.log I see the true cause:
FATAL: data directory "/usr/local/var/postgres" has group or world access DETAIL: Permissions should be u=rwx (0700). After changing permissions on this directory,
chmod 0700 /usr/local/var/postgres the PostgreSQL server started.
Check the log file every time.
For a quick disposable test database, you can run the server in the foreground.
Initialize a new PostgreSQL database in a new directory:
mkdir db initdb db -E utf8 createdb public Start the server in the foreground (Ctrl + C to stop the server):
postgres -d db In another shell session, connect to the server
psql -d public Sometimes it's just the version which you are missing, and you are scratching your head unnecessarily.
If you are using a specific version of PostgreSQL, for example, PostgreSQL 10, then simply do
brew services start postgresql@10 brew services stop postgresql@10 The normal brew services start postgresql won't work without a version if you have installed it for a specific version from Homebrew.
If you didn't install it with Homebrew and directly from the Mac package, this worked for me for PostgreSQL 12 when using all the default locations, variables, etc.
$ sudo su postgres bash-3.2$ /Library/PostgreSQL/12/bin/pg_ctl -D /Library/PostgreSQL/12/data/ stop initdb `brew --prefix`/var/postgres/data -E utf8`` && pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres/data -l logfile start PostgreSQL is integrated in Server.app available through the App Store in Mac OS X v10.8 (Mountain Lion). That means that it is already configured, and you only need to launch it, and then create users and databases.
Tip: Do not start with defining $PGDATA and so on. Take file locations as is.
You would have this file: /Library/Server/PostgreSQL/Config/org.postgresql.postgres.plist
To start:
sudo serveradmin start postgres Process started with arguments:
/Applications/ -D /Library/Server/PostgreSQL/Data -c listen_addresses=127.0.0.1,::1 -c log_connections=on -c log_directory=/Library/Logs/PostgreSQL -c log_filename=PostgreSQL.log -c log_line_prefix=%t -c log_lock_waits=on -c log_statement=ddl -c logging_collector=on -c unix_socket_directory=/private/var/pgsql_socket -c unix_socket_group=_postgres -c unix_socket_permissions=0770
You can sudo:
sudo -u _postgres psql template1 Or connect:
psql -h localhost -U _postgres postgres You can find the data directory, version, running status and so forth with
sudo serveradmin fullstatus postgres For development purposes, one of the simplest ways is to install Postgres.app from the official site. It can be started/stopped from Applications folder or using the following commands in terminal:
# Start open -a Postgres # Stop killall Postgres killall postgres This worked for me (macOS v10.13 (High Sierra)):
sudo -u postgres /Library/PostgreSQL/9.6/bin/pg_ctl start -D /Library/PostgreSQL/9.6/data Or first
cd /Library/PostgreSQL/9.6/bin/ If you installed PostgreSQL using the EnterpriseDB installer, then what Kenial suggested is the way to go:
sudo -u postgres pg_ctl -D /Library/PostgreSQL/{version}/data start sudo -u postgres pg_ctl -D /Library/PostgreSQL/{version}/data stop For MacPorts, just use the load/unload command and the port name of the running server:
sudo port load postgresql96-server - or - sudo port unload postgresql96-server so you don't have to remember where the /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.macports.postgresql96.plist file is located.
Homebrew is the way!!
To start the service:
brew services start postgresql To list it:
brew services list | grep postgres To stop the service:
brew services stop postgresql If you didn't install the Postgres server with Homebrew or installed using .dmg file, try this:
$ sudo su postgres bash-3.2$ /Library/PostgreSQL/13/bin/pg_ctl -D /Library/PostgreSQL/13/data/ stop docker run --name some-postgres -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword -d postgres $ brew upgrade postgres
fixed it for me.
That, of course, will upgrade your PostgreSQL version and update/install any dependencies.
Warning: Do this knowing that your PostgreSQL version will likely change. For me, that wasn't a big deal.
None of the previous answers fixed the issue for me, despite getting the same error messages.
I was able to get my instance back up and running by deleting the existing postmaster.pid file which was locked and was not allowing connections.
After doing brew services restart postgresql.
It works best to: brew services stop postgresql brew postgresql-upgrade-database brew services start postgresql
Then type: psql
it now runs this was after the error: psql: error: could not connect to server: No such file or directory Is the server running locally and accepting connections on Unix domain socket "/tmp/.s.PGSQL.5432"?
The upgrade may be optional depending on the other dependencies your running.
Which means that rather than Restart using brew for in on mac os, Stop completely postgres and then start postgres and connect to your psql databaseName.
Hope this was useful.
having installed Postgres with homebrew that is what I do to start postgres and keep it in foreground to see the logs:
/opt/homebrew/opt/postgresql/bin/postgres -D /opt/homebrew/var/postgres For Mac OS X, I really like LaunchRocket for this and other background services I used in development.
This site has nice instructions on installation.
This gives you a nice screen in your System Preferences that allows you to launch, reboot, root, and launch at login.
