[Pkg-postgresql-private] Re: [XWarn] Re: Debian packages of 7.4

[Oliver Elphick]

On Wed, 2003-11-19 at 00:05, Bill Moseley wrote:
> Last night I installed 7.3 from unstable.  I then noticed from the
> postgres site that 7.4 was just releasesd.  I did nothing with postgres.
> In the morning I saw your post about 7.4 and just now I apt-get remove
> postgresql.  Then I installed your experimental package.
> 
> I got this email (below) after installing.  I'm a bit confused about the message
> as it says there's a problem but then says the upgrade succeeded.  The
> installation did say:
> 
>   Attempting PostgreSQL database upgrade; the time taken will depend on
>   the size of your database(s).
> 
> I had not created any databases with 7.3, but I suppose the init scripts
> did when installing 7.3?

That's right.  The postinst creates a database cluster.

> Anyway, I'm not clear of the state of the server at this time.
> 
> Not sure if you wanted to see this or not.
> Is there a better place to send these comments?

You could send it to pkg-postgresql-public@lists.alioth.org, which is
the public mailing list for Debian's postgresql packaging, but sending
it to me is fine too.

> I've very new to Postgresql, if that's not obvious... ;)
> 
> 
> ----------
> The postmaster did not start after postgresql was installed:
> 
> Stopping PostgreSQL database server: postmasterpg_ctl: could not find
> /var/lib/postgres/data/postmaster.pid
> Is postmaster running?
> .
> Starting PostgreSQL database server: postmaster(FAILED)
> ERROR: The database is in an older format that cannot be read by
> version 7.4 of PostgreSQL.
> 
> Run postgresql-dump to dump the old database and to reload
> it in the new format.
> *** READ /usr/share/doc/postgresql/README.Debian.migration.gz FIRST! ***
> 
> The version 7.4 postmaster cannot be started until
> this is done.
> 
> A database upgrade appeared to be required and an automatic upgrade was
> attempted.
> 
> 
> The automatic upgrade appears to have succeeded.
> ---------

Your position is that everything installed OK and the database cluster
created by 7.3 was successfully upgraded to 7.4.  I can see that the
combination of messages might be confusing.  We'll have to see what you
can do about that.

To find out about PostgreSQL you need to install the documentation
(postgresql-doc) and start reading.  If you also need to learn SQL, you
could probably do with a good book about it, or browse the web for a
tutorial.  There are books on PostgreSQL; the trouble is they get
outdated with every major release and most are based on 7.1 or 7.2.

Books on SQL itself may help, but you need to be aware that every
version has its own way of doing things; PostgreSQL tries to stick to
the standards, but major players like Oracle and SQLserver (Microsoft)
do things their own way.  You have to learn what is different.

The postgresql mailing lists may help; there are pages linked from
www.postgresql.org where you can subscribe. 

-- 
Oliver Elphick                                Oliver.Elphick@lfix.co.uk
Isle of Wight, UK                             http://www.lfix.co.uk/oliver
GPG: 1024D/3E1D0C1C: CA12 09E0 E8D5 8870 5839  932A 614D 4C34 3E1D 0C1C
                 ========================================
     "To show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and 
      thy faithfulness every night."     Psalms 92:2