Re: Explicit configuration file

mlw wrote:
> 
> Bruce Momjian wrote:
> >
> > > Does anyone see any value to these mods? I wanted to be able to run multiple
> > > PostgreSQL instances on the same machine, and having the ability to keep these
> > > control files in a central location and share the HBA control files between
> > > databases may be helpful for admins. It will certainly make my life
> > easier.
> >
> > Isn't it easier to just use symlinks?
> >
> 
> There is a sort of chicken and egg poblem with PostgreSQL administration. Since
> the settings are not in the "etc" directory, you need to know where PostgreSQL
> is installed before you can administer it. If you have multiple systems,
> configured differently, you have to hunt around to find your PostgreSQL
> directory on the machine on which you are working.
> 
> We use a "push" system to push out a whole PostgreSQL data directory to
> multiple boxes. It would be good to be able to specify default configuration
> differences between the master the slaves without having to edit the snap shot.
> 
> At our site, all the configuration files are in a centralized directory and
> under CVS, except one. Guess which.
> 
> Symlinks don't copy well via ssh.
> 
> Having the configuration files outside a standard directory, ala "/etc" is not
> very UNIX like.
> 
> I could run:
>         initdb -D/u01/pgsql
>         su pgsql -c "postgresql -C /etc/pgsql/mydb.conf"
> 
> And get all the settings I specify without having to copy files.
> 
> I could go on, and they are all just nit-picks to be sure, but it just seems
> "cleaner" to be able to put the configuration in a separate place than the
> data.

Perhaps, even use the standard GNU configure "sysconfigdir" setting to point to
postgresql.conf, as well as pg_hba.conf. i.e. "$sysconfigdir/postgresql.conf.
That should be easy enough, and hat would bring PostgreSQL in line with many of
the common practices.