Re: Explicit configuration file

What about the common file having an entry for each 'instance' set up on 
the system.

It could be formatted something like...

Name DataDir  ConfFile  AutoStart

then pg_ctl could be called with an Instance name and start or stop the 
instance.
the initd script could scan the file looking for instances to start 
automatically.

$0.02

mlw wrote:

>Bruce Momjian wrote:
>
>>I wonder if we should go one step further.  Should we be specifying the
>>config file on the command line _rather_ than the data directory. We
>>could then specify the data directory location in the config file.  That
>>seems like the direction we should be headed in, though I am not sure it
>>is worth the added headache of the switch.
>>
>
>That is what the patch I submitted does.
>
>In the postgresql.conf file, you can specify where the data directory
>is, as well as the pg_hba.conf file exists.
>
>The purpose I had in mind was to allow sharing of pg_hba.conf files and
>keep configuration separate from data.
>
>One huge problem I have with symlinks is an admin has to "notice" that
>two files in two separate directories, possibly on two different
>volumes, are the same file, so it is very likely the ramifications of
>editing one file are not obvious.
>
>If, in the database configuration file, pghbaconfig points to
>"/etc/pg_hba.conf" it is likely, that the global significance of the
>file is obvious.
>
>(Note: I don't nessisarily think "pghbaconfig" nor "pgdatadir" are the
>best names for the parameters, but I couldn't think of anything else at
>the time.)
>
>Symlinks are a perilous UNIX construct, yes, they make some things, that
>would otherwise be a horrible kludge, elegant, but they are also no
>substitute for a properly configurable application.
>
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