Обсуждение: postgresql.conf file and logging questions

Hello list,

1.  Where should the postgresql.conf file be to be recognized by the
service on startup?  currently, it is inside my $PGDATA directory but
all of its contents are commented out.

2.  I can't find any log files for postgres.  Inside my /var/log/
directory, there is an empty
file called pgsql.  What do I have to do to get it to log errors,
etc.  Is there a difference between normal logging and syslog logging?

Sorry for the newbie questions!

Thanks,
Devin

admin@usachurch.com writes:
> 1.  Where should the postgresql.conf file be to be recognized by the
> service on startup?  currently, it is inside my $PGDATA directory but
> all of its contents are commented out.

That's the correct file.  Uncomment anything you want to change.

> 2.  I can't find any log files for postgres.  Inside my /var/log/
> directory, there is an empty
> file called pgsql.  What do I have to do to get it to log errors,
> etc.

If you want to use that file you could add "-l /var/log/pgsql" to the
pg_ctl start command in your PG startup script.

> Is there a difference between normal logging and syslog logging?

Yes, one goes to a file and the other to syslog ;-)

I'd recommend syslog on the whole, since you don't normally have to
worry about rotating logfiles when you use syslog.

            regards, tom lane

On Saturday 27 March 2004 08:32 pm, admin@usachurch.com wrote:
> 1.  Where should the postgresql.conf file be to be recognized by the
> service on startup?  currently, it is inside my $PGDATA directory but
> all of its contents are commented out.

It is a template.  This is where the file should be located.

> 2.  I can't find any log files for postgres.  Inside my /var/log/
> directory, there is an empty
> file called pgsql.  What do I have to do to get it to log errors,
> etc.  Is there a difference between normal logging and syslog logging?

Please see the section on Logging (section 9) in README.rpm-dist, which is
typically installed in /usr/share/doc/postgresql-version.  For example, for
version 7.4.2, that is /usr/share/doc/postgresql-7.4.2.  The whole section
is:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
LOGGING SET UP
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To get rollable syslog set up, see the documentation for the file
postgresql.conf, by default in the directory /var/lib/pgsql/data, as relates
to
the syslog options.  Then, add a line to /etc/syslog.conf, using the man page
for syslog.conf as a source. Example:
If postgresql.conf has the following lines for the syslog settings:
syslog = 1 # range 0-2
syslog_facility = 'LOCAL0'
syslog_ident = 'postgres'

Then you need to add the line to /etc/syslog.conf:
local0.*            /var/log/postgresql

Then set up an entry in /etc/logrotate.d to roll postgresql the way you want
it
rolled.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Now, substitute /var/log/pgsql or whatever for the above file (hmmm, I wrote
that section of the README.rpm-dist, but I though I had changed it to
be /var/log/pgsql....).

There is other very useful information in README.rpm-dist; you really should
read that file.
--
Lamar Owen
Director of Information Technology
Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute
1 PARI Drive
Rosman, NC  28772
(828)862-5554
www.pari.edu