Changing $datadir on RHEL systems does not do everything it needs to

[sirinek]

I'm using Oracle Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6.4, Postgres 8.4.13, and puppet 3.2.4

I have postgresql::globals::datadir set to /var/opt/pgsql/data, however this causes errors during the puppet run.

The RHEL postgresql package creates the postgres user with a home directory of /var/lib/pgsql.

The first error I get during the puppet run is permission denied:

Notice: /Stage[main]/Postgresql::Server::Initdb/Exec[postgresql_initdb]/returns: creating directory /var/opt/pgsql/data ... initdb: could not create directory "/var/opt/pgsql": Permission denied
Error: /usr/bin/initdb --encoding '' --pgdata '/var/opt/pgsql/data' returned 1 instead of one of [0]
Error: /Stage[main]/Postgresql::Server::Initdb/Exec[postgresql_initdb]/returns: change from notrun to 0 failed: /usr/bin/initdb --encoding '' --pgdata '/var/opt/pgsql/data' returned 1 instead of one of [0]

This is because initdb is run by the postgres user and /var/opt is owned by root. To fix this, I changed the home directory of the postgres user to /var/opt/pgsql, and the directory was then created by puppet.

However then puppet tried to start the database, and I got another error:

Info: Class[Postgresql::Server::Service]: Scheduling refresh of Postgresql::Validate_db_connection[validate_service_is_running]
Error: Could not start Service[postgresqld]: Execution of '/sbin/service postgresql start' returned 4: 
Error: /Stage[main]/Postgresql::Server::Service/Service[postgresqld]/ensure: change from stopped to running failed: Could not start Service[postgresqld]: Execution of '/sbin/service postgresql start' returned 4: 

Running the startup manually showed what the error 4 means:

root@hostname # service postgresql start
touch: cannot touch `/var/lib/pgsql/pgstartup.log': No such file or directory

This was because RHEL hardcodes /var/lib/pgsql/data and /var/lib/pgsql/pgstartup.log as defaults for it's PGDATA and PGLOG variables in the postgresql startup script. The "RHEL way" is to put any overrides to these defaults in the /etc/sysconfig/pgsql/postgresql file.

So I'd like to request the following for the module:

1. The module should manage the /etc/sysconfig/pgsql/postgresql file on redhat servers. Information about what goes in that file can be found at http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/PostgreSQL_on_RedHat_Linux
2. If $datadir is something other than the default /var/lib/pgsql/data, have puppet create the directory and any needed parent directories and give them the appropriate permissions (It's IMO better than changing the postgres user's home directory)

The second part of this issue is fixed by #313. The module is managing that datadir, but it was creating the directory after the initdb step instead of before.

One other issue that isn't mentioned here is that, when the datadir changes, the service should be restarted.

I need this functionality, so I guess I'll start working on this issue.

[blewa]

Hey @mhuffnagle,
Did you get a chance to make any progress on this? If not I may take a stab at it.

Thanks!

Hey @blewa,

I haven't started on it yet, so go for it. If you need help or want to talk over a solution, feel free to comment here or post a gist and we can both take a stab at it.

[chelnak]

Hello! We are doing some house keeping and noticed that this issue has been open for a long time.

We're going to close it but please do raise another issue if the issue still persists. 😄