If you do the following sequence, the server gives the least helpful error message:
---- initdb data pg_ctl -D data -l logfile start # The following reconfigs are obvious based on error message if you try to take a base backup echo 'local replication all trust’ >> data/pg_hba.conf sed -i 's/#wal_level = minimal/wal_level = hot_standby/' data/postgresql.conf sed -i 's/#max_wal_senders = 0/max_wal_senders = 5/' data/postgresql.conf # Backup and start pg_basebackup -D data_5434 -R pg_ctl -D data_5434 -l logfile_5434 -o ‘-p 5434’ start # Attempt psql psql -p 5434 > psql: FATAL: the database system is starting up ---- It doesn’t matter what log level you put the server log in either, it providers no additional helpful information. The problem of course is that: postgresql.conf: hot_standby = ‘off' recovery.conf: standby = ‘on' Why anybody in practice would want hot_standby off while in standby mode eludes me, but these are our default values (recovery.conf was generated by pg_basebackup -R). It seems worth adding a hint and/or changing the error message to be more descriptive when in this state. Any options about what should be logged before I start putting together a patch? - Matt K
