How can I start PostgreSQL server on Mac OS X

Question

Final update  I had forgotten to run the initdb command   By running this command ps auxwww   grep postgres  I see that postgres is not running  gt  ps auxwww   grep postgres remcat          1789   0 0  0 0  2434892    480 s000  R    11 28PM   0 00 00 grep postgres  This raises the question  How do I start the PostgreSQL server  Update   gt  pg ctl -D  usr local var postgres -l  usr local var postgres server log start server starting sh   usr local var postgres server log  No such file or directory  Update 2  The touch was not successful  so I did this instead   gt  mkdir  usr local var postgres  gt  vi  usr local var postgres server log  gt  ls  usr local var postgres  server log  But when I try to start the Ruby on Rails server  I still see this   Is the server running on host  quot localhost quot  and accepting TCP IP connections on port 5432   Update 3   gt  pg ctl -D  usr local var postgres status pg ctl  no server running  Update 4  I found that there wasn t any pg hba conf file  only file pg hba conf sample   so I modified the sample and renamed it  to remover the  sample   Here are the contents     IPv4 local connections   host    all             all             127 0 0 1 32           trust    IPv6 local connections   host    all             all               1 128                trust  But I don t understand this   gt  pg ctl -D  usr local var postgres -l  usr local var postgres server log start server starting  gt  pg ctl -D  usr local var postgres status pg ctl  no server running  Also  sudo find   -name postgresql conf find   dev fd 3  Not a directory find   dev fd 4  Not a directory  Update 5  sudo pg ctl -D  usr local var postgres -l  usr local var postgres server log start Password  pg ctl  cannot be run as root Please log in  using  e g    quot su quot   as the  unprivileged  user that will own the server process   Update 6  This seems odd   gt  egrep  listen port   usr local var postgres postgresql conf egrep   usr local var postgres postgresql conf  No such file or directory  Though  I did do this   gt sudo find   -name  quot  postgresql conf  quot  find   dev fd 3  Not a directory find   dev fd 4  Not a directory  usr local Cellar postgresql 9 0 4 share postgresql postgresql conf sample  usr share postgresql postgresql conf sample  So I did this  egrep  listen port   usr local Cellar postgresql 9 0 4 share postgresql postgresql conf sample  listen addresses    localhost           what IP address es  to listen on   port   5432                   change requires restart                    supported by the operating system                       r   remote host and port  So I tried this   gt  cp  usr local Cellar postgresql 9 0 4 share postgresql postgresql conf sample  usr local Cellar postgresql 9 0 4 share postgresql postgresql conf  gt  cp  usr share postgresql postgresql conf sample  usr share postgresql postgresql conf  I am still getting the same  quot Is the server running  quot  message

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Variation on this answer  https   stackoverflow com a 13103603 2394728   initdb  brew --prefix  var postgres data -E utf8    amp  amp   pg ctl -D  usr local var postgres data -l logfile start

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Sometimes it s just the version which you are missing  and you are scratching your head unnecessarily  If you are using a specific version of PostgreSQL  for example  PostgreSQL  10  then simply do brew services start postgresql 10  brew services stop postgresql 10  The normal brew services start postgresql won t work without a version if you have installed it for a specific version from Homebrew

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docker run --name some-postgres -e POSTGRES PASSWORD mysecretpassword -d postgres   https   hub docker com   postgres

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Another approach is using the lunchy gem  a wrapper for launchctl   brew install postgresql initdb  usr local var postgres -E utf8 gem install lunchy  To start PostgreSQL  lunchy start postgres  To stop PostgreSQL  lunchy stop postgres  For further information  refer to   quot How to Install PostgreSQL on a Mac With Homebrew and Lunchy quot

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I had almost the exact same issue  and you cited the initdb command as being the fix   This was also the solution for me  but I didn t see that anyone posted it here  so for those who are looking for it   initdb  usr local var postgres -E utf8

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None of the previous answers fixed the issue for me  despite getting the same error messages  I was able to get my instance back up and running by deleting the existing postmaster pid file which was locked and was not allowing connections

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Remove old database files  if there was any   rm -rf  usr local var postgres    Install the binary    brew install postgresql    init it   initdb  usr local var postgres    Start the PostgreSQL server   postgres -D  usr local var postgres    Create your database   createdb mydb    Access the database   psql mydb psql  9 0 1  Type  quot help quot  for help

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For a quick disposable test database  you can run the server in the foreground  Initialize a new PostgreSQL database in a new directory  mkdir db initdb db -E utf8 createdb public  Start the server in the foreground  Ctrl   C to stop the server   postgres -d db  In another shell session  connect to the server psql -d public

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brew upgrade postgres fixed it for me  That  of course  will upgrade your PostgreSQL version and update install any dependencies  Warning  Do this knowing that your PostgreSQL version will likely change  For me  that wasn t a big deal

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There is some edge case that maybe will be helpful for someone  There is an option that you will have postgres pid filled with some PID  If you restart your machine  and before PostgreSQL will be back again  some other process will take that PID  If that will happen  both the pg ctl status and brew service are asked about the PostgreSQL status  will tell you that it is up  Just do ps aux   grep  lt yourPID gt  and check if it is really PostgreSQL

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There are two primary components to PostgreSQL  the database server and a client  There is an included client via the CLI  or like me  you might be used to tools like phpMyAdmin  so it requires a separate GUI client  For example  on macOS  install Postgres app which is  65  MB from  https   postgresapp com  Then follow these instructions   install and initialise the server with the button on the right  update your  PATH using terminal  sudo mkdir -p  etc paths d  amp  amp  echo  Applications Postgres app Contents Versions latest bin   sudo tee  etc paths d postgresapp and finally  install the pgAdmin GUI which is about  100  MB from  https   www pgadmin org download pgadmin-4-macos

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If your computer was abruptly restarted  You may want to start PostgreSQL server  but it was not  First  you have to delete the file  usr local var postgres postmaster pid  Then you can restart the service using one of the many other mentioned methods depending on your install  You can verify this by looking at the logs of PostgreSQL to see what might be going on  tail -f  usr local var postgres server log For a specific version  tail -f  usr local var postgres  VERSION NUM  server log  For example   tail -f  usr local var postgres 11 server log

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This worked for me  macOS v10 13  High Sierra    sudo -u postgres  Library PostgreSQL 9 6 bin pg ctl start -D  Library PostgreSQL 9 6 data  Or first cd  Library PostgreSQL 9 6 bin

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For test purposes  I think PostgreSQL App is the best option  Run an app  and the server is up and running  Close the app  and the server goes down  http   postgresapp com

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I was facing the same problem  I tried all of these solutions  but none worked  I finally managed to get it working by changing the PostgreSQL HOST in Django settings from localhost to 127 0 0 1

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For completeness sake  Check whether you re inside a Tmux or Screen instance  Starting won t work from there  From  Error while trying to start PostgreSQL installed via Homebrew     Operation not permitted    This solved it for me

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If you want to manually start and stop PostgreSQL  installed via Homebrew   the easiest way is  brew services start postgresql  and brew services stop postgresql  If you have a specific version  make sure to suffix the version  For example  brew services start postgresql 10

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Homebrew is the way   To start the service  brew services start postgresql  To list it  brew services list   grep postgres  To stop the service  brew services stop postgresql

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When you install PostgreSQL using Homebrew  brew install postgres  at the end of the output  you will see this methods to start the server  To have launchd start postgresql at login      ln -sfv  usr local opt postgresql   plist   Library LaunchAgents Then to load postgresql now      launchctl load   Library LaunchAgents homebrew mxcl postgresql plist Or  if you don t want need launchctl  you can just run      postgres -D  usr local var postgres  I think this is the best way  You can add an alias into your  profile file for convenience

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The cleanest way by far to start stop restart PostgreSQL if you have installed it through brew is to simply unload and or load the launchd configuration file that comes with the installation  launchctl unload   Library LaunchAgents homebrew mxcl postgresql plist launchctl load   Library LaunchAgents homebrew mxcl postgresql plist  The first line will stop PostgreSQL and the second line will start it  There isn t any need to specify any data directories  etc  since everything is in that file

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PostgreSQL is integrated in Server app available through the App  Store in Mac  OS  X  v10 8  Mountain Lion   That means that it is already configured  and you only need to launch it  and then create users and databases  Tip  Do not start with defining  PGDATA and so on  Take file locations as is  You would have this file   Library Server PostgreSQL Config org postgresql postgres plist To start  sudo serveradmin start postgres  Process started with arguments   Applications Server app Contents ServerRoot usr bin postgres real -D  Library Server PostgreSQL Data -c listen addresses 127 0 0 1   1 -c log connections on -c log directory  Library Logs PostgreSQL -c log filename PostgreSQL log -c log line prefix  t  -c log lock waits on -c log statement ddl -c logging collector on -c unix socket directory  private var pgsql socket -c unix socket group  postgres -c unix socket permissions 0770 You can sudo  sudo -u  postgres psql template1  Or connect  psql -h localhost -U  postgres postgres  You can find the data directory  version  running status and so forth with sudo serveradmin fullstatus postgres

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Here is an easy and always forking solution  mac os    WARNING  IT WILL DELETE ALL YOUR DATABASES   Stop the postgres service  brew services stop postgres  Delete all files in  quot postgres quot  directory  rm -rf  usr local var postgres    Initialize the new database system  initdb  usr local var postgres -E utf8  Start postgres  pg ctl -D  usr local var postgres -l server log start

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After doing brew services restart postgresql  It works best to  brew services stop postgresql brew postgresql-upgrade-database brew services start postgresql Then type  psql  it now runs this was after the error  psql  error  could not connect to server  No such file or directory Is the server running locally and accepting connections on Unix domain socket  quot  tmp  s PGSQL 5432 quot   The upgrade may be optional depending on the other dependencies your running  Which means that rather than Restart using brew for in on mac os  Stop completely postgres and then start postgres and connect to your psql databaseName  Hope this was useful

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For Mac  OS  X  I really like LaunchRocket for this and other background services I used in development  This site has nice instructions on installation  This gives you a nice screen in your System Preferences that allows you to launch  reboot  root  and launch at login

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Here my two cents  I made an alias for postgres pg ctl and put it in file  bash profile  my PostgreSQL version is 9 2 4  and the database path is  Library PostgreSQL 9 2 data   alias postgres server  quot sudo -u postgres pg ctl -D  Library PostgreSQL 9 2 data quot   Launch a new terminal  And then  You can start stop your PostgreSQL server with this  postgres server start postgres server stop

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If you installed PostgreSQL using the EnterpriseDB installer  then what Kenial suggested is the way to go  sudo -u postgres pg ctl -D  Library PostgreSQL  version  data start sudo -u postgres pg ctl -D  Library PostgreSQL  version  data stop

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This worked for me every time  inspired by Craig Ringer  brew install proctools sudo pkill -u postgres  proctools includes pkill  If you don t have Homebrew  https   brew sh

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For MacPorts  just use the load unload command and the port name of the running server  sudo port load postgresql96-server - or - sudo port unload postgresql96-server  so you don t have to remember where the  Library LaunchDaemons org macports postgresql96 plist file is located

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If you have installed using Homebrew  the below command should be enough  brew services restart postgresql  This sometimes might not work  In that case  the below two commands should definitely work  rm  usr local var postgres postmaster pid  pg ctl -D  usr local var postgres start

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If you didn t install it with Homebrew and directly from the Mac package  this worked for me for PostgreSQL 12 when using all the default locations  variables  etc    sudo su postgres bash-3 2   Library PostgreSQL 12 bin pg ctl -D  Library PostgreSQL 12 data  stop

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The Homebrew package manager includes launchctl plists to start automatically  For more information  run brew info postgres  Start manually pg ctl -D  usr local var postgres start Stop manually pg ctl -D  usr local var postgres stop Start automatically  quot To have launchd start postgresql now and restart at login  quot  brew services start postgresql  What is the result of pg ctl -D  usr local var postgres -l  usr local var postgres server log start  What is the result of pg ctl -D  usr local var postgres status  Are there any error messages in the server log  Make sure tcp localhost connections are enabled in pg hba conf    IPv4 local connections  host    all    all    127 0 0 1 32    trust  Check the listen addresses and port in postgresql conf  egrep  listen port   usr local var postgres postgresql conf  listen addresses    localhost           What IP address es  to listen on   port   5432                   change requires restart    Cleaning up PostgreSQL was most likely installed via Homebrew  Fink  MacPorts or the EnterpriseDB installer  Check the output of the following commands to determine which package manager it was installed with  brew  amp  amp  brew list grep postgres fink  amp  amp  fink list grep postgres port  amp  amp  port installed grep postgres

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For development purposes  one of the simplest ways is to install Postgres app from the official site  It can be started stopped from Applications folder or using the following commands in terminal    Start open -a Postgres    Stop killall Postgres killall postgres

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To start the PostgreSQL server  pg ctl -D  usr local var postgres -l  usr local var postgres server log start  To end the PostgreSQL server  pg ctl -D  usr local var postgres stop -s -m fast  You can also create an alias via CLI to make it easier  alias pg-start  pg ctl -D  usr local var postgres -l  usr local var postgres server log start  alias pg-stop  pg ctl -D  usr local var postgres stop -s -m fast   With these you can just type  quot pg-start quot  to start PostgreSQL and  quot pg-stop quot  to shut it down

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I had the same problem and performed all updates from the first post  But after checking the log file   usr local var postgres server log  I see the true cause  FATAL   data directory  quot  usr local var postgres quot  has group or world access DETAIL   Permissions should be u rwx  0700    After changing permissions on this directory  chmod 0700  usr local var postgres  the PostgreSQL server started  Check the log file every time

[macos] How can I start PostgreSQL server on Mac OS X?

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