Unable to run PostgreSQL as Windows service

Question

I had this in my Windows services:

C:/Program Files/PostgreSQL/8.4/bin/pg_ctl.exe runservice -N "postgresql-8.4" -D "D:/PostgreSQL/8.4/data" -w

It never finishes executing. But if I did this on the dos shell:

C:/Program Files/PostgreSQL/8.4/bin/pg_ctl.exe start -N "postgresql-8.4" -D "D:/PostgreSQL/8.4/data" -w

Notice that I only changed the "runservice" to "start" and it works just fine.

Any idea?

The eventlog usually contains info about the PostgreSQL start issues — Noman_1, Mar 23 '22 at 11:42

score 46 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 13 '12 at 16:27

46

The command runservice can only be executed by the service manager

in order to fix my localhost windows 7 to start postgres as a service i used the following command to start the data

 pg_ctl -D "C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\9.1\data" start

Then checked the status for errors

 pg_ctl -D "C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\9.1\data" status

if you get error 1063 , its more than likely permissions, i executed the following command

 cacls "C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\9.1\data" /E /T /C /G postgres:F

then reran the start/status, it showed everything fine, but still service manager would not start the service

So, in Services->postgresql->options->logon i set the log on as the Local system account instead of the postgres user, and voila it worked

answered Jul 13 '12 at 16:27

Jay Rizzi

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This worked for me too. postgresql 9.5.2. In short: in services select the service and view its properties and change the login to local system – Alexander Rios Apr 15 '16 at 12:41
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Instead of `postgres` user, I used the `NETWORK_SERVICE` user. See here for details: http://stackoverflow.com/a/38563535/363573 – Stephan Jul 25 '16 at 09:02
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Better answer: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/36629963/how-can-i-start-postgresql-on-windows – Ganesh Jadhav Nov 30 '20 at 09:11

score 11 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 22 '11 at 00:33

11

this happened to me because i set my data directory to be somewhere the postgres windows user account didn't have access to.

answered Feb 22 '11 at 00:33

pstanton

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This is EXACTLY the reason why this happens! You must change the data-directory during setup to avoid this problem – Anonymous Dec 15 '15 at 12:31
For the casual reader, here is a simple method to set data directory permissions correctly: http://stackoverflow.com/a/38563535/363573. – Stephan Jul 25 '16 at 09:07
To be noted, by default, PostgreSQL on Windows seem to use NetworkService as user. – Bart Friederichs Aug 25 '17 at 10:00

score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 06 '13 at 19:26

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I had this problem in Windows after a system crash. Running the first command showed invalid data in C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\9.1\data\postmaster.pid. Deleting that file did the trick. Reference.

answered Dec 06 '13 at 19:26

Tom

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Stephan · Answer 4 · 2016-07-25T09:09:36.057

I faced the same issue after moving manually the database data files (PG_DATA directory) without recreating all the necessary permissions.

Here is how I solved my issue:

1. Check permissions on old PG_DATA directory:

cacls "c:\path\to\old\pgdata\dir"

2. Check permissions on new PG_DATA directory:

cacls "d:\path\to\NEW\pgdata\dir"

3. Compare outputs from 1. and 2.

Find the differences between users and/or permissions then synchronize them.

Nota: I found it easier to use explorer for the synchronization step rather than using cacls directly from the command line.

score 4 · Answer 5 · edited Nov 13 '18 at 13:21

If you changed pg_hba.conf , maybe you missed somewhere in file. For example there must be CIDR after IP in that file. It must be like 192.168.1.100/32

If you forgot to put 32, then server doesnt restart.

Investigation of startup logs could be a clue. For the case problem is in the pg_hba.conf you could see something like this:

2018-11-13 00:39:34.841 PST [8284] FATAL:  could not load pg_hba.conf
2018-11-13 00:39:34.842 PST [8284] LOG:  database system is shut down

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Aug 09 '09 at 20:13

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You need to check your logfiles and the windows eventlog for some hint of what the problem is. If there is nothing at all there, you need to break out something like Process Monitor and get a stacktrace of where it's hung.

answered Aug 09 '09 at 20:13

Magnus Hagander

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score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Aug 27 '09 at 18:59

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I have had this issue in the past, and it was that the installer did not set up the permissions correctly for the user that the service was to run as.

answered Aug 27 '09 at 18:59

Grant Johnson

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score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Oct 26 '19 at 04:24

I've also ran into this problem with postgresql throwing and error after trying to initialize the database cluster. After analyzing the log files and running command line scripts for 4 hours I've got the solution to anyone running into this problem for Windows Versions.

This is not a detailed description as to why its happening. I've installed odoo 10, 11, 12 and 13 numerous times on countless client servers and windows systems and this is the first time I've ever ran into this problem. I cant say if its because I have MS VS Enterprise installed and Android Studio on this machine or what. But Below is the easy answer on how to fix it and initialize the cluster and create the database files in the data folder.

Open the data folder for postgresql. - For Odoo installs it will normally be "C:\Program Files (x86)\Odoo 13.0\PostgreSQL" Unless you chose another location when installing.
Remove any or all files from this folder - If not you will get an error when running initdb.exe
Right click the data folder and open up the properties for it. Click on the Security tab and then click the advanced button on the bottom.
You need to change the owner of this folder to openpgsvc. Click Change and type in openpgsvc and click ok. Once done click the check box below saying that you want this change to affect containers with this container as well.
Then on the Permissions tab click the add button on the bottom. You need to add openpgsvc as a user and give this user full rights. Click apply and and ok to close out of all the folder properties.
Now you need to open cmd.exe - Once open we are going to call initdb.exe and pass some values to it as well.
First run chdir and change the working directory to the location of initdb.exe. For me, running odoo 13 on a windows 10 machine the location is this..

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Odoo 13.0\PostgreSQL\bin"

There is one variable that need to be passed as well to make this work here is the list. NEEDS TO BE INCLUDED IN THE CALL TO initdb.exe

Postgres Data Dir: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Odoo 13.0\PostgreSQL\data"

The End Result with the parameter would look like this for my installation:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Odoo 13.0\PostgreSQL\bin\initdb.exe" -D "C:\Program Files (x86)\Odoo 13.0\PostgreSQL\data"

Hit Enter and let it rip. The output of this command should look like this below. Cmd.exe running initdb.exe script

score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Dec 13 '21 at 09:08

Make sure there is no buggy empty file Program at C:\ like C:\Program

In this case, explorer will warn whenever you log on into Windows.

File Name Warning
-----------------
There is a file or folder on your computer called "C:\Program" which
could cause certain applications to not function correctly. Renaming it
to "C:\Program1" would solve this problem. Would you like to rename
it now?

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered May 08 '19 at 12:50

Installing PostgreSQL 10 On Windows 7 (yes the clock is ticking...). I first tried the latest version 11 which completely failed to install... not a good sign for Windows users. Anyway.

Quick answer: Change the account in the Windows Services panel from Network to Local.

Details of my case

During installation I created/selected a data folder in the user profile folder, because obviously the folder suggested by default, within the program folder, wouldn't work, and if it worked it would be a very idea to put data here (I don't know whether it's usual to do that on Unix/Linux, but for Windows it's it's not allowed for a long time).

At the end (when populating the data cluster) I received an error:

Failed to load SQL Modules into database Cluster

but the installation was able to complete. I found two pages about previous error, here and here, but they didn't seem relevant to my case, so I just started pgAdmin and, on the left "browser", saw the server wasn't active.

I tried to start it from here (had to type the main password), but it went inactive immediately again. So I tried to use the Windows services panel to start "postgresql-x64-10", no joy. I copied the command from this panel and pasted it into a Windows console (cmd.exe) where I finally received this

error 1063.

Searching I found this related question, and was convinced the problem was about permissions.

Solution working for my case

In the services panel I changed the account used to start the service from Network Service to Local System as suggested in a comment by @AlexanderRios.

2022-Nov update: Network_Service to Local_system worked for me on Windows Server 2019 10.0.17763.3650. COPY FROM would fail with permission errors when running under NETWORK SERVICE "log on" as for Windows Service. — wistlo, Nov 19 '22 at 17:47

score 0 · Answer 11 · edited Apr 21 '20 at 08:27

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sc create "postgresql-9.2" binPath= "\"C:/Program Files (x86)/PostgreSQL/9.2/bin/pg_ctl.exe\" runservice -N \"postgresql-9.2\" -D \"C:/Program Files (x86)/PostgreSQL/9.2/data\" -w" DisplayName= "postgresql-9.2" start= auto

Try this on CMD run as Administrator (Add your parameters depend on your version)

edited Apr 21 '20 at 08:27

32cupo

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answered Apr 20 '20 at 05:55

Nxt_N_C

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score 0 · Answer 12 · answered May 07 '22 at 13:58

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Stop all postgres processes
Go to the postgres data folder (C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\9.6\data)
Delete the postmaster.opts and postmaster.pid files
From the control panel, in administrative tools and the services console start the postgres service

answered May 07 '22 at 13:58

Doberon

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postmaster.pid is not there. Removing postmaster.opts does not help. – keramat Dec 08 '22 at 16:28

score -5 · Answer 13 · edited May 28 '18 at 01:38

-5

open pgAdmin III and then in right pane find server then just right click and connect, enter the password. after connected go to the browser and refresh ODOO. Problem solved.

See image to get better understanding

edited May 28 '18 at 01:38

coder

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answered Mar 01 '18 at 20:01

M Kamran Haider

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Unable to run PostgreSQL as Windows service

13 Answers13

1. Check permissions on old PG_DATA directory:

2. Check permissions on new PG_DATA directory:

3. Compare outputs from 1. and 2.