Socket File "/var/pgsql_socket/.s.PGSQL.5432" Missing In Mountain Lion (OS X Server)

Postgresql Osx Mountain-Lion Postgresql 9.2 Osx Server

Postgresql Problem Overview

I just upgraded my MacMini Server from Lion Server to Mountain Lion using OS X Server. I am having the same problem with PostgreSQL that I did last year when I first installed Lion Server.

When I try to do any kind of PostgreSQL terminal command I get the following notorious error message that many have gotten over the years:

psql: could not connect to server: No such file or directory
    Is the server running locally and accepting
    connections on Unix domain socket "/var/pgsql_socket/.s.PGSQL.5432"?

I was attempting to change the password for _postgres when I got the error. I tried several commands but got the same error. I just rebooted my server but no luck. I logged in as root to look at /var/pgsql_socket and the folder is empty. Folder /var/pgsql_socket_alt is also empty.

I have checked online about this. However just about all of the solutions I have read, including on Stack Overflow, suggest a removal and reinstall of PostgreSQL. I do not know but this does not seem like a plausible option because several options on the Server App use PostgreSQL. I contacted Apple Enterprise Support (no agreement) and I was told that my issue would have to be solved by the developers which would cost $695.

I have a website that is down right now because I cannot rebuild it. I don't know where to turn for help with this at this point. I will continue looking online to see if I can find something. However I hope that someone can give me an answer quick so I can rebuild my database.

Update: 12/13/2012 15:33 GMT-6

Here is my output for ps auwx|grep postg:

_postgres      28123   0.0  0.1  2479696   7724   ??  Ss    3:01PM   0:00.04 /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/usr/bin/postgres_real -D /Library/Server/PostgreSQL For Server Services/Data -c listen_addresses= -c log_connections=on -c log_directory=/Library/Logs/PostgreSQL -c log_filename=PostgreSQL_Server_Services.log -c log_line_prefix=%t  -c log_lock_waits=on -c log_statement=ddl -c logging_collector=on -c unix_socket_directory=/Library/Server/PostgreSQL For Server Services/Socket -c unix_socket_group=_postgres -c unix_socket_permissions=0770
server1        28216   0.0  0.0  2432768    620 s000  R+    3:02PM   0:00.00 grep postg
_postgres      28138   0.0  0.0  2439388    752   ??  Ss    3:01PM   0:00.01 postgres: stats collector process                           
_postgres      28137   0.0  0.0  2479828   1968   ??  Ss    3:01PM   0:00.00 postgres: autovacuum launcher process                           
_postgres      28136   0.0  0.0  2479696    544   ??  Ss    3:01PM   0:00.00 postgres: wal writer process                           
_postgres      28135   0.0  0.0  2479696    732   ??  Ss    3:01PM   0:00.01 postgres: writer process                           
_postgres      28134   0.0  0.0  2479696    592   ??  Ss    3:01PM   0:00.00 postgres: checkpointer process                           
_postgres      28131   0.0  0.0  2439388    368   ??  Ss    3:01PM   0:00.00 postgres: logger process

Update: 12/13/2012 18:10 GMT-6

After intense web searching this video was found. I was able to get PostgreSQL working and remove the error. I am able to connect using pgadmin and phppgadmin. I was about to go back to Lion Server because of sheer frustration. Now I will not have to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1c7WFMMkZ4

Postgresql Solutions

Solution 1 - Postgresql

I was able to add the following to my .bash_profile to prevent the error:

export PGHOST=localhost

This works because:

> If you omit the host name, psql will connect via a Unix-domain socket to a server on the local host, or via TCP/IP to localhost on machines that don't have Unix-domain sockets.

Your OS supports Unix domain sockets, but PostgreSQL's Unix socket that psql needs either doesn't exist or is in a different location than it expects.

Specifying a hostname explicitly as localhost forces psql to use TCP/IP. Setting an environment variable PGHOST is one of the ways to achieve that. It's documented in psql's manual.

Solution 2 - Postgresql

Try paste in console this:

$ mkdir /var/pgsql_socket/ 

$ ln -s /private/tmp/.s.PGSQL.5432 /var/pgsql_socket/

Solution 3 - Postgresql

I was able to solve by simply filling in 127.0.0.1 for the PostgreSQL host address rather than leaving it blank. (Django Example)

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql_psycopg2',
        'NAME': 'database_name',
        'USER': 'database_user',
        'PASSWORD': 'pass',
        'HOST': '127.0.0.1',
        'PORT': '',
        }
}

Solution 4 - Postgresql

Open 'postgresql.conf' in you favourite editor. Look for the variable 'unix_socket_directories', it will most likely look like this:

unix_socket_directories = '/private/tmp/'

Change the line to this:

unix_socket_directories = '/var/pgsql_socket/'

Note if you want the socket files in more than one directory comma separate them.

Solution 5 - Postgresql

A much more simple solution (thanks to http://daniel.fone.net.nz/blog/2014/12/01/fixing-connection-errors-after-upgrading-postgres/) . I had upgraded to postgres 9.4. In my case, all I needed to do (after a day of googling and not succeeding)

gem uninstall pg
gem uninstall activerecord-postgresql-adapter
bundle install

Restart webrick, and done!

Solution 6 - Postgresql

As mentioned by others in the comments, a really simple solution to this issue is to declare the database 'host' within the database configuration. Adding this answer just to make it a little more clear for anyone reading this.

In a Ruby on Rails app for example, edit /config/database.yml:

development:
  adapter: postgresql
  encoding: unicode
  database: database_name
  pool: 5
  host: localhost

Note: the last line added to specify the host. Prior to updating to Yosemite I never needed to specify the host in this way.

Hope this helps someone.

Cheers

Solution 7 - Postgresql

Check for the status of the database:

service postgresql status

If the database is not running, start the db:

sudo service postgresql start

Solution 8 - Postgresql

Can you check your postgresql.conf file ??

On what port your postgres is running ??

I think it is not running on port 5432.If not change it to 5432

OR on terminal use

psql -U  postgres -p YOUR_PORT_NUMBER database_name

Solution 9 - Postgresql

I had this problem with Django.

Fix it by explicitly setting your hostname to "localhost".

Solution 10 - Postgresql

i make in word by doing this:

dpkg-reconfigure locales

and choose your preferred locales

pg_createcluster 9.5 main --start

(9.5 is my version of postgresql)

/etc/init.d/postgresql start

and then it word!

sudo su - postgres
psql

Solution 11 - Postgresql

For RubyOnRails app add localhost If you use custom Postgresql version

# config/database.yml
default: &default
  host: localhost

Solution 12 - Postgresql

If you have the above problem but you have upgraded from Yosemite, then a different approach is needed as the upgrade solution can destroy some files. More details are at https://stackoverflow.com/questions/25970132/pg-tblspc-missing-after-installation-of-os-x-yosemite.

Solution 13 - Postgresql

apt-get install postgres-xc-client
apt-get install postgres-xc

Solution 14 - Postgresql

First remove the installed postgres:

sudo apt-get purge postgr*
sudo apt-get autoremove

Then install 'synaptic':

sudo apt-get install synaptic
sudo apt-get update

Then install Postgres

sudo apt-get install postgresql postgresql-contrib

Solution 15 - Postgresql

psql: could not connect to server: No such file or directory
    Is the server running locally and accepting
    connections on Unix domain socket"/var/pgsql_socket/.s.PGSQL.5432"?

I kept on getting the above error and none of the above solutions worked for me. Finally the following solution solved my problem on Mac OS X

Install postgres using brew

brew install postgres

Install brew services

brew tap homebrew/services

To start postgres as a background service

brew services start postgresql

To stop postgres manually

brew services stop postgresql

We can also use brew services to restart Postgres

brew services restart postgresql

Solution 16 - Postgresql

check the postgres server is running with following code

sudo service postgresql status

if the postgres server is inactive, write the following command.

sudo service postgresql start

Solution 17 - Postgresql

I got this error after my computer froze and rebooted on its own. The solution for me was not found on this page, rather on another very highly rated SO question with the same error https://stackoverflow.com/questions/13573204/psql-could-not-connect-to-server-no-such-file-or-directory-mac-os-x#answer-13573207. The answer: just delete this file /usr/local/var/postgres/postmaster.pid, then brew services restart postgresql did the trick. Heed the warning on the linked answer about killing postgres processes before doing this else you could corrupt your db permanently.

Solution 18 - Postgresql

It took me a while but I was able to get this working finally after going through the suggestions offered and additional web searches being done. I used the information in the following YouTube video created by Mactasia:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1c7WFMMkZ4

When I did this I saw the file with .lock as the extension. However I still got the error when I tried to start the Rails Server when I resumed working on my Rails application using PostgreSQL. This time I got a permission denied error. This is when I remembered that not only did I have to change listen_addresses in the plist but I also had to change unit_socket_permissions to 0777. I also logged in as root to change the permissions on the var/pgsql_socket folder where I could access it at the user level. Postgres is working fine now. I am in the process of reloading my data from my SQL backup.

What I did not understand was that when I had wiki turned on PostgreSQL was supposedly working when I did a sudo serveradmin fullstatus postgres but I still got the error. Oh well.

Solution 19 - Postgresql

File permissions are restrictive on the Postgres db owned by the Mac OS. These permissions are reset after reboot, or restart of Postgres: e.g. serveradmin start postgres.

So, temporarily reset the permissions or ownership:

sudo chmod o+rwx /var/pgsql_socket/.s.PGSQL.5432
sudo chown "webUser"  /var/pgsql_socket/.s.PGSQL.5432

Permissions resetting is not secure, so install a version of the db that you own for a solution.

Solution 20 - Postgresql

I just created a new cluster and that worked for me, I was using (PostgreSQL) 9.3.20:

sudo pg_createcluster 9.3 main --start

Content Type	Original Author	Original Content on Stackoverflow
Question	xxx	View Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - Postgresql	mmasters	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - Postgresql	Bryan Algutria	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 3 - Postgresql	Nick Woodhams	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 4 - Postgresql	Craig Thomas	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 5 - Postgresql	Jan Gerritsen	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 6 - Postgresql	David Battersby	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 7 - Postgresql	Sivakumar R.J	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 8 - Postgresql	Hunter	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 9 - Postgresql	Ashwin Balamohan	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 10 - Postgresql	mymusise	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 11 - Postgresql	itsnikolay	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 12 - Postgresql	Obromios	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 13 - Postgresql	Lucia	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 14 - Postgresql	Gurudath BN	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 15 - Postgresql	Sudharshan	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 16 - Postgresql	wailinux	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 17 - Postgresql	wetjosh	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 18 - Postgresql	xxx	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 19 - Postgresql	clewis	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 20 - Postgresql	Bruno Filgueiras	View Answer on Stackoverflow

Socket File "/var/pgsql_socket/.s.PGSQL.5432" Missing In Mountain Lion (OS X Server)

Postgresql Problem Overview

Postgresql Solutions

Solution 1 - Postgresql

Solution 2 - Postgresql

Solution 3 - Postgresql

Solution 4 - Postgresql

Solution 5 - Postgresql

Solution 6 - Postgresql

Solution 7 - Postgresql

Solution 8 - Postgresql

Solution 9 - Postgresql

Solution 10 - Postgresql

Solution 11 - Postgresql

Solution 12 - Postgresql

Solution 13 - Postgresql

Solution 14 - Postgresql

Solution 15 - Postgresql

Solution 16 - Postgresql

Solution 17 - Postgresql

Solution 18 - Postgresql

Solution 19 - Postgresql

Solution 20 - Postgresql

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