FYI, it appears that you cannot start the postmaster when your current working directory is not accessible by the postgres user:
shell-init: could not get current directory: getcwd: cannot access parent directories: Permission denied LOG: 00000: could not identify current directory: Permission denied LOCATION: find_my_exec, exec.c:195 FATAL: XX000: /usr/local/pgsql/bin/postmaster: could not locate my own executable path LOCATION: PostmasterMain, postmaster.c:431 This seems new at least to 8.x. Don't know if there is OS involvement as well. This issue doesn't appear to be documented, and I am not sure why PG would want to use the current directory. Perhaps there is just some absent error checking. OS: Mac OS X 10.4.2 PG: 8.0.3 Best, Keary Suska Esoteritech, Inc. "Demystifying technology for your home or business" ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 2: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster