Postgres.app configuration (port and other options)

Question

I just installed Postgres.app on my Mac, and I need to make some specific configuration to server. For example I want to use different port, not 5432.

I found that it have postgresql.conf at ~/Library/Application\ Support/Postgres/var/postgresql.conf, but even if I change value of port = to something other, it listen on 5432 after server restart.

Seems that this postgresql.conf isn't used by Postgress.app. Where it stores server configuration files?

Answer 1

The postgresql.conf-file at ~/Library/Application\ Support/Postgres/var/ is used by Postgres.app. The only problem: if you change the port in that file, that change will not be reflected in the menu-bar. So the elephant over there will still say "Running on Port 5432", although postgres might be running on, for example, port 5433. (Mac OS X 10.8.2, Server.app 2.2, Postgres.app 9.2.2.0)

Answer 2

I can see the output from ps aux |grep post /Applications/Postgres.app/Contents/MacOS/bin/postgres -D /Users/chenc26/Library/Application Support/Postgres/var -p5432 So I think there must be some config in this app to specify the CLI parameter which ignore the value from config file.

Answer 3

I'm running a Mavericks 10.9.3 and opening Postgres app v9.3 config via nano ~/Library/Application\ Support/Postgres/var-9.3/postgresql.conf and uncommenting the port = 5432 line, then changing it to, say, 5433 did the trick for me. (Restarting the app was required, as the config file mentions). Afterwards the app correctly displays that it is running on port 5433.

Answer 4

If correctly changing the content of postgresql.conf, then restarting the PostgreSQL server doesn't change the port it's listening on, you're almost certainly editing the wrong postgresql.conf.

On other platforms, PostgreSQL puts a copy of its default version of postgresql.conf in the data directory. So you're liable to find at least two copies of all the configuration files somewhere on your computer--usually one in the directory where the distribution or source was downloaded or uncompressed, and one in the data directory. On your Mac, if you're using version 9.1, the data directory might be

/Library/PostgreSQL/9.1/data/

Check for a postgresql.conf there. If you find one, consider making a copy of it to replace the one you edited. (So the one you edited will again be an unedited version.)