<HTML ><HEAD ><TITLE >Server Run-time Environment</TITLE ><META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.73 "><LINK REV="MADE" HREF="mailto:pgsql-docs@postgresql.org"><LINK REL="HOME" TITLE="PostgreSQL 7.3.2 Documentation" HREF="index.html"><LINK REL="UP" TITLE="PostgreSQL 7.3.2 Administrator's Guide" HREF="admin.html"><LINK REL="PREVIOUS" TITLE="Installation on Windows" HREF="install-win32.html"><LINK REL="NEXT" TITLE="Creating a Database Cluster" HREF="creating-cluster.html"><LINK REL="STYLESHEET" TYPE="text/css" HREF="stylesheet.css"><META NAME="creation" CONTENT="2003-02-03T20:17:34"></HEAD ><BODY CLASS="CHAPTER" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#840084" ALINK="#0000FF" ><DIV CLASS="NAVHEADER" ><TABLE SUMMARY="Header navigation table" WIDTH="100%" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" ><TR ><TH COLSPAN="3" ALIGN="center" >PostgreSQL 7.3.2 Documentation</TH ></TR ><TR ><TD WIDTH="10%" ALIGN="left" VALIGN="bottom" ><A HREF="install-win32.html" ACCESSKEY="P" >Prev</A ></TD ><TD WIDTH="80%" ALIGN="center" VALIGN="bottom" ></TD ><TD WIDTH="10%" ALIGN="right" VALIGN="bottom" ><A HREF="creating-cluster.html" ACCESSKEY="N" >Next</A ></TD ></TR ></TABLE ><HR ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="100%"></DIV ><DIV CLASS="CHAPTER" ><H1 ><A NAME="RUNTIME" >Chapter 3. Server Run-time Environment</A ></H1 ><DIV CLASS="TOC" ><DL ><DT ><B >Table of Contents</B ></DT ><DT >3.1. <A HREF="runtime.html#POSTGRES-USER" >The <SPAN CLASS="PRODUCTNAME" >PostgreSQL</SPAN > User Account</A ></DT ><DT >3.2. <A HREF="creating-cluster.html" >Creating a Database Cluster</A ></DT ><DT >3.3. <A HREF="postmaster-start.html" >Starting the Database Server</A ></DT ><DD ><DL ><DT >3.3.1. <A HREF="postmaster-start.html#POSTMASTER-START-FAILURES" >Server Start-up Failures</A ></DT ><DT >3.3.2. <A HREF="postmaster-start.html#CLIENT-CONNECTION-PROBLEMS" >Client Connection Problems</A ></DT ></DL ></DD ><DT >3.4. <A HREF="runtime-config.html" >Run-time Configuration</A ></DT ><DD ><DL ><DT >3.4.1. <A HREF="runtime-config.html#CATALOG-PG-SETTINGS" >pg_settings</A ></DT ><DT >3.4.2. <A HREF="runtime-config.html#RUNTIME-CONFIG-OPTIMIZER" >Planner and Optimizer Tuning</A ></DT ><DT >3.4.3. <A HREF="runtime-config.html#LOGGING" >Logging and Debugging</A ></DT ><DT >3.4.4. <A HREF="runtime-config.html#RUNTIME-CONFIG-GENERAL" >General Operation</A ></DT ><DT >3.4.5. <A HREF="runtime-config.html#RUNTIME-CONFIG-WAL" >WAL</A ></DT ><DT >3.4.6. <A HREF="runtime-config.html#RUNTIME-CONFIG-SHORT" >Short Options</A ></DT ></DL ></DD ><DT >3.5. <A HREF="kernel-resources.html" >Managing Kernel Resources</A ></DT ><DD ><DL ><DT >3.5.1. <A HREF="kernel-resources.html#SYSVIPC" >Shared Memory and Semaphores</A ></DT ><DT >3.5.2. <A HREF="kernel-resources.html#AEN20783" >Resource Limits</A ></DT ></DL ></DD ><DT >3.6. <A HREF="postmaster-shutdown.html" >Shutting Down the Server</A ></DT ><DT >3.7. <A HREF="ssl-tcp.html" >Secure TCP/IP Connections with SSL</A ></DT ><DT >3.8. <A HREF="ssh-tunnels.html" >Secure TCP/IP Connections with <SPAN CLASS="APPLICATION" >SSH</SPAN > Tunnels</A ></DT ></DL ></DIV ><P > This chapter discusses how to set up and run the database server and the interactions with the operating system. </P ><DIV CLASS="SECT1" ><H1 CLASS="SECT1" ><A NAME="POSTGRES-USER" >3.1. The <SPAN CLASS="PRODUCTNAME" >PostgreSQL</SPAN > User Account</A ></H1 ><A NAME="AEN19179" ></A ><P > As with any other server daemon that is connected to outside world, it is advisable to run <SPAN CLASS="PRODUCTNAME" >PostgreSQL</SPAN > under a separate user account. This user account should only own the data that is managed by the server, and should not be shared with other daemons. (For example, using the user <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"nobody"</SPAN > is a bad idea.) It is not advisable to install executables owned by this user because compromised systems could then modify their own binaries. </P ><P > To add a Unix user account to your system, look for a command <TT CLASS="COMMAND" >useradd</TT > or <TT CLASS="COMMAND" >adduser</TT >. The user name <SPAN CLASS="SYSTEMITEM" >postgres</SPAN > is often used but is by no means required. </P ></DIV ></DIV ><DIV CLASS="NAVFOOTER" ><HR ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="100%"><TABLE SUMMARY="Footer navigation table" WIDTH="100%" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" ><TR ><TD WIDTH="33%" ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" ><A HREF="install-win32.html" ACCESSKEY="P" >Prev</A ></TD ><TD WIDTH="34%" ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" ><A HREF="index.html" ACCESSKEY="H" >Home</A ></TD ><TD WIDTH="33%" ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top" ><A HREF="creating-cluster.html" ACCESSKEY="N" >Next</A ></TD ></TR ><TR ><TD WIDTH="33%" ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" >Installation on <SPAN CLASS="PRODUCTNAME" >Windows</SPAN ></TD ><TD WIDTH="34%" ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" ><A HREF="admin.html" ACCESSKEY="U" >Up</A ></TD ><TD WIDTH="33%" ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top" >Creating a Database Cluster</TD ></TR ></TABLE ></DIV ></BODY ></HTML >