Thread: PostgreSQL 7.2.1 on OS X -- psql: FATAL 1: user "postgres" does not exist

I have installed the PostgreSQL package from the Apple site (7.2.1)
and ran the install. Everything seemed to go well. The files and
directory structures are there, but I cannot get anything to work.

I keep getting a FATAL 1 error with any user I try to put in. I cannot
use createuser either... even my root account cannot overcome the
error.

Any ideas?

I am definitely a novice and I am trying to build a patient tracking
system for the ER that I work in.

Thanks in advance.

ericwilke@mac.com (Eric Wilke) writes:
> I keep getting a FATAL 1 error with any user I try to put in.

We're not likely to be able to help you unless you show us exactly what
you typed and exactly what the response was.  Otherwise there's too much
guessing involved.

BTW, PG 7.2.1 is quite ancient.  If you're just getting started and
don't have backwards-compatibility issues to worry about, you should
start with the current release, 7.4.2.  Recent releases build out of the
box on Darwin, so you don't really need to depend on Apple's old port.
Or if you don't have Apple's Developer Tools installed, you should be
able to find a precompiled recent release via Fink or other places.

            regards, tom lane

Hi Eric,

Delete your 7.2.1 installation and start over with 7.4 that you can
get from here:
http://www.entropy.ch:16080/software/macosx/postgresql/

Cheers,

Marc