Re: Problem with PostgreSQL 18 and semaphores

[Greg Troxel <gdt%lexort.com@localhost>]

Marc Baudoin <babafou%babafou.eu.org@localhost> writes:

>> What we could do short-term is to modify the postgres message #ifdef
>> __NetBSD__ and point to a man page describing the details. The sysctls
>> seem to not be documented besides their own description (sysctl -d) and
>> sysctl(7). Maybe sem_open(3) should get a paragraph about the issue and
>> suggestions how to work around when the system hits the limit?
>
> A MESSAGE file in the postgresql18-server package would probably
> be enough so people would be aware of what to do before trying to
> start PostgreSQL.

MESSAGE is abusive here; there is no permanent problem or damage, just
pgsql not running.  This belongs in README.NetBSD.  PostgreSQL is very
much a huge package where people are expected to read the documentation
and we should not promote a culture where people blow that off and then
try to save them from themselves.

The real fix would be to make sure that if pgsql tries to use a
semaphore and fails, that it logs this clearly, so people can see this
in the pgsql errlog.