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macospostgresql

Postgres.app Could not start on port 5432

I'm using http://postgresapp.com. In the menubar it gives the error " Could not start on port 5432." Similarly if I try to start the server from the terminal, I get:

psql: could not connect to server: No such file or directory
    Is the server running locally and accepting
    connections on Unix domain socket "/tmp/.s.PGSQL.5432"?

I also ran pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres -l /usr/local/var/postgres/server.log start and got the output server starting but still get the same errors when connecting to psql.

Solution

  • You my have another instance of postgres running, that is the only application interested in this port. You should use netstat and ps to determine this. Then stop the instance and uninstall it, you mayhave installed enterpiseDb for example, that is what I did.