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postgresqlmacososx-snow-leoparduninstallation

How to uninstall postgresql on my Mac (running Snow Leopard)

Upgraded 10.6 from 10.5 and now postgres 8.1 is whacked. To make things worse I tried installing 8.4 which I'm pretty sure just made things ten times worse. Anyhow, the exception I'm getting when I try to fire postgres up and just createuser is this:

createuser: could not connect to database postgres: 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"?

HOW do I fully get rid of postgres on my Mac so I can do a do-over?

Thanks

Solution

  • The problem was with the PostgreSQL account sitting on my machine.

    I removed the account and proceeded with the uninstall using the instructions here:

    Automatic Uninstall:

    In the installation directory, there will be a uninstall-postgresql.app file. Executing (double clicking) that will uninstall the PostgreSQL installation.

    Manual Uninstall:

    1. Stop the server: 

      sudo /sbin/SystemStarter stop postgresql-8.3

    2. Remove menu shortcuts: 

      sudo rm -rf /Applications/PostgreSQL 8.3

    3. Remove the ini file: 

      sudo rm -rf /etc/postgres-reg.ini

    4. Removing Startup Items: 

      sudo rm -rf /Library/StartupItems/postgresql-8.3

    5. Remove the data and installed files: 

      sudo rm -rf /Library/PostgreSQL/8.3

    6. Delete the user postgres: 

      sudo dscl . delete /users/postgres