Sorry, that was not the verbatim message, (a cut & paste mistake). More information (9.0.8): $ pg_ctl start Killed fgets failure: Error 0 The program "postgres" is needed by pg_ctl but was not found in the same directory as "/opt/postgres/9.0/bin/pg_ctl". Check your installation. $ postgres -V ld.so.1: postgres: fatal: libc.so.1: version `SUNW_1.22.7' not found (required by file /opt/postgres/9.0/bin/postgres) ld.so.1: postgres: fatal: /usr/lib/libc.so.1: wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS32 Killed $ ldd /opt/postgres/9.0/bin/postgres libssl.so.0.9.8 => /opt/postgres/externalDeps/lib/libssl.so.0.9.8 libcrypto.so.0.9.8 => /opt/postgres/externalDeps/lib/libcrypto.so.0.9.8 libnsl.so.1 => /lib/64/libnsl.so.1 libsocket.so.1 => /lib/64/libsocket.so.1 libm.so.2 => /lib/64/libm.so.2 libldap-2.4.so.2 => /opt/postgres/externalDeps/lib/libldap-2.4.so.2 libc.so.1 => /lib/64/libc.so.1 libc.so.1 (SUNW_1.22.7) => (version not found) libdl.so.1 => /lib/64/libdl.so.1 libgcc_s.so.1 => /usr/sfw/lib/64/libgcc_s.so.1 libmp.so.2 => /lib/64/libmp.so.2 libmd.so.1 => /lib/64/libmd.so.1 libscf.so.1 => /lib/64/libscf.so.1 liblber-2.4.so.2 => /opt/postgres/externalDeps/lib/liblber-2.4.so.2 libresolv.so.2 => /lib/64/libresolv.so.2 libgen.so.1 => /lib/64/libgen.so.1 libsasl.so.1 => /usr/lib/64/libsasl.so.1 libgss.so.1 => /usr/lib/64/libgss.so.1 libdoor.so.1 => /lib/64/libdoor.so.1 libuutil.so.1 => /lib/64/libuutil.so.1 libcmd.so.1 => /lib/64/libcmd.so.1 /platform/SUNW,Sun-Fire-V890/lib/sparcv9/libc_psr.so.1 /platform/SUNW,Sun-Fire-V890/lib/sparcv9/libmd_psr.so.1 ******* 9.0.4 for comparison: $ postgres -V postgres (PostgreSQL) 9.0.4 $ ldd /opt/postgres/9.0/bin/postgres libssl.so.0.9.8 => /opt/postgres/externalDeps/lib/libssl.so.0.9.8 libcrypto.so.0.9.8 => /opt/postgres/externalDeps/lib/libcrypto.so.0.9.8 libnsl.so.1 => /lib/64/libnsl.so.1 librt.so.1 => /lib/64/librt.so.1 libsocket.so.1 => /lib/64/libsocket.so.1 libm.so.2 => /lib/64/libm.so.2 libldap-2.4.so.2 => /opt/postgres/externalDeps/lib/libldap-2.4.so.2 libc.so.1 => /lib/64/libc.so.1 libdl.so.1 => /lib/64/libdl.so.1 libgcc_s.so.1 => /usr/sfw/lib/64/libgcc_s.so.1 libmp.so.2 => /lib/64/libmp.so.2 libmd.so.1 => /lib/64/libmd.so.1 libscf.so.1 => /lib/64/libscf.so.1 libaio.so.1 => /lib/64/libaio.so.1 liblber-2.4.so.2 => /opt/postgres/externalDeps/lib/liblber-2.4.so.2 libresolv.so.2 => /lib/64/libresolv.so.2 libgen.so.1 => /lib/64/libgen.so.1 libsasl.so.1 => /usr/lib/64/libsasl.so.1 libgss.so.1 => /usr/lib/64/libgss.so.1 libdoor.so.1 => /lib/64/libdoor.so.1 libuutil.so.1 => /lib/64/libuutil.so.1 libcmd.so.1 => /lib/64/libcmd.so.1 /platform/SUNW,Sun-Fire-V890/lib/sparcv9/libc_psr.so.1 /platform/SUNW,Sun-Fire-V890/lib/sparcv9/libmd_psr.so.1 Thank you for helping to point out where the actual problem lies. The ldd command is showing that there is a library issue with trying to use the 9.0.8 version. libc.so.1 => /lib/64/libc.so.1 libc.so.1 (SUNW_1.22.7) => (version not found) Richard -----Original Message----- From: Tom Lane [mailto:tgl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Friday, July 27, 2012 1:21 PM To: Stephan, Richard Cc: pgsql-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: fgets failure in Solaris after patching "Stephan, Richard" <RStephan@xxxxxxxxx> writes: > Rebuilt the PostgreSQL server software because we were patching up from 9.0.4 to 9.0.8. Deployed software and received the following error when trying to restart server. > fgets failure: Error 0 > The program postgres is needed by pg_ctl but was not found in the same > directory as pg_ctl Is that a verbatim copy of the error message? When I try intentionally provoking this type of failure (by renaming the postgres executable out of the way), 9.0 pg_ctl gives me this: $ pg_ctl start The program "postgres" is needed by pg_ctl but was not found in the same directory as "/home/tgl/version90/bin/pg_ctl". Check your installation. $ The lack of double quotes and the lack of a full path to the pg_ctl program make me wonder if you're running some really old copy of pg_ctl instead of the 9.0 version as intended. Anyway, if you didn't copy-and-paste exactly, what the error indicates is that pg_ctl tried to execute "postgres -V" and didn't get any output. What happens when you try that directly? regards, tom lane The information in this email is confidential and may be legally privileged against disclosure other than to the intended recipient. It is intended solely for the addressee. Access to this email by anyone else is unauthorized. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful. Please immediately delete this message and inform the sender of this error. -- Sent via pgsql-general mailing list (pgsql-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-general