Can I substitute a recovered /data directory into a new installation?

["David J. Fenske" <davidf(at)nhb(dot)org>]

Hi -

 

I have a postgresql 7.4.6 installation that supports a Lyris List Manager service, running on Red Hat Enterprise ES 4

 

Last week during a move of the server, the hard drive of the server suffered some damage in several blocks, that prevented it from booting. I was able to recover the pgsql directory off of the disk, but have not been doing regular dumps to recover from.

 

I have rebuilt the server using a new disk, keeping the same server name, IP address, etc.  I successfully reinstalled postgresql and I'm trying to substitute the old data directory into the new installation, however, I get permission problems. I have reset all file owner and groups to the postgres user, and used chmod to give just the postgres user rw permission (600, oh and 700 on the data directory itself). However, I still get problems that the postmaster will not start because it's getting permission denied on /data/global/pg_control.

 

I realize that I am not doing this the correct way by restoring a legitimate backup, but there must be a way to be able to recover the static files. Can anybody help set me on the right path?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

David

David Fenske
Information Technology Administrator
National Honey Board

davidf(at)nhb(dot)org

(303)776-2337 x 105