How to login as a postgresql user ?

Well, I'm sure this is just a small mistake on your part, but "prostgres" is not the default username. It is "postgres".

In a default install of PostgreSQL, the "owner" of postgreSQL is usually the user called postgres. However, this is not necessarily the case, so I would have to see exactly how Mandrake handles it.

Try running "top" or "ps -ax" from a terminal window, and see if it shows "postgres" as the owner of the postgres process. The line in question should look something like (From top), or:
(From ps -ax)

However, if you didn't already have a user called "postgres" on your machine, then what user is the postgres process (from postmaster) running under? The basic idea here is that the postgres process runs under a certain username (not root), and points to s certain data directory with the keyword "-D /directory/path". The username running the process is the user that can log into postgreSQL and control it completely. Inside postgreSQL, that user can create many sub-users who con connect to this or that database. All postgreSQL users must be valid users on the Linux system in general. -------------------------------------------

"Now, this might cause some discomfort..."
(

Thanks for your help.

So far it has been possible to login as "su - postgres".
Database could be created and pgaccess is runnig fine.
Creating new users was also possble.

"ps -ax" has allowed me to see that the default data directory is /var/lib/pgsql/data in mandrake 8.1.

Importing data from a text file did not work:
<copy &quot;database&quot; from &quot;database.txt&quot; delimters &quot;;&quot;>
returned no errors but database remains empty.
Strange . . .




Detlef Hossbach
(occasional programmer)

PostgreSQL database users don't have to be users in the Linux system itself. They're separate.