PostgreSQL 8.4.7 Documentation
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# 15.6. Post-Installation Setup

## 15.6.1. Shared Libraries

On some systems with shared libraries you need to tell the system how to find the newly installed shared libraries. The systems on which this is not necessary include BSD/OS, FreeBSD, HP-UX, IRIX, Linux, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Tru64 UNIX (formerly Digital UNIX), and Solaris.

The method to set the shared library search path varies between platforms, but the most widely-used method is to set the environment variable `LD_LIBRARY_PATH` like so: In Bourne shells (`sh`, `ksh`, `bash`, `zsh`):

    LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/pgsql/lib
    export LD_LIBRARY_PATH

or in `csh` or `tcsh`:

    setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH /usr/local/pgsql/lib

Replace `/usr/local/pgsql/lib` with whatever you set ``--libdir`` to in step 1. You should put these commands into a shell start-up file such as `/etc/profile` or `~/.bash_profile`. Some good information about the caveats associated with this method can be found at http://www.visi.com/~barr/ldpath.html.

On some systems it might be preferable to set the environment variable `LD_RUN_PATH` before building.

On Cygwin, put the library directory in the `PATH` or move the `.dll` files into the `bin` directory.

If in doubt, refer to the manual pages of your system (perhaps `ld.so` or `rld`). If you later get a message like:

    psql: error in loading shared libraries
    libpq.so.2.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

then this step was necessary. Simply take care of it then.

If you are on BSD/OS, Linux, or SunOS 4 and you have root access you can run:

    /sbin/ldconfig /usr/local/pgsql/lib

(or equivalent directory) after installation to enable the run-time linker to find the shared libraries faster. Refer to the manual page of `ldconfig` for more information. On FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD the command is:

    /sbin/ldconfig -m /usr/local/pgsql/lib

instead. Other systems are not known to have an equivalent command.

## 15.6.2. Environment Variables

If you installed into `/usr/local/pgsql` or some other location that is not searched for programs by default, you should add `/usr/local/pgsql/bin` (or whatever you set ``--bindir`` to in step 1) into your `PATH`. Strictly speaking, this is not necessary, but it will make the use of PostgreSQL much more convenient.

To do this, add the following to your shell start-up file, such as `~/.bash_profile` (or `/etc/profile`, if you want it to affect all users):

    PATH=/usr/local/pgsql/bin:$PATH
    export PATH

If you are using `csh` or `tcsh`, then use this command:

    set path = ( /usr/local/pgsql/bin $path )

To enable your system to find the man documentation, you need to add lines like the following to a shell start-up file unless you installed into a location that is searched by default:

    MANPATH=/usr/local/pgsql/man:$MANPATH
    export MANPATH

The environment variables `PGHOST` and `PGPORT` specify to client applications the host and port of the database server, overriding the compiled-in defaults. If you are going to run client applications remotely then it is convenient if every user that plans to use the database sets `PGHOST`. This is not required, however; the settings can be communicated via command line options to most client programs.

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