38. psql: error: connection to server on socket

What a morning!

I spent 2 hours trying to get my PostgreSQL working!

psql: error: connection to server on socket “/tmp/.s.PGSQL.5432” failed: No such file or directory

I did everything from uninstall, install, restart, remove everything and start all over again! It just wouldn’t work. I tried almost all the solutions given on forums and blogs. Nil.

Finally, I got it to work with these commands I got from a coding tutor:

ls /opt/homebrew/var/postgresql@14/postmaster.pid

rm /opt/homebrew/var/postgresql@14/postmaster.pid

psql

And boom! It worked.

What do the above 3 lines mean?

Let’s break down each line:

ls /opt/homebrew/var/postgresql@14/postmaster.pid:

• This line uses the ls command to list the contents of a specific file or directory.
• /opt/homebrew/var/postgresql@14/postmaster.pid is the path to a file named postmaster.pid.
• The @14 part in the path indicates a version number or identifier, possibly version 14 of PostgreSQL installed via Homebrew.
• So, this command is listing the contents of the file postmaster.pid in the specified directory.

rm /opt/homebrew/var/postgresql@14/postmaster.pid:

• This line uses the rm command to remove (delete) a file.
• /opt/homebrew/var/postgresql@14/postmaster.pid is again the path to the file postmaster.pid.
• This command is attempting to delete the file postmaster.pid.

psql:

• This command is typically used to launch the PostgreSQL interactive terminal.
• When executed without any arguments, it opens up the PostgreSQL interactive terminal where you can execute SQL queries and interact with the PostgreSQL database management system.

In summary:

• The first line lists the contents of a specific file.
• The second line attempts to delete that file.
• The third line launches the PostgreSQL interactive terminal.

Hope this helped you too!