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Edit File: FAQ

phpPgAdmin Frequently Asked Questions ------------------------------------- Installation errors ------------------- Q: I've installed phpPgAdmin but when I try to use it I get an error message telling me that I have not compiled proper database support into my PHP installation. A: This means that you have not properly compiled Postgres support into your PHP. The correct configure flag to use is '--with-pgsql'. Read the PHP manual and website for more help with this. Postgres support can be also compiled into PHP as a dynamic extension, so if you have precompiled version (Linux RPM, or Windows binary), there are still chances, that only thing you should do is to enable loading it automagically. It can be done by editing your php.ini file (under Windows, usually in C:\WINDOWS or C:\WINNT, under Linux /etc/php.ini) and uncommenting this line: ;extension=php_pgsql.dll ;under Windows ;extension=pgsql.so ;under Linux so it would look like that: extension=php_pgsql.dll ;under Windows extension=pgsql.so ;under Linux In Linux distributions based on Red Hat or Fedora, PHP extensions are automatically configured in /etc/php.d/pgsql.ini, simply install the php-pgsql package. See http://www.php.net/manual/en/pgsql.setup.php for more information on setting up Postgres support in PHP. Q: I get a warning like this when using phpPgAdmin on Windows: "Warning: session_start() [function.session-start]: open(/tmp\sess_5a401ef1e67fb7a176a95236116fe348, O_RDWR) failed" A: You need to edit your PHP.INI file (usually in c:\windows) and change this line: session.save_path = "/tmp" to: session.save_path = "c:\windows\temp" And make sure that the folder c:\windows\temp actually exists. Login errors ------------ Q: I always get "Login failed" even though I'm _sure_ I'm using the right username and password. A: There are a number of reasons why you might not be able to connect, typically having nothing to do with phpPgAdmin itself. First check the Postgres log on your server, it should contain a FATAL error message detailing the exact reason why the login is failing. You will probably need to either adjust the username or password, add LOGIN permissions to the role, or adjust your pg_hba.conf file in your Postgres data dir; so follow the directions laid out in the FATAL message. If you do not have any FATAL error messages, and you have verified that you are looking at the properly configured logfile, then this means you are not connecting to your database. If you are connecting via TCP/IP sockets (for example if you have installed phpPgAdmin on a different computer than your database) make sure that Postgres is accepting connection over TCP/IP. On older versions of Postgres, you need to change this line in your postgresql.conf file: #tcpip_socket = false to: tcpip_socket = true on newer versions of Postgres, this setting has been replaced by the listen_addresses setting, so you will need to change that setting instead (likely changing it to "*"). Be sure to restart Postgres after changing either of these settings! If that still doesn't get you connected, then there is likely something interfering between PHP and Postgres. Check to make sure that you don't have a firewall preventing connectivity, or that you don't have some other security setup (ie. SELinux policy) that prevents PHP from connecting. Q: For some users I get a "Login disallowed for security" message. A: Logins via phpPgAdmin with no password or certain usernames (pgsql, postgres, root, administrator) are denied by default. Before changing this behaviour (setting $conf['extra_login_security'] to false in the config.inc.php file) please read the Postgres documentation about client authentication and understand how to change Postgres's pg_hba.conf to enable passworded local connections. Q: I can use any password to log in! A: Postgres, by default, runs in trust mode. That means that it doesn't ask for passwords for local connections. We highly recommend that you edit your pg_hba.conf file, and change the login type to 'md5'. Note that if you change the 'local' login type to 'md5', then you might need to enter a password to start Postgres. Get around this by using a .pgpass file - explained in the Postgres documentation. Other errors ------------ Q: When I enter non-ASCII data into the database via a form, it's inserted as hexadecimal or &#1234; format! A: You have not created your database in the correct encoding. This problem will occur when you try to enter an umlaut into an SQL_ASCII database, or SJIS Japanese into an EUC-JP database, etc. Q: When I drop and re-create a table with the same name, it fails. A: You need to drop the sequence attached to the SERIAL column of the table as well. Postgres 7.3 and above do this automatically. If you have upgraded to Postgres 7.3 from an earlier version, you need to run the contrib/adddepend script to record all dependencies. Q: When browsing a table, the 'edit' and 'delete' links do not appear. A: In order, phpPgAdmin will prefer the following as unique row identifiers: 1. Primary keys 2. Unique keys (cannot be parital or expressional indexes) 3. OID column (will require a sequential scan to update, unless you index the OID column) Furthermore, any NULL values in the unique index will mean that that row will be uneditable. Also, since OIDs can become duplicated in a table, phpPgAdmin will alter the row, and then check to ensure that exactly one row has been modified - otherwise rollback will occur. Questions on dumps ------------------ Q: What happened to the database dump feature? A: You need to configure phpPgAdmin (in the config.inc.php file) to point to the location of the pg_dump and pg_dumpall utilities on your web server. Once you have done that, the database export feature will appear. Q: I would like to use the pg_dump integration for database and table dumps on Windows. How do I get pg_dump.exe on Windows? A: To get the pg_dump utilities on Windows, you need to install Postgres 8.0 or higher (we recommend the latest release) for Windows, available for download from the <a href="http://www.postgresql.org/download/windows">Postgres web site</a>. Once you have installed that, set the pg_dump and pg_dumpall locations in the config.inc.php file to 'C:\\Program Files\\Postgres\\8.0\\bin\\pg_dump.exe' and 'C:\\Program Files\\Postgres\\8.0\\bin\\pg_dumpall.exe', or wherever you installed them. Q: Why can't I reload the SQL script I dumped in the SQL window? A: The following limitations currently exist in SQL script execution: * Only uploaded SQL scripts can contain COPY commands and for this to work, you must have PHP 4.2 or higher. * 'psql' commands such as '\connect' will not work at all. * Multiline SQL statements will not work, eg: CREATE TABLE example ( a INTEGER ); * You cannot change the current database or current user during the execution of the script. We do intend to work on some of these limitations in the future, but some of them are Postgres restrictions and we recommend using the 'psql' utility to restore your full SQL dumps. Other questions --------------- Q: When inserting a row, what does the 'Value' or 'Expression' box mean? A: Choosing 'Expression' means that you can use functions, operators, other field names, etc. in your value - you need to properly quote any literal values yourself. 'Value' on the other hand, means that no matter what you enter as the value, it will be inserted as-is into the database. Q: Why is there never any information on the 'Info' page of a table? A: The Info page will show you what other tables have foreign keys to the current table and some data from the Postgres statistics collector. In older versions of Postgres, the stats collector is not enabled by default. To enable it, look in your postgresql.conf file for the stats_* options. Just make them all 'true' and restart Postgres. Q: Why can't I download data from queries executed in the SQL window? A: You need to check the 'Paginate results' option to allow downloads. Q: I would like to help out with the development of phpPgAdmin. How should I proceed? A: We really would like your help! Please read the DEVELOPERS and TRANSLATORS files.