Alfresco Start Produces Errors

[carnold]

Alfresco 4.2.d on sles11 SP2. Since i upgraded to 4.2.d, when i start alfresco, i see this on the terminal:

/alfresco.sh start
waiting for server to start…….. stopped waiting
pg_ctl.bin: could not start server
Examine the log output.
/opt/alfresco/postgresql/scripts/ctl.sh : postgresql  could not be started
Using CATALINA_BASE:   /opt/alfresco/tomcat
Using CATALINA_HOME:   /opt/alfresco/tomcat
Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: /opt/alfresco/tomcat/temp
Using JRE_HOME:        /opt/alfresco/java
Using CLASSPATH:       /opt/alfresco/tomcat/bin/bootstrap.jar:/opt/alfresco/tomcat/bin/tomcat-juli.jar
Using CATALINA_PID:    /opt/alfresco/tomcat/temp/catalina.pid
/opt/alfresco/tomcat/scripts/ctl.sh : tomcat started‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Nothing in the alfresco.log or the share.log. Alfresco/share works after this so i am assuming this is some builtin module that produces the error. We are not using any addons.

[rjohnson]

Your database (PostgreSql) is the problem. I suggest that you need to look in your PostgreSql log file. Probably in

/var/log/pgsql
‍‍‍

that should tell you why PostgreSql won't start.

[carnold]

pgsql is not located in /var/log in fact, after a search, not found anywhere on the filesystem. Must mention we are using mysql DB not postgresql

[rjohnson]

That could well be your issue. If you look at the error you posted

pg_ctl.bin: could not start server

Examine the log output.

/opt/alfresco/postgresql/scripts/ctl.sh : postgresql  could not be started
‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

alfresco.sh is clearly trying to start postgreSql and not mySQL.


Now alfresco.sh looks for an executable file {install-directory}/{database-to-use}/scripts/ctl.sh. It starts looking in mysql and then postgresql. In your installation it would seem that there is no executable file

{install-directory}/mysql/scripts/ctl.sh
‍‍‍

but there is an executable file

{install-directory}/postgresql/scripts/ctl.sh
‍‍‍

so alfresco.sh tries to start postgreSql which it can't because it doesn't exist.

I think you need to create the executable

{install-directory}/mysql/scripts/ctl.sh
‍‍‍

to start your database.

[carnold]

Now alfresco.sh looks for an executable file {install-directory}/{database-to-use}/scripts/ctl.sh. It starts looking in mysql and then postgresql. In your installation it would seem that there is no executable file

{install-directory}/mysql/scripts/ctl.sh
but there is an executable file

{install-directory}/postgresql/scripts/ctl.sh
so alfresco.sh tries to start postgreSql which it can't because it doesn't exist.‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

So are you saying there should be a /opt/mysql/scripts/ctl.sh folder/file in the installation? Because there is not; in fact, neither was in the installed 4.2.c (i upgraded to 4.2.d and kept the structure of 4.2.c and verified that path does not exist and it worked fine in 4.2.c).

I think you need to create the executable

{install-directory}/mysql/scripts/ctl.sh
to start your database.‍‍‍‍

So i created that path with the exact permission from /opt/alfresco/postgres/scripts/ctl.sh. Then stop and start and still got the same error.

[rjohnson]

Check your alfresco.sh you will see what it is trying to do - mine is standard and I assume yours will be to.

You will need the shell script to start the mysql db (not merely exist) and for your configuration (alfresco-global.properties) will need to point at it.

[carnold]

RJohnson, thank you for your time and help. I want to just step back and reproduce when this happened:
- was running 4.2.c using mysql DB with no problems (like this)
- 4.2.d came out so i upgraded using the alfresco recommended upgrade process which was basically to backup DB's (mysql and alf_data) which i did. Then move the 4.2.c version to a safe place on the drive (did this). Install 4.2.d and import alf_data. This step was not exactly clear. So i renamed the new alf_data directory and copied the old alf_data directory into the 4.2.d install. This is when i started seeing this problem. So, if i rename the existing alf_data directory (which is from the 4.2.c install) and use the 4.2.d alf_data directory then run alfresco start, no errors and postgressql starts. So i think this has to do with the 4.2.c alf_data directory.

[carnold]

OK, here was the fix for me:
- use the 4.2.d install alf_data directory but copy the contentstore and contentstore.deleted folders into the 4.2.d alf_data folder. Start alfresco and no errors when starting.