Error while trying to start PostgreSQL installed via Homebrew: "Operation not permitted"

Question

I have recently installed PostgreSQL on my Mac via Homebrew. (I may have already had it installed; it was not running.)

brew install postgres
ln -sfv /usr/local/opt/postgresql/*.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents

Now I am trying to start it with launchctl:

launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.postgresql.plist

...but I am getting an error:

/usr/local/Cellar/postgresql/9.4.0/homebrew.mxcl.postgresql.plist: Operation not permitted

What does this error mean? What am I doing wrong? How can I fix the problem?

Answer 1

It could be that you're using launchctl inside of Tmux or Screen.

Tmux and Screen are terminal multiplexers that spawn multiple "screens" that you can easily switch between in a single terminal.

For some reason unknown to me, running launchctl inside of Tmux never works, and emits the error Operation not permitted. Run it inside of a normal shell and it will probably work just fine.

Answer 2

Here are the steps you may need to take:

Remove a previous installation of PostgreSQL:

brew remove postgres
rm ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.postgresql.plist

Install the new version:

brew install postgres
ln -sfv /usr/local/opt/postgresql/*.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents

The data from your previous installation will need to be upgraded to be compatible with PostgreSQL 9.4+: http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.4/static/upgrading.html

It seems like you need two installations of PostgreSQL in order to upgrade your database, and I didn't care to bother with that, so I just recreated the database with the new version:

mv /usr/local/var/postgres /usr/local/var/old-postgres
initdb -D /usr/local/var/postgres

Now launch PostgreSQL (outside of tmux if you are using that):

launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.postgresql.plist

Check the logs for any issues:

tail /usr/local/var/postgres/server.log