Troubleshooting

initdb failure while starting the server

initdb: could not change permissions of directory "./pg_embed/aa60c634-fa20-4fa8-b4fc-a43a3b08aa99/data": Permission denied

All Postgres processes run under the current account, and Postgres needs full access to the parent folder of the data directory. On Windows, set AddLocalUserAccessPermission = true. The library then runs the following before initdb:

icacls.exe <instance folder> /t /grant:r <user>:(OI)(CI)F

The account needs the right to change folder permissions. You usually only need this on CI agents.

initdb failure with a large negative number

If initdb fails on Windows with a large negative exit code, install the latest Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable.

Non-ASCII paths on Windows

Postgres on Windows cannot use folder paths with characters outside the system code page, such as Chinese folder names. The library works around this by handing Postgres the 8.3 short form of the path, which is ASCII only. Short names are on by default for the system drive, but are often turned off on other drives.

Without them, startup stops before downloading anything, with an error that lists the problem characters and the two ways out:

• Set DbDir (or BinariesDir, whichever the error names) to a folder whose full path is ASCII only, such as C:\pg-embed.
• Turn on short names for that drive as an administrator (fsutil 8dot3name set D: 0), then delete and recreate the folder. Folders created while short names were off never get one.

Running as root

Postgres refuses to run as root or Administrator. In a Docker container, add a user and run the tests as that user.

The server does not start

Startup errors include the end of the server log; the whole log is at server.LogFile. Increase StartupTimeout on slow machines (the default is 30 seconds).