On 27 October 2010 22:10, Jenny Hopkins <hopkins.jenny@gmail.com> wrote:

Hullo all,

I've written a shell script that sends a line of insert sql to a postgresql database - or it's supposed to.  If the script is run on the same host as the database, there is no problem. However, I want the sql to be sent and inserted from a client running ubuntu, to a debian server, without having to install the entire postgres package on the former.

I read about postgresql-client-common being the tool for the job, duly installed it, but when it ran the sql  "psql -h hostname -U username dbname < filename" it grumbled  "Error: You must install at least one postgresql-client-<version> package".

After googling some, I then tried sticking a default cluster in /etc/postgresql-common/user_clusters on the ubuntu client: "jenny jenny 8.3 CWMain dbname"  but it seems to be looking at itself, rather than the host specified on the sql line: "Error: /etc/postgresql-common/user_clusters line 24: version 8.3 does not exist"

The postgres version on the server is 8.3.

Is there a different approach I can take - I feel I'm missing something incredibly obvious?  I've always had postgresql installed on clients in the past and haven't come across this.

Aha! postgresql-client-8.3 is apparently the tool for the job (or in this version of ubuntu's case -8.4). Get rid of the unrequired user_clusters file - red herring there - and all is well. So this had a helpful meaning then: "Error: You must install at least one postgresql-client-<version> package". ;-) Goodness knows what I thought it was on about. Thanks, Noodles. Jenny