How to uninstall postgresql on my Mac (running Snow Leopard)

28
votes

Upgraded 10.6 from 10.5 and now postgres 8.1 is whacked. To make things worse I tried installing 8.4 which I'm pretty sure just made things ten times worse. Anyhow, the exception I'm getting when I try to fire postgres up and just createuser is this:

createuser: could not connect to database postgres: could not connect to server: No such file or directory Is the server running locally and accepting connections on Unix domain socket "/tmp/.s.PGSQL.5432"?

HOW do I fully get rid of postgres on my Mac so I can do a do-over?

Thanks

3
postgresqlmacososx-snow-leoparduninstallation
How did you install Postgresql, via source or some package install method? – Kuberchaun
I don't remember how I originally installed it. Wasn't from source. I think it was the install from here: postgresqlformac.com – wgpubs

3 Answers

61
votes

The problem was with the PostgreSQL account sitting on my machine.

I removed the account and proceeded with the uninstall using the instructions here:

Automatic Uninstall:

In the installation directory, there will be a uninstall-postgresql.app file. Executing (double clicking) that will uninstall the PostgreSQL installation.

Manual Uninstall:

  1. Stop the server: 

    sudo /sbin/SystemStarter stop postgresql-8.3

  2. Remove menu shortcuts: 

    sudo rm -rf /Applications/PostgreSQL 8.3

  3. Remove the ini file: 

    sudo rm -rf /etc/postgres-reg.ini

  4. Removing Startup Items: 

    sudo rm -rf /Library/StartupItems/postgresql-8.3

  5. Remove the data and installed files: 

    sudo rm -rf /Library/PostgreSQL/8.3

  6. Delete the user postgres: 

    sudo dscl . delete /users/postgres
9
votes

I can add this tiny command to the answer too: 

rm /usr/bin/psql

Remove executable psql alias.

2
votes

If you have newer Postgres and/or OSX/macOS version, you can check this answer.