Allow logging of output to syslog or /tmp/postgres.log.

Put all configurable parameters near top of file.
Remove explicit path to postmaster executable.
More comments.

contrib/linux/postgres.init

-#! /bin/sh
+#!/bin/sh
 #
 # postgres.init Start postgres back end system.
 #
-# Author:       Thomas Lockhart <Thomas.Lockhart@jpl.nasa.gov>
-#               based on news startup by David Myers
+# Author:       Thomas Lockhart <lockhart@alumni.caltech.edu>
+#               modified from other startup files in the RedHat Linux distribution
 #
-# Written for RedHat Linux but should apply to other Linux distributions.
-#
-# To be installed as /etc/rc.d/init.d/postgres.init
-# Softlink into rc5.d to bring up with multiuser and networking:
-#   cd /etc/rc.d/rc5.d; ln -s ../init.d/postgres.init S98postgres
-#
-# Assumptions:
-# - the postgres user is named "postgres"
-# - the postgres user is running csh/tcsh
+# This version can log backend output through syslog using the local5 facility.
+# To enable this, edit /etc/syslog.conf to include a line similar to:
+#   local5.*  /var/log/postgres
+# and then set USE_SYSLOG to "yes" below
 #
+#PGBIN="/opt/postgres/current/bin"	# not used
+PGACCOUNT="postgres"		# the postgres account (you called it something else?)
+POSTMASTER="postmaster"		# this probably won't change
+
+USE_SYSLOG="yes"		# "yes" to enable syslog, "no" to go to /tmp/postgres.log
+FACILITY="local5"		# can assign local0-local7 as the facility for logging
+PGLOGFILE="/tmp/postgres.log"	# only used if syslog is disabled
+
+PGOPTS="-B 256"
+#PGOPTS="-i -B 256"	# -i to enable TCP/IP rather than Unix socket
 
 # Source function library.
 . /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions
@@ -29,36 +34,41 @@ then
 	exit 0
 fi
 
-[ -f /opt/postgres/current/bin/postmaster ] || exit 0
+#[ -f ${PGBIN}/${POSTMASTER} ] || exit 0
 
 # See how we were called.
 case "$1" in
   start)
-	echo -n "Starting postgres service: "
-# force full login to get path names and environment variables
-# postgres runs tcsh so use proper syntax in redirection
-# change this line if the postgres superuser account is not "postgres"
-# change this line if another shell syntax is necessary
-#	su - postgres -c 'postmaster -S' > /dev/null&
-	su - postgres -c 'postmaster >>&! /tmp/postmaster.log&' > /dev/null&
+	if [ -f ${PGLOGFILE} ]
+	then
+		mv ${PGLOGFILE} ${PGLOGFILE}.old
+	fi
+	echo -n "Starting postgres: "
+# force full login to get path names
+# my postgres runs tcsh so use proper syntax in redirection...
+	if [ ${USE_SYSLOG} = "yes" ]; then
+		su - ${PGACCOUNT} -c "(${POSTMASTER} ${PGOPTS} |& logger -p ${FACILITY}.notice) &" > /dev/null&
+	else
+		su - ${PGACCOUNT} -c "${POSTMASTER} ${PGOPTS} >>&! ${PGLOGFILE} &" > /dev/null&
+	fi
 	sleep 5
-	pid=`pidof postmaster`
-	echo -n "postmaster [$pid]"
-#	touch /var/lock/subsys/postmaster
+	pid=`pidof ${POSTMASTER}`
+	echo -n "${POSTMASTER} [$pid]"
+#	touch /var/lock/subsys/${POSTMASTER}
 	echo
 	;;
   stop)
-	echo -n "Stopping postgres service: "
-	pid=`pidof postmaster`
+	echo -n "Stopping postgres: "
+	pid=`pidof ${POSTMASTER}`
 	if [ "$pid" != "" ] ; then
-		echo -n "postmaster [$pid]"
+		echo -n "${POSTMASTER} [$pid]"
 		kill -TERM $pid
 		sleep 1
 	fi
 	echo
 	;;
   *)
-	echo "Usage: postgres.init {start|stop}"
+	echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop}"
 	exit 1
 esac