Problems accessing databases on remote postgresql sever - postgresql

Question

I have a postgresql (9.1.4) server running on a remote machine (Ubuntu 12.04), and I'm having trouble accessing it on my local machine. Specifically, on my local machine, I can access the remote server using only the username "postgres" and the database name "postgres", even though I have other user names and databases. First some of the background information. While in the interactive environment invoked with "psql" on the remote machine, I created another user, called "mxtxdb", and set the password for that user. I also created a database called "mxtxdb". To demonstrate their existence, I logged onto the remote machine and ran:
sudo su postgres
Password:
postgres#myhost:~$ psql
psql (9.1.4)
Type "help" for help.
postgres=# \du
List of roles
Role name | Attributes | Member of
-----------+------------------------------------------------+-----------
mxtxdb | | {}
postgres | Superuser, Create role, Create DB, Replication | {}
postgres=# \l
List of databases
Name | Owner | Encoding | Collate | Ctype | Access privileges
-----------+----------+----------+-------------+-------------+-----------------------
mxtxdb | postgres | UTF8 | en_US.UTF-8 | en_US.UTF-8 | =Tc/postgres +
| | | | | postgres=CTc/postgres+
| | | | | mxtxdb=CTc/postgres
postgres | postgres | UTF8 | en_US.UTF-8 | en_US.UTF-8 |
template0 | postgres | UTF8 | en_US.UTF-8 | en_US.UTF-8 | =c/postgres +
| | | | | postgres=CTc/postgres
template1 | postgres | UTF8 | en_US.UTF-8 | en_US.UTF-8 | =c/postgres +
| | | | | postgres=CTc/postgres
(4 rows)
Furthermore, while still on the remote machine, I can access the database from the "mxtxdb" postgresql account:
postgres#myhost:~$ psql -h localhost -U mxtxdb -d mxtxdb
Password for user mxtxdb:
psql (9.1.4)
Type "help" for help.
mxtxdb=>
But when I try to do the same on the local machine, I get this:
psql -h <server's address> -U postgres -d "postgres" -p 5432
Password for user postgres:
psql (9.1.4)
Type "help" for help.
postgres=#
and
psql -h <server's address> -U "postgres" -d "mxtxdb" -p 5432
Password for user postgres:
psql: FATAL: database "mxtxdb" does not exist
and
psql -h <server's address> -U "mxtxdb" -d "mxtxdb" -p 5432
Password for user mxtxdb:
psql: FATAL: role "mxtxdb" does not exist
The last two lines of my pg_hba.conf file are:
host all mxtxdb 0.0.0.0/0 trust
host all postgres 0.0.0.0/0 trust
and the listen_addresses is set to '*' (and uncommented) in the postgresql.conf file.
Any idea why I cannot access other accounts or databases remotely, but I can when ssh'd into the remote machine?

Answer 1

First of all, thanks to Craig Richard for your suggestions, and in fact you were both correct. Here's what happened: I installed PostgreSQL using sudo apt-get install postgresql-9.1, and then I followed the instructions for configuring the server at http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.1/interactive/runtime.html . Unfortunately, what I did not notice was that the apt-get install process creates a postgresql database cluster by default, so when I followed the instructions to create a new one, I then had two clusters, one at /var/lib/postgresql/9.1/main and one at /usr/local/pgsql/data, and I was interacting with different clusters when I logged in locally vs remotely. When I removed the second cluster, the issue was resolved and I was able to connect remotely.
My takeaways from this process: when installing postgresql with apt-get, and then following the instructions in the postgresql manual, be aware that the install process will create a postgres operating system user by default, and will also create a database cluster by default, so those steps in the manual do not need to be performed. If anyone experiences an error like:
"FATAL: role/database '<name>' does not exist"
when you are sure you've created that user or database, check to ensure that you're operating with the correct database cluster.
Thanks again!