Postgres for Resolve Project Server -local network

I need a definitive guide to seting up PostgreSQL sever and launching it!! On a Mac.
macOS 12.7.4 Monterey.

I have installed Project Server 18.5 (latest version I could find as of 25/04/24)
It seemingly installed PostgreSQL 13.4 earlier today. macHD/Library/postgresSLQ/13/

But launching Project server achieves nothing. Just a dialogue saying can’t connect to PostgreSQL server, not found/incorect password.

After much hunting arround achieving nothing. I downloaded and installed the latest version of ProstgreSQL 16.
Now I have two installs of PostgreSQL 13, & 16.
During this install I used a password I remember.
Using the Admin Utility v.4 in 16 I was able to connect to both dummy PostgresSQL databases (13 & 16).

With both open and active, Project Server still makes the same complaint.

The Project Server Guide.pdf is of no help whatsoever. It assumes postgresql connection at launch.

Resolve 17 or maybe 16 had a very detailed section of the user guide going over the PSQL setup. I think that may have been removed when the Project Server software was added to Resolve but it's still valid. You don't need to use the Project Server but if you do it generally kind gives you a higher level abstraction of the DB setup. The back end is still the same.

Look at the pg_hba.conf file and make sure it's set to accept connections from either specific IP addresses of your Resolve clients, or (better) accept connections from all local IPs.

Also make sure that the user that's running Postgres on your Mac has +RW permissions.

I set this up only one time using the Project Server and something like one of these two issues happened. I can't remember what it was, but the client couldn't connect for something simple like that.

@Igor Riďanovic
Thank you. I will dig into older Resolve manuals.

I guess the BMD developer assumption is that migration to the cloud has happened and bigger Post shops have dedicated knowledgeable IT guys.

I am just setting up a one weekend only local net for a 48 hour film competition. And need to come up with a working solution that does not rely on using a cloud service for coordination. I expect I will be color grading under a blanket in less than ideal conditions, and would rather not be fighting with network/sneaker net frustrations.

Heck, being a Mac centric guy, I don’t even know how to network Mac drives to the editors’ PCs. That’s next weeks little nightmare.


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I'm not sure it's that. I think that BMD had seen that many users were frustrated with the PSQL setup and they rolled out the Project Server which is supposed to hide that complexity. In theory it should work pretty well. I have minimal experience with it and can't speak of its effectiveness other than, as I mentioned, it tripped me once over something as simple as user permissions or something like that.

Setting it up the old way is really not that complex. It can literally be done in fifteen minutes if you have a machine ready to host the PSQL server, the network is ready, and have a PSQL installer ready to go.

Regarding the shared storage, if your network is sufficiently fast and you have a machine to spare, you can setup an SMB share and have all clients access the media from there. You will just need to setup path remapping (I usually do it on the Macs) in the preferences for each machine of one OS type. The idea is that you have to translate the path from Windows to Posix or the other way around. Once that's done it's trouble free.

[Dwaine Maggart]

The only reason you'd get that error after installing the 18.5 Project Server on Mac would be if PostgreSQL wasn't running.

It should normally run after the install, but might take a Mac restart.

To see if it's running, open the Mac Activity Monitor app, and in the View menu, select All Processes, then sort on the Process Name column and scroll to the p's area. If PostgreSQL is running, there will be multiple postgres processes. 6 or more.

If there are no postgres processes, PostgreSQL is not running, for whatever reason. You can sudo su in Terminal mode, and cd /Library/PostgreSQL/13/data/log and view the log files for a clue as to the issue.

Now that you've installed a second PostgreSQL version, I don't know what that will do to the Project Server app. I suspect that the 16 version is running, and if you didn't give it the password the Project Server app is looking for, it won't connect. The password it wants to see is DaVinci

I'd suggest, if you really want to use the Project Server app, that you uninstall the PostgreSQL 16 version, and see if you can make the 13 version run. If you can, the Project Server app should connect to it.

You can certainly manually configure the PostgreSQL 16 server to do what you need, if you want to go that route. The Project Server app is just for people that don't want to deal with that. Note also that the Project Server app only supports a single network subnet. It's designed for simple scenarios. If you have Resolve clients on multiple subnets, you can't use the Project Server app, and would need to manually config the pg_hba.conf file to allow desired connections.

Hi Dwaine,
Thanks.
Just some quick questions:

how does one scrub the entirety of a previous PostgreSQL install, and any lurking older databases, including resolve project server libraries. So that one is back to a clean slate to allow The Project Server installer to function correctly.
And where would one put the password “Davinci” you named?
Is this something I would use PostgreSQL Admin to add to the ???


Aside from that admin app, I could find no Postgres application or obvious runtime executable to launch for the project server app to connect to.
How does one trigger Postgres processes?

Is there a terminal command/script to launch PostgreSQL processes and other dependencies?

HINT to BMD Dev Team. Perhaps for Project Server 19, including a launchable Postgres’s Repair script (from that failed connection dialogue) that first checks passwords, and for running Postgres processes, and then does a clean install of PostgreSQL if none is detected, or observed to be fundamentally broken (as mine seems to be).

In the published BMD Project Server guide, perhaps describing where the password needs to be placed in independent Postgress installations would be useful. And a basic PostgreSQL maintainance guide (pertainant to Project Server). Also your comment about not suitable. To crossing subnets. This maybe obvious perhaps to an IT Networking Guy, less so for ordinary creatives setting up a home studio.

I have also experimented and Installed successfully on one of the client machines, and the first thing Project server did was step me through creating a Project Server Library (postgresSQL database). Which is pretty much the expected behaviour. Meanwhile on the intended Project server machine, connection failure at launch prevents any such action.

Thanks again, for your assistance.
Gurus like you are hard to find outside of corporate employee stacks.

[Dwaine Maggart]

Open Activity Monitor and set the View menu to Show All Processes.

See if there are any postgres processes running.

If there are, kill PostgreSQL by opening Terminal, and do a sudo su. Password should be your Admin user password. Then type:

launchctl unload -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.edb.launchd.postgresql-13.plist

The above would be how you'd stop the Resolve installed PostgreSQL 13.4. If you have 16 running, replace the 13 with a 16, and it should work. If it works, you'll just got a new terminal prompt. If it doesn't work, it will tell you.

Once there are no postgres processes running, trash the /Library/PostgreSQL folder. This will remove all PostgreSQL versions.

Empty the trash.

Open Terminal, and type:

sudo dscl . delete /users/postgres

The sudo password is your Admin user password.

Then run the 18.5 Project Server installer. It will install PostgreSQL 13.4 in the /Library/PostgreSQL/13 folder.

After the installer finishes, check Activity Monitor to see if there are any postgres processes. If there aren't, then in the sudo su Terminal window, type:

launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.edb.launchd.postgresql-13.plist

Now you should see multiple postgres processes. Assuming you do, the Project Server app should be happy.

Thank you, Dwaine.
I am saving this entire thread for the future.
I solved the issue by, systematically removing every instance of a PostgreSQL folder, and installation from the m1 mini.
First by using the PostgreSQL uninstall tool, & the Project Server uninstall tool.
Then, manually trolling the entire drive (Libraries, BMD folders, and user folders) and removing every item which appeared related to PostgreSQL and Project server.
There was one Prostgresql deamon file from middle of last year which I had not previously spotted. Removed that too. Leaving only the MacOS installed Perl and Ruby Postgres files alone.

I then reinstalled Project Server. This succeeded doing a clean install of PostgreSQL.

I then checked the log file Inside the data folder of /PostgreSQL/13.4/ this indicated that the PostgreSQL server was available for connections.

When I launched Project Server 18.5 for the first time after clean install, it immediately opened to create new Server /Library dialogue.
Success!

Hope this aids others trying to resolve Project server issues, on a Mac. Apple silicon, Monterey.

NOTE: the documented (in Resolve 17 User Manual) right click on the project library in the server window, no longer reveals the Project server .dbase in the Finder.


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