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I'm trying to install the PG (postgres) gem on a CentoOS server, but it keeps saying Postgres is too old, even though I have upgraded it to 9.1.3 (as per the instructions here http://www.davidghedini.com/pg/entry/install_postgresql_9_on_centos).

I am using CentOS 5.8 (and Ruby 1.9.3)

Here is the error message:

Building native extensions.  This could take a while...
ERROR:  Error installing pg:
    ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.

        /usr/local/bin/ruby extconf.rb
checking for pg_config... yes
Using config values from /usr/bin/pg_config
checking for libpq-fe.h... yes
checking for libpq/libpq-fs.h... yes
checking for pg_config_manual.h... yes
checking for PQconnectdb() in -lpq... yes
checking for PQconnectionUsedPassword()... no
Your PostgreSQL is too old. Either install an older version of this gem or upgrade your database.
*** extconf.rb failed ***
Could not create Makefile due to some reason, probably lack of
necessary libraries and/or headers.  Check the mkmf.log file for more
details.  You may need configuration options.

psql --version confirms my version: psql (PostgreSQL) 9.1.3

I can confirm packages installed:

Setting up Install Process
Package postgresql91-9.1.3-1PGDG.rhel5.x86_64 already installed and latest version
Package postgresql91-devel-9.1.3-1PGDG.rhel5.x86_64 already installed and latest version
Package postgresql91-server-9.1.3-1PGDG.rhel5.x86_64 already installed and latest version
Package postgresql91-libs-9.1.3-1PGDG.rhel5.x86_64 already installed and latest version
Package postgresql91-contrib-9.1.3-1PGDG.rhel5.x86_64 already installed and latest version
Nothing to do

Any ideas on how to troubleshoot this? Thanks in advance.

A4J
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  • The same basic question was asked [here](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10866097/pg-gem-says-your-postgresql-is-too-old-but-its-not) (by the same person). – Mark Stosberg Jun 03 '12 at 00:15
  • (Yes, it was suggested I post here - as it seems to be server related) – A4J Jun 03 '12 at 00:21

3 Answers3

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Since you are running the latest version of PostgreSQL, it seems very unlikely that it is really too old. I would look at the source code of whatever is generating that error and look for a bug in there. How is it calculating that PostgreSQL is "too old" ?

Mark Stosberg
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    I'm not sure to tbh, but I have a sneaky suspicion it might be to do with associated packages, as it errors out after this line: checking for PQconnectionUsedPassword(). And I have seen similar posts where it's suggested to install the development packages (but I seem to have them) – A4J Jun 03 '12 at 00:11
  • Here is the link to the source of that gem: https://bitbucket.org/ged/ruby-pg/src – A4J Jun 03 '12 at 00:20
  • In the source, it contains `have_func 'PQconnectionUsedPassword' or abort`. I can also see that PQconnectionUsedPassword [is in the current version of PostgreSQL](http://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/libpq-status.html). It looks like your "libpq-fe.h" might be old. Use 'locate' to find this file on your system and see if you have multiple copies of it, and see how old each on is (with ls -l) – Mark Stosberg Jun 03 '12 at 00:46
  • I tried 'locate libpq-fe.h' but it returns nothing. However just before that (and before seeing your reply) I erased everything (with yum erase postgresql91*) and reinstalled it following the guide in my first post, but now it gets stuck on 'checking for libpq-fe.h' saying it 'Can't find the 'libpq-fe.h header'. It's meant to come from this package postgresql-devel (which I have - apparently). I must be doing something wrong :/ – A4J Jun 03 '12 at 01:20
  • This seems to have done it! gem install pg -- --with-pgsql-lib=/usr/pgsql-9.1/lib --with-pg-config=/usr/pgsql-9.1/bin/pg_config (Will verify tomorrow tho as it's gone 3am) – A4J Jun 03 '12 at 02:12
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Your ruby gem is probably picking up the old development libraries. Typically you will to add /usr/pgsql-9.0/include/ to your includes.

easel
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  • I managed to do it last night with 'gem install pg -- --with-pgsql-lib=/usr/pgsql-9.1/lib --with-pg-config=/usr/pgsql-9.1/bin/pg_config' - was there a better way? Do I still need to add pg9 to my includes? (If so how?) Thanks. – A4J Jun 03 '12 at 11:10
  • It looks like you got it, the --with-pg-config command executes a command that spits out all the right configuration stuff. That said, you could make it a permanent change and eliminate the need for extra flags by adjusting your path so /usr/pgsql-9.1/bin was in your path first. – easel Jun 03 '12 at 17:31
  • Thank you! That fixed the problems I was having doing a bundle install in production!! :-) – A4J Jun 03 '12 at 18:43
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Pasted from https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15301026/pg-gem-install-fails-saying-version-is-too-old/28284126#28284126

I was going nuts with this until I realized that postgresql-devel and postgresql-libs were from 8.1.23!!!

$ yum list installed postgres*
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, security
Installed Packages
postgresql-devel.i386          8.1.23-10.el5_10       installed
postgresql-devel.x86_64        8.1.23-10.el5_10       installed
postgresql-libs.i386           8.1.23-10.el5_10       installed
postgresql-libs.x86_64         8.1.23-10.el5_10       installed

---------------

$ sudo yum install postgresql94-libs
$ sudo yum install postgresql94-devel

$ gem install pg
Successfully installed pg-0.18.1
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