Windows installer will create a non working service installation if paths are changed from defaults

[tps800]

If installing PostgreSQL and you are changing paths from defaults, all seems fine, until you try to start the installed service: postgresql-x64-16.6 (for the latest 16). looking at the logs you'll see pg_ctl.exe not finding postgres.exe.

It does not help to define PGPATH to reflect your install path, nor does it help to add the install path to the system path. pg_ctl.exe keeps not finding postgres.exe. It looks like pg_ctl.exe depends on having postgres.exe installed into %ProgramFiles%\PostgreSQL\16\bin\postgres.exe if it is started without stdin, stdout and stderr as is the case with Windows services.

If you'll start cmd.exe as system or an administrator, then call pg_ctl.exe, if postgres.exe is within %PATH%, it will start postgres.exe without hassles. The commandline windows cant be closed then, because the running postgres.exe blocks stdin, stdout, and stderr. Killing this window will bring postgres.exe down with a pipe error. Mostly because stdout went away.

What I'd expect would be, the installer using the given install paths to find postgres.exe not relying on paths build in or retrived in some other way from the system by pg_ctl.exe.

[tps800]

Same for PostgreSQL installers for

• 17
• 16
• 15
• 14

if install paths are changed from defaults.

[SletZh]

I changed the default installation directory of PostgreSQL, now I cannot connect to the database service.

[sandeep-edb]

The installer is relocatable and expected to work fine. Please share the installation log