PG::ConnectionBad - could not connect to server: Connection refused

Every time I run my rails 4.0 server, I get this output.

Started GET "/" for 127.0.0.1 at 2013-11-06 23:56:36 -0500

PG::ConnectionBad - could not connect to server: Connection refused
Is the server running on host "localhost" (::1) and accepting
TCP/IP connections on port 5432?
could not connect to server: Connection refused
Is the server running on host "localhost" (127.0.0.1) and accepting
TCP/IP connections on port 5432?
could not connect to server: Connection refused
Is the server running on host "localhost" (fe80::1) and accepting
TCP/IP connections on port 5432?
:
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb:825:in `connect'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb:542:in `initialize'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb:41:in `postgresql_connection'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:440:in `new_connection'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:450:in `checkout_new_connection'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:421:in `acquire_connection'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:356:in `block in checkout'
 /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/monitor.rb:211:in `mon_synchronize'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:355:in `checkout'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:265:in `block in connection'
 /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/monitor.rb:211:in `mon_synchronize'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:264:in `connection'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:546:in `retrieve_connection'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_handling.rb:79:in `retrieve_connection'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_handling.rb:53:in `connection'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/migration.rb:792:in `current_version'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/migration.rb:800:in `needs_migration?'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/migration.rb:379:in `check_pending!'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/migration.rb:366:in `call'
 actionpack (4.0.0) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/callbacks.rb:29:in `block in call'
 activesupport (4.0.0) lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:373:in `_run__1613334440513032208__call__callbacks'
 activesupport (4.0.0) lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:80:in `run_callbacks'
 actionpack (4.0.0) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/callbacks.rb:27:in `call'
 actionpack (4.0.0) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/reloader.rb:64:in `call'
 actionpack (4.0.0) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/remote_ip.rb:76:in `call'
 better_errors (0.9.0) lib/better_errors/middleware.rb:84:in `protected_app_call'
 better_errors (0.9.0) lib/better_errors/middleware.rb:79:in `better_errors_call'
 better_errors (0.9.0) lib/better_errors/middleware.rb:56:in `call'
 actionpack (4.0.0) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/debug_exceptions.rb:17:in `call'
 actionpack (4.0.0) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/show_exceptions.rb:30:in `call'
 railties (4.0.0) lib/rails/rack/logger.rb:38:in `call_app'
 railties (4.0.0) lib/rails/rack/logger.rb:21:in `block in call'
 activesupport (4.0.0) lib/active_support/tagged_logging.rb:67:in `block in tagged'
 activesupport (4.0.0) lib/active_support/tagged_logging.rb:25:in `tagged'
 activesupport (4.0.0) lib/active_support/tagged_logging.rb:67:in `tagged'
 railties (4.0.0) lib/rails/rack/logger.rb:21:in `call'
 quiet_assets (1.0.2) lib/quiet_assets.rb:18:in `call_with_quiet_assets'
 actionpack (4.0.0) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/request_id.rb:21:in `call'
 rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/methodoverride.rb:21:in `call'
 rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/runtime.rb:17:in `call'
 activesupport (4.0.0) lib/active_support/cache/strategy/local_cache.rb:83:in `call'
 rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/lock.rb:17:in `call'
 actionpack (4.0.0) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/static.rb:64:in `call'
 railties (4.0.0) lib/rails/engine.rb:511:in `call'
 railties (4.0.0) lib/rails/application.rb:97:in `call'
 rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/content_length.rb:14:in `call'
 thin (1.5.1) lib/thin/connection.rb:81:in `block in pre_process'
 thin (1.5.1) lib/thin/connection.rb:79:in `pre_process'
 thin (1.5.1) lib/thin/connection.rb:54:in `process'
 thin (1.5.1) lib/thin/connection.rb:39:in `receive_data'
 eventmachine (1.0.3) lib/eventmachine.rb:187:in `run'
 thin (1.5.1) lib/thin/backends/base.rb:63:in `start'
 thin (1.5.1) lib/thin/server.rb:159:in `start'
 rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/handler/thin.rb:16:in `run'
 rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/server.rb:264:in `start'
 railties (4.0.0) lib/rails/commands/server.rb:84:in `start'
 railties (4.0.0) lib/rails/commands.rb:78:in `block in <top (required)>'
 railties (4.0.0) lib/rails/commands.rb:73:in `<top (required)>'
 bin/rails:4:in `<main>'

I'm running Mavericks OS X 10.9 so I don't know if that's the problem. I've tried everything I could but nothing seems to work. I've uninstalled and install both postgres and the pg gem multiple times now.

This is my database.yml file

development:
  adapter: postgresql
  encoding: unicode
  database: metals-directory_development
  pool: 5
  username: 
  password: 
  template: template0
  host: localhost
  port: 5432

test: &test
  adapter: postgresql
  encoding: unicode
  database: metals-directory_test
  pool: 5
  username: 
  password: 
  template: template0
  host: localhost
  port: 5432

staging:
  adapter: postgresql
  encoding: unicode
  database: metals-directory_production
  pool: 5
  username:
  password:
  template: template0
  host: localhost

production:
  adapter: postgresql
  encoding: unicode
  database: metals-directory_production
  pool: 5
  username:
  password:
  template: template0
  host: localhost

cucumber:
  <<: *test

Solution 1:

It could be as simple as a stale PID file. It could be failing silently because your computer didn't complete the shutdown process completely which means postgres didn't delete the PID (process id) file.

The PID file is used by postgres to make sure only one instance of the server is running at a time. So when it goes to start again, it fails because there is already a PID file which tells postgres that another instance of the server was started (even though it isn't running, it just didn't get to shutdown and delete the PID).

1. To fix it remove/rename the PID file. Find the postgres data directory. On macOS using homebrew it is in /usr/local/var/postgres/, or /usr/local/var/log/ other systems it might be /usr/var/postgres/. On M1, it might be /opt/homebrew/var/postgresql.
2. To make sure this is the problem, look at the log file (server.log). On the last lines you will see:

FATAL: lock file "postmaster.pid" already exists
HINT: Is another postmaster (PID 347) running in data directory "/usr/local/var/postgres"?

3. If so, rm postmaster.pid

4. Restart your server. On a mac using launchctl (with homebrew) the following commands will restart the server.

   brew services restart postgresql
   

OR on older versions of Brew

    launchctl unload homebrew.mxcl.postgresql.plist  
    launchctl load -w homebrew.mxcl.postgresql.plist

Solution 2:

You would need to restart the Postgresql Server.

If you are using ubuntu you can restart Postgresql by following command

sudo service postgresql restart

Solution 3:

I have managed to solve the problem by following the Chris Slade's answer, but to restart the server, I had to use the following commands:

launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.postgresql.plist

launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.postgresql.plist

that I found here (pjammer's answer down at the bottom)

Solution 4:

Do you have postgresql installed within your system? If not, then watch Install postgresql. After you successfully integrate postgresql into your system you can type something like that in your system terminal:

which psql
#=> /usr/bin/psql

After that you need to create a user and database in postgresql like this:

sudo su - postgres
psql

Then you can see the following within your terminal

postgres=#

Type there:

CREATE USER yourname WITH PASSWORD 'passwordhere';
CREATE DATABASE metals-directory_production  WITH OWNER yourname;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE metals-directory_production TO yourname;

After you do this, then you need to correct your database.yml. Probably you need something like that:

development:
  adapter: postgresql
  encoding: unicode
  database: metals-directory_development
  pool: 5
  username: yourname
  password: passwordhere   ### password you have specified within psql
  host: localhost
  port: 5432               ### you can configure it in file postgresql.conf

Also if you have problems with postgresql it is good idea to check pg_hba.conf

Solution 5:

1. Uninstall pg:

   gem uninstall pg

2. Uninstall postgres:

   brew uninstall postgres

3. Nuke the postgres folder which might be lingering with a bunch of stale stuff it in:

   rm -rf /usr/local/var/postgres

4. Reboot (maybe unnecessary)

5. Reinstall pg:

   brew install postgres

6. My comment in Chris Slade's answer starts pg the hard way, now I use brew services which has simplified my life in so many ways:

   brew install services

7. And start pg with it:

   brew services start postgresql

8. Reinstall the gem:

   gem install pg

And bobsyouruncle.