In Rails, Couldn't create database for {"adapter"=>"postgresql", - ruby-on-rails

Question

I'm trying to run rake db:create or rake db:setup but I get the following error. It's strange because rake db:create it's working fine from others folders with other Rails projects.
user:project user$ rake db:create
could not connect to server: No such file or directory
Is the server running locally and accepting
connections on Unix domain socket "/var/pgsql_socket/.s.PGSQL.5432"?
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activerecord- 3.1.0/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb:991:in `initialize'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activerecord- 3.1.0/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb:991:in `new'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activerecord-3.1.0/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb:991:in `connect'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activerecord-3.1.0/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb:260:in `initialize'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activerecord-3.1.0/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb:27:in `new'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activerecord-3.1.0/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb:27:in `postgresql_connection'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activerecord- 3.1.0/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:304:in `new_connection'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activerecord-3.1.0/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:323:in `checkout_new_connection'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activerecord- 3.1.0/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:265:in `block (2 levels) in checkout'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activerecord- 3.1.0/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:261:in `loop'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activerecord-3.1.0/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:261:in `block in checkout'
/Users/user/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p290/lib/ruby/1.9.1/monitor.rb:201:in `mon_synchronize'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activerecord-3.1.0/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:260:in `checkout'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activerecord-3.1.0/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:162:in `connection'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activerecord-3.1.0/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:409:in `retrieve_connection'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activerecord-3.1.0/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_specification.rb:107:in `retrieve_connection'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activerecord-3.1.0/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_specification.rb:89:in `connection'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activerecord-3.1.0/lib/active_record/railties/databases.rake:110:in `rescue in create_database'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activerecord-3.1.0/lib/active_record/railties/databases.rake:54:in `create_database'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/activerecord- 3.1.0/lib/active_record/railties/databases.rake:42:in `block (2 levels) in <top (required)>'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/rake-0.9.2.2/lib/rake/task.rb:205:in `call'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/rake-0.9.2.2/lib/rake/task.rb:205:in `block in execute'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/rake-0.9.2.2/lib/rake/task.rb:200:in `each'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/rake-0.9.2.2/lib/rake/task.rb:200:in `execute'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/rake-0.9.2.2/lib/rake/task.rb:158:in `block in invoke_with_call_chain'
/Users/user/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p290/lib/ruby/1.9.1/monitor.rb:201:in `mon_synchronize'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/rake-0.9.2.2/lib/rake/task.rb:151:in `invoke_with_call_chain'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/rake-0.9.2.2/lib/rake/task.rb:144:in `invoke'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/rake-0.9.2.2/lib/rake/application.rb:116:in `invoke_task'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/rake-0.9.2.2/lib/rake/application.rb:94:in `block (2 levels) in top_level'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/rake-0.9.2.2/lib/rake/application.rb:94:in `each'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/rake-0.9.2.2/lib/rake/application.rb:94:in `block in top_level'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/rake-0.9.2.2/lib/rake/application.rb:133:in `standard_exception_handling'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/rake-0.9.2.2/lib/rake/application.rb:88:in `top_level'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/rake-0.9.2.2/lib/rake/application.rb:66:in `block in run'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/rake-0.9.2.2/lib/rake/application.rb:133:in `standard_exception_handling'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/rake-0.9.2.2/lib/rake/application.rb:63:in `run'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/gems/rake-0.9.2.2/bin/rake:33:in `<top (required)>'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/bin/rake:19:in `load'
/Users/user/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p290/bin/rake:19:in `<main>'
Couldn't create database for {"adapter"=>"postgresql", "database"=>"project_test", "username"=>nil, "password"=>nil, "min_messages"=>"warning"}
This is my database.yml
development:
adapter: postgresql
database: project_development
username:
password:
min_messages: warning
test:
adapter: postgresql
database: project_test
username:
password:
min_messages: warning
production:
adapter: postgresql
database: project_production
username:
password:
min_messages: warning
Posgree is insatelled on /usr/local/var/postgres. Shouldn't rake try to look it in the same folder instead of /var/pgsql_socket/ ? (I don't have a /usr/local/var/pgsql_socket anyways)

Answer 1

Solved!
Solution was simple to update current installed gems.
Another solution to try is set host: localhost or whatever host you use on development settings on database.yml file.

Answer 2

I installed PG on Mac OS X via Homebrew (I didn't realize it came default in Mac OS X), and had the same problem. I may have made the problem worse by installing the pg gem before installing pg via Homebrew.
I solved this same problem by doing the following:
Make sure that all binaries are pointing to binaries in Cellar directory (/usr/local/Cellar on Mac OS X)
Uninstall pg gem gem uninstall pg
Reinstall with Homebrew configs gem install pg -- --with-pg-config=/usr/local/bin/pg_config (if you created a rails project with pg setup, this is explained in your database.yml config file)
And it worked!

Answer 3

First, you will need to create your user manually in Postgres, while granting privilege of database creation (AKA createdb) for this user.
To do so, first, open Postgres shell prompt
$ sudo -u postgres psql
Create your user
postgres=# create role Your_DB_username with createdb login password 'YOUR_PASSWORD';
Exit from Postgres shell
postgres=# \q
Do whatever db-related rake task:
$ rake db:create
And it will work!

Answer 4

The answer from zquintana above worked for me with a few small caveats.
My solution (using Homebrew):
If you have the gem installed gem uninstall pg
Remove old copy of postgresql brew uninstall postgresql
Re-install postgresql brew install postgresql
The install notes mention:
To have launchd start postgresql at login:
ln -sfv /usr/local/opt/postgresql/*.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents
Then to load postgresql now:
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.postgresql.plist
Or, if you don't want/need launchctl, you can just run:
postgres -D /usr/local/var/postgres
So run ln -sfv /usr/local/opt/postgresql/*.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents
Then launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.postgresql.plist
Now re-install the gem with the Homebrew configs gem install pg -- --with-pg-config=/usr/local/bin/pg_config
Now run your rake db:create

Answer 5

In my case this was all I needed: https://dba.stackexchange.com/a/75221
pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres -l /usr/local/var/postgres/server.log start

Answer 6

I encountered an identical issue and was able to solve the error by:
using postgresapp.com (recommended by heroku in https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/heroku-postgresql#local-setup),
adding to config/database.yml
host: localhost
resetting shared memory settings as recommended in troubleshooting section of http://postgresapp.com/documentation:
sudo sysctl -w kern.sysv.shmall=65536
sudo sysctl -w kern.sysv.shmmax=16777216

Answer 7

Also check you don't have an open connection such as a client or an application connected to the instance. If that happen you will see this in the error
Couldn't create database for {"adapter"=>"xxxx", "database"=>"xxxx", "host"=>"localhost", "username"=>"postgres", "password"=>"xxxxx", "pool"=>5, "timeout"=>5000}
rake aborted!
ActiveRecord::StatementInvalid: PG::ObjectInUse: ERROR: source database "template1" is being accessed by other users
DETAIL: There is 1 other session using the database.

Answer 8

Simple add host: localhost to your database.yml
For more detail please visit rake db:create:all fails to connect to PostgreSQL database

Answer 9

I was able to solve this by making sure that the name of my database in the database.yml file was in the following format: appname_development, appname_test, and appname_production. Here is my database.yml file as an example:
development:
adapter: postgresql
database: parallax_development
username:
password:
test:
adapter: postgresql
database: parallax_test
username:
password:
production:
adapter: postgresql
database: parallax_production
username:
password: