Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 16:00:41 -0600
From: "Jim C. Nasby" <jnasby@pervasive.com>
To: Scott Marlowe <smarlowe@g2switchworks.com>
Cc: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>, pgsql-docs@postgresql.org
Subject: Re: vacuum and routine maintenance docs
Message-ID: <20060119220041.GG78403@pervasive.com>
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	<5713.1137632107@sss.pgh.pa.us>
	<20060119011422.GM17896@pervasive.com>
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On Thu, Jan 19, 2006 at 10:15:19AM -0600, Scott Marlowe wrote:
> I agree completely.  We don't probably need it in sgml just yet.  From a

Actually, I was looking for how to get the view out of the existing SGML
;) In any case, I think admin is probably broad enough that there won't
be much overlap with other sections.

> 40,000 ft perspective, we can break administration up into several large
> chunks, and then decide what needs to go in each.  The general "big
> topics" we already have seem pretty serviceable.  However, I tend to
> think of OS env and server config as being sub topics under
> installation.  Under that, we can put the individual subjects
> accordingly.
> 
> - Installation
> -- Documentation scope specification
> -- Preparation (setting objectives for the installation)
> -- Hardware considerations (emphasizing things like fsyncing and all)
> -- OS configuration (i.e. shared memory)
> -- Software installation (source versus rpm versus pkg etc.)
> -- Cluster initialization (localization issues, location, etc...)
> -- Server configuration (i.e. pg_hba / postgresql.conf et. al.)
> -- Running the server (start up scripts, by hand, etc.)
> -- Verifying server operation (regression tests)

Should probably mention contrib in here somewhere... and other
resources, like pgFoundry. Afterall, the install section is somewhat of
someone's introduction to PostgreSQL...

> - Management
> -- Databases
> -- Users
> -- Roles and Privileges

Somewhere in one or both of the above should probably be some discussion
on security practices... Also, pg_hba.conf is a bit of a stickler,
because it is closely related to users and authentication.
postgresql.conf is also a bit tricky, because many of it's settings
require knowledge from other areas. Maybe the best way to deal with
these is extensive cross-linking? IE: each postgresql.conf item (or set
of items) should have a link back to whatever section explains it in
detail.
-- 
Jim C. Nasby, Sr. Engineering Consultant      jnasby@pervasive.com
Pervasive Software      http://pervasive.com    work: 512-231-6117
vcard: http://jim.nasby.net/pervasive.vcf       cell: 512-569-9461