Subject: yum.postgresql.org user experience

From: Christoph Berg <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2020 13:12:33 +0100

Hi,

I just wanted to activate the yum repo on some centos box, but failed.
Here's what happened:

* go to yum.postgresql.org

* look for the "repo packages" link that used to be there all the
  years
* find the version number links under "AVAILABLE POSTGRESQL RELEASES"
* click on 13
* click on RHEL/CentOS 8 - x86_64
* realize that this is the package listing, go back to the main page

* find the "Repo RPMs" item in the top menu bar
* copy the CentOS 8 - x86_64 link
* yum install https://download.postgresql.org/pub/repos/yum/reporpms/EL-8-x86_64/pgdg-redhat-repo-latest.noarch.rpm

* try to install postgresql13-server
* try to install postgresql13
* run yum search postgresql and realize that there are tons of
  extension packages available, but not any server packages

* try to edit /etc/yum.repos.d/pgdg-redhat-all.repo, but all repos are
  already enabled including the "common" on

* give up and install "postgresql-server" from Centos (which is
  version 10)

So: while I think I did everything correctly, the single most
important command in that chain is "dnf -qy module disable postgresql",
but it isn't mentioned anywhere. It is only reachable via this click
path:

* click on "Yum Howto" in the top menu bar
* read a length text
* click on "Download" (while I don't want to download anything at this
  point, I just want to enable a repository)
* scroll down
* click on "Centos 8"
* copy commands from textbox.

To fix that, I would suggest some improvements:

* On the yum.pg.o front page, move the paragraph with instructions to
  the top (don't hide it below the "common" announcement)
* Get rid of the /howto page and put the single paragraph it contains
  right on the front page
* When linking to the Download pages, label it as "installation
  instructions"
* Put a prominent note somewhere that the SCL postgresql module needs
  to be disabled (this is the part I was missing, and I guess most
  users who have used yum.pg.o before will be very surprised by that
  step.)

* On the front page, label the links to the packages listings as such
  (the current heading "AVAILABLE POSTGRESQL RELEASES" is misleading)

* On the /repopackages page, include the "module disable" note, like
  the "common" note that is already there

* Include the Instructions link in the QUICK LINKS bar on the left

Thanks,
Christoph

---

From: Laurenz Albe <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2020 15:05:36 +0100

On Wed, 2020-11-11 at 13:12 +0100, Christoph Berg wrote:
> [tale of pain]

Interesting - I didn't know that command and never needed it to install PostgreSQL
on CentOS.

I guess the difference is that I start at the "Download" page of www.postgresql.org,
where I find fool-proof instructions, and that is probably the way most people go.

> To fix that, I would suggest some improvements:

I agree with you that improving yum.postgresql.org would be nice.

Yours,
Laurenz Albe

---

From: Christoph Berg <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2020 17:51:20 +0100

Re: Laurenz Albe
> Interesting - I didn't know that command and never needed it to install PostgreSQL

If you don't do that, the symptom is that the postgresqlNN and
postgresqlNN-server packages are hidden somehow and can't be
installed. Which was pretty confusing to me, I would have expected
some message about bad dependencies or the like instead.

Christoph

---

From: Devrim Gündüz <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2020 23:31:04 +0000

Hi Christoph,

> I just wanted to activate the yum repo on some centos box, but

:( Sorry to read this.

> * realize that this is the package listing, go back to the main page

Looks like you clicked the next link on the right :(

> * yum install    
> https://download.postgresql.org/pub/repos/yum/reporpms/EL-8-x86_64/pgdg-redhat-repo-latest.noarch.rpm
> 

This is pretty bad :( In the last few months, we improved the downloads
page at pg.org a lot, but then I did not show enough love here.

>   the top (don't hide it below the "common" announcement)

That was intentional back then, it was a potential breakage for the
people who do not update to the new repo RPMs. I agree that it's not
that important now.

> * Include the Instructions link in the QUICK LINKS bar on the left

Looks great to me. Let me push tomorrow's releases first, then will do
these changes.

Thanks for the feedback. 

Cheers,
-- 
Devrim Gündüz
Open Source Solution Architect, Red Hat Certified Engineer
Twitter: @DevrimGunduz , @DevrimGunduzTR

---

From: Christoph Berg <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 2020 13:39:14 +0100

Re: Devrim Gündüz
> Looks like you clicked the next link on the right :(

The repo packages used to be a bullet list in the text, so at this
point I clicked on "13" in the list of version numbers in the middle
of the page unter "AVAILABLE POSTGRESQL RELEASES", not on the top menu
bar.

> people who do not update to the new repo RPMs. I agree that it's not

I understand, and maybe knowing about the "common" change made me
confused even more, because I thought I knew all steps needed.

> Looks great to me. Let me push tomorrow's releases first, then will do

Thanks!

Christoph