Before you can run postgresql you'll need to create the database files in /var/lib/pgsql. The following should do the trick. # su postgres -c "initdb -D /var/lib/pgsql/data" Additionally, a logrotation script and init script are included. For production level log file handling please read http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.3/interactive/logfile-maintenance.html In order to start postgresql at boot and stop it properly at shutdown, make sure rc.postgresql is executable and add the following lines to the following files: /etc/rc.d/rc.local ================== # Startup postgresql if [ -x /etc/rc.d/rc.postgresql ]; then /etc/rc.d/rc.postgresql start fi /etc/rc.d/rc.local_shutdown =========================== # Stop postgres if [ -x /etc/rc.d/rc.postgresql ]; then /etc/rc.d/rc.postgresql stop fi This script builds postgresql with the 'adminpack', 'tsearch2', and 'pgcrypto' features in the contrib directory. Please note that in order to actually use extension, you must execute accompanying SQL scripts located in /usr/share/postgresql/contrib Since 8.3 tsearch2 functionality is available in PostgreSQL core, and 'tsearch2' extension serves only as a compatibility layer. You can prevent building of this extension with: TSEARCH2_COMPAT=no ./postgresql.SlackBuild