Postgresql – I can’t successfully install postgreSQL. ‘Problem running post-install step’ error message pops up

It appears that the root cause of this issue may have been that @Celeritas's computer had an incorrect value for the COMSPEC environment variable. It had a trailing semicolon, so instead of the normal:

C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe

it was:

C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe;

This one-character difference is enough. The above isn't a valid command prompt path, so popen() calls were failing. Unfortunately, instead of something useful like:

'"C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe;"' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file

it instead reports the delightfully useful error No error:

initdb: could not execute command ""C:/Program Files/PostgreSQL/9.2/bin/postgres.exe" --boot -x1 -F ": No error

See related:

• http://forums.enterprisedb.com/posts/list/2125.page
• http://postgresql.1045698.n5.nabble.com/initdb-failure-td2083455.html

I've reported this to the installer team and written a wiki entry to describe it. See blog post.

The issue was eventually resolved by:

• Editing the COMSPEC environment variable
• Uninstalling PostgreSQL
• Rebooting
• Reinstalling PostgreSQL

though there was a lot more before that which shouldn't actually be necessary to resolve this, including doing a total manual clean uninstall of PostgreSQL by hand.

Now I just want to find the people who wrote the program that modified this environment variable.

Following up on my comment, you have to select ENU\x64\SQLEXPRADV_x64_ENU.exe for installation.

Download link.

Then run the installation package and follow instruction until you get feature selection page.

Follow rest of the steps and complete the installation.

Now Verify the RS installation :

Note: You must be logged in as a member of the local administrators group on the computer where SQL Server 2012 Express is installed.

1. Navigate to Start -> All Programs -> Microsoft SQL Server 2012 -> Configuration Tools -> Reporting Services Configuration Manager.

2. In the RS Configuration Connection dialog, make sure that your local report server instance (for example SQLExpess) is selected and click Connect.

   

3. In the RS Configuration Manager left pane, select Web Service URL.

   

4. Make sure that the Virtual Directory parameter is set to ‘ReportServer_’ (‘ReportServer_SQLEXPRESS’ for the SQLEXPRESS instance), and that the TCP Port is set to 80. Click Apply.

5. In the Reporting Services Configuration Manager left pane, select Database.

6. On this page, ensure that the SQL Server Name and Database Name fields contain correct values. If not, click the Change Database button and complete the Report Server Database Configuration wizard.

7. In the Reporting Services Configuration Manager left pane, select Report Manager URL.

8. On this page, ensure that the Virtual Directory parameter is set correctly, and that the URL is valid.

9. Click Exit to close the RS Configuration Manager.