NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra · error · IOException

PostgreSQL not found and must be built (see {}, view script

Error message

PostgreSQL not found and must be built (see {}, view script for details)

What it means

Thrown when Application.getOSFile(POSTGRES) raises OSFileNotFoundException, meaning no OS-specific postgres bundle is installed at all. Unlike [677], the directory was never found, so the tool points the user to the build script.

Source

Thrown at Ghidra/Features/BSim/src/main/java/ghidra/features/bsim/query/BSimControlLaunchable.java:789

		loadLibraryValue = postgresLibrary.getAbsolutePath();
	}

	/**
	 * Locate the "pg_ctl" executable within the PostgreSQL installation. Unpack the installation
	 * if it is not already.
	 * @throws IOException if postgres folder cannot be determined
	 */
	private void discoverPostgresInstall() throws IOException {
		try {
			postgresRoot = Application.getOSFile(POSTGRES);	// find PostgreSQL build for os
			postgresControl = new File(postgresRoot, "bin/pg_ctl");
			if (!postgresControl.isFile()) {
				throw new IOException("PostgreSQL pg_ctl command not found: " + postgresControl);
			}
			setupPostgresSharedLibrary();
		}
		catch (OSFileNotFoundException e) {
			throw new IOException("PostgreSQL not found and must be built (see " +
				POSTGRES_BUILD_SCRIPT + ", view script for details)");
		}
	}

	/**
	 * Recover the parameter settings from a previously initialized server
	 * @param configFile is main configuration file: port, adminPassword, hostAuthentication
	 * @param hbaFile is the connection file
	 * @throws IOException if the server port is invalid
	 */
	private void recoverConfigurationParameters(File configFile, File hbaFile) throws IOException {
		ServerConfig serverConfig = new ServerConfig();
		serverConfig.addKey("port", "");
		serverConfig.scanConfig(configFile);
		String value = serverConfig.getValue("port");
		int scannedPort = 5432;
		if (value.length() != 0) {
			scannedPort = Integer.parseInt(value);

View on GitHub (pinned to d5f144c24d)

Solutions

1. Run the referenced POSTGRES_BUILD_SCRIPT and follow its instructions to build postgres.
2. Re-run the BSim command only after the build completes successfully.
3. Confirm the build produced the OS-specific postgres layout Application.getOSFile expects.

// Check whether the OS postgres bundle is resolvable before launching.
try {
    File root = Application.getOSFile(POSTGRES);
    if (root == null || !root.exists()) {
        System.err.println("Postgres bundle not installed. Run " + POSTGRES_BUILD_SCRIPT);
        return;
    }
} catch (OSFileNotFoundException e) {
    System.err.println("Postgres not built yet. Run " + POSTGRES_BUILD_SCRIPT);
    return;
}

try {
    launchable.discoverPostgresInstall();
} catch (IOException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().startsWith("PostgreSQL not found and must be built")) {
        System.err.println("Build postgres first via the referenced script, then retry.");
    }
    throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: First-time setup on a machine where the postgres support bundle has not been built/downloaded; getOSFile cannot resolve any POSTGRES file for the OS (line 789).

Common situations: Fresh checkout/install without running the postgres build step, or the bundle not yet distributed for this platform.

Related errors

• PostgreSQL pg_ctl command not found: {}
• Error initializing postgres database
• Could not start postgres server process
• Could not create database:
• Cannot find Python source for {name}. If this is a remote s

AI-assisted analysis of NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra@d5f144c24d (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1ac11aab16b9fc17. Report an issue: GitHub.