Rails in linux. Is the server running on host “localhost” (::1) and accepting TCP/IP connections on port 5432?

Question

Disclamer: I went through identical titles and none helped me solve my problem.

I installed and started a postgresql server: I first delete pgdata/postmaster.pid to make sure is not the same problem as other posts. then
pg_ctl start
lsof | grep 5432 lsof | grep 5432 -> nothing

pg_ctl start -> ...listening on Unix socket "sockets/.s.PGSQL.5432"...database system is ready to accept connections... lsof | grep 5432 lsof | grep 5432 -> postgres 1495 username 4u unix 0x0000000000000000 0t0 16163716 sockets/.s.PGSQL.5432 type=STREAM

then I go for: rake db:setup and I get:

could not connect to server: Connection refused
    Is the server running on host "localhost" (::1) and accepting
    TCP/IP connections on port 5432?
could not connect to server: Connection refused
    Is the server running on host "localhost" (127.0.0.1) and accepting
    TCP/IP connections on port 5432?
Couldn't create 'seqresults-test' database. Please check your configuration.
rake aborted!
PG::ConnectionBad: could not connect to server: Connection refused
    Is the server running on host "localhost" (::1) and accepting
    TCP/IP connections on port 5432?
could not connect to server: Connection refused
    Is the server running on host "localhost" (127.0.0.1) and accepting
    TCP/IP connections on port 5432?

Then I can access the database with the client.

$ psql

then

postgres=#

Help please. All this looks like black magic to me and it's not working.
I will also appreciate if someone could briefly explain how does this work.

Answer 1

Looks like your postgres is listening on a unix socket (a special kind of file), not a tcp one.

You can try connecting via that socket (location on your system will probably be different, you need the directory where .s.PGSQL.5432 file is located):

# database.yml
  host: '/var/run/postgresql'
  database: ...