PostgreSQL: Why psql can't connect to server?

Question

I typed psql and I get this:

psql: could not connect to server: No such file or directory
    Is the server running locally and accepting
    con         


        

Answer 1

I had the same issue on Devuan ascii (maybe Debian, too?). The config file /etc/postgresql/9.6/main/postgresql.conf contains a directive unix_socket_directories which points to /var/run/postgresql by default. Changing it to /tmp, where most clients look by default, fixed it for me.