Repeated “password authentication failed for user gpmon” after upgrade to GPDB 7.5.2 / GPCC 7.4.0
Article ID: 405976
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
After upgrading Greenplum Command Center (GPCC) from version 7.2 to 7.4.0 alongside Greenplum Database (GPDB) 7.5.2, customers encounter repeated authentication errors:
Failed to connect to database gpperfmon on <IP:PORT> as gpmon:
pq: password authentication failed for user "gpmon"
In previous GPCC versions (e.g., 7.2), the installer (gpccinstall -W) and start commands (gpcc start -W) prompted for the gpmon password interactively, and no .pgpass file was required. However, post-upgrade, the -u -W upgrade command does not prompt for a password and instead expects a .pgpass entry for the gpmon user, resulting in failed connections if it does not exist.
Environment
GPDB : 7.5.2
GPCC : 7.4.0 (upgrade from 7.2.0)
Cause
- In GPCC 7.4.0, a new external host deployment feature changes the way connections are handled, defaulting to the gpmon user instead of gpadmin.
- The -W flag should prompt for the gpmon user’s password during installation or upgrade. However, when used with the -u (upgrade) option, the prompt does not appear.
- Instead, the installer attempts to authenticate using a .pgpass file, which was not required in earlier GPCC versions.
Resolution
Manually create a .pgpass file in the GPCC installation user’s home directory containing the gpmon user credentials:
echo "<IP:PORT>:gpperfmon:gpmon:<password>" >> ~/.pgpass
chmod 600 ~/.pgpass
Additional Information
Ideally "-W" should prompt for password to make connection with gpmon user during install/upgrade, so R&D will enhance this in next release.
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