pg_hba.conf weirdness

gistfile1.txt

[root@localhost data]# service postgresql start
Starting postgresql service:                               [FAILED]
[root@localhost data]# cat pg_log/postgresql-Sat.log
LOG:  could not open configuration file "/var/lib/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf": Permission denied
FATAL:  could not load pg_hba.conf
[root@localhost data]# ll
total 136
drwx------ 7 postgres postgres  4096 Mar 12 23:19 base
drwx------ 2 postgres postgres  4096 Mar 12 23:20 global
drwx------ 2 postgres postgres  4096 Mar 12 23:18 pg_clog
-rw------- 1 postgres postgres  3411 Mar 12 23:19 pg_hba.conf
-rw------- 1 postgres postgres  1631 Mar 12 23:18 pg_ident.conf
drwx------ 2 postgres postgres  4096 Mar 12 23:19 pg_log
drwx------ 4 postgres postgres  4096 Mar 12 23:18 pg_multixact
drwx------ 2 postgres postgres  4096 Mar 12 23:20 pg_stat_tmp
drwx------ 2 postgres postgres  4096 Mar 12 23:18 pg_subtrans
drwx------ 2 postgres postgres  4096 Mar 12 23:18 pg_tblspc
drwx------ 2 postgres postgres  4096 Mar 12 23:18 pg_twophase
-rw------- 1 postgres postgres     4 Mar 12 23:18 PG_VERSION
drwx------ 3 postgres postgres  4096 Mar 12 23:18 pg_xlog
-rw------- 1 postgres postgres 16867 Mar 12 23:18 postgresql.conf
-rw------- 1 postgres postgres    57 Mar 12 23:22 postmaster.opts
[root@localhost data]# cat pg_hba.conf > new && mv pg_hba.conf pg_hba.conf.bak && \
> mv new pg_hba.conf && chown postgres:postgres pg_hba.conf && chmod 600 pg_hba.conf && \
> service postgresql start
Starting postgresql service:                               [  OK  ]
[root@localhost data]# ll
total 152
drwx------ 7 postgres postgres  4096 Mar 12 23:19 base
drwx------ 2 postgres postgres  4096 Mar 12 23:23 global
drwx------ 2 postgres postgres  4096 Mar 12 23:18 pg_clog
-rw------- 1 postgres postgres  3411 Mar 12 23:23 pg_hba.conf
-rw------- 1 postgres postgres  3411 Mar 12 23:19 pg_hba.conf.bak
-rw------- 1 postgres postgres  1631 Mar 12 23:18 pg_ident.conf
drwx------ 2 postgres postgres  4096 Mar 12 23:19 pg_log
drwx------ 4 postgres postgres  4096 Mar 12 23:18 pg_multixact
drwx------ 2 postgres postgres  4096 Mar 12 23:23 pg_stat_tmp
drwx------ 2 postgres postgres  4096 Mar 12 23:18 pg_subtrans
drwx------ 2 postgres postgres  4096 Mar 12 23:18 pg_tblspc
drwx------ 2 postgres postgres  4096 Mar 12 23:18 pg_twophase
-rw------- 1 postgres postgres     4 Mar 12 23:18 PG_VERSION
drwx------ 3 postgres postgres  4096 Mar 12 23:18 pg_xlog
-rw------- 1 postgres postgres 16867 Mar 12 23:18 postgresql.conf
-rw------- 1 postgres postgres    57 Mar 12 23:23 postmaster.opts
-rw------- 1 postgres postgres    46 Mar 12 23:23 postmaster.pid
[root@localhost data]#

I should note here that my issue was a result of SELinux being turned on by default in CentOS. I was using a Chef recipe to create the config files, and PostgreSQL would fail to start even though permissions appeared correct. I was baffled when I manually copied the same config file as above and PostgreSQL would start fine. I even KNEW SELinux can cause this exact trouble with unwitting devs, but had assumed it was disabled in my instance. Assuming things consistently undoes me!