> If you only run it like that, it only prints what it will execute, to
> actually execute this you need to | it to the slonik app..
>
> eg. /data/pgsql/slony/slonik_init_cluster --config <file> |
> /data/pgsql/bin/slonik
>
> all scripts starting with "slonik_" doesn't actually do anything
> themself, its just a way to format a command correctly for the slonik
> parser, which actually does the work..

I think you have gotten to the root of the issue; yes, indeed, the slonik
generator scripts do not directly submit the slonik scripts; they merely
generate them.

We found it was a pretty big "foot gun" if we had them run slonik
directly.  What seemed way wiser was actually a little bit different from
what you suggest...

Step 1:  Run the script, and capture the output...

  /data/pgsql/slony/slonik_init_cluster --config <file> >
/tmp/init_cluster.slonik

Step 2:  Examine the result

View /tmp/init_cluster.slonik to make sure it has appropriate contents.

Step 3:  Run slonik on the script

Run...
   slonik /tmp/init_cluster.slonik