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PSQL: psql -p 5555 mcdb -c "update ev_cus_prof set active='f' where ep
+id='INIT_EV_HIGH_PRIORITY';"
ERROR:  column "init_ev_high_priority" does not exist
LINE 1: update ev_cus_prof set active=f where epid=INIT_EV_HIGH_PRIO..
+.
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On this system we are not permitted to install any modules

There are multiple indications that your system is an Avamar AVE.

The standard Avamar installation has included the perl DBI and DBD::Pg modules pre-installed for at least 15 years.
No additional module installation required.

Ask your Avamar support representative to obtain "profileadmin.pl" from the Avamar FTP site.(I am the humble author)
That perl script will likely fulfill your Avamar profile editing needs and a lot more.

                "These opinions are my own, though for a small fee they be yours too."

On this system we are not permitted to install any modules

Well then you will be stuck in quote-escaping hell as I see now you have a nasty mix of both double and single quotes there. This test looks OK:

use strict;
use warnings;

use Test::More tests => 1;

my $want = q{su - admin -c "psql -p 5555 mcdb -c \\"update ev_cus_prof
+ set active='f' where epid='INIT_EV_HIGH_PRIORITY';\\""};

my $PSQL = q{psql -p 5555 mcdb -c \"update ev_cus_prof set active='f' 
+where epid='INIT_EV_HIGH_PRIORITY';\"};
my $cmd = qq{su - admin -c "$PSQL"};
is $cmd, $want, "have $want";
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But, in your shoes I would approach whichever entity has imposed the no-modules rule and point out that it means you have to ask the help of complete strangers on the internet to solve what would otherwise be a trivial task.

---

🦛

Thank you Kindly!!!

The following worked

        my $PSQL = q{psql -p 5555 mcdb -c \"update ev_cus_prof set act
+ive='f' where epid='INIT_EV_HIGH_PRIORITY';\"};
        system(qq{su - admin -c "$PSQL"});
[download]

Maybe slightly long in the tooth, but Yes, even you can use CPAN

Edit: That being said, if you're dead set on taking the hard route you'd be better served writing the SQL into a file and then telling psql to run that SQL script instead of trying using -c and outguessing how n layers of arbitrary quoting are going to be pulled (or not pulled) apart by however many levels of interpreting.

The cake is a lie.
The cake is a lie.
The cake is a lie.

On this system we are not permitted to install any modules

I have seen that policy countless times. It's usually "for security reasons". My usual answer to the "admin" is along the lines in writing: "This is a new security problem created by your policy. These workarounds you are proposing are very insecure! Are you really sure you want it implemented this way? Are you taking the responsibility for it?"

Just make sure you CC a number of relevant people (like: your boss, the admin's boss, etc). So when the fit hits the shan, too many high level tie wearers are involved to make this a big affair that gets blamed solely on you. It usually gets swept under the rug, along with the results of all the other "informed decisions" made by middle management over the past year.

perl -e 'use Crypt::Digest::SHA256 qw[sha256_hex]; print substr(sha256_hex("the Answer To Life, The Universe And Everything"), 6, 2), "\n";'

On this system we are not permitted to install any modules, so I need to try to make it work with all native modules/commands

I can see your future and it holds sql injection attacks.