2 doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_ctl-ref.sgml
3 PostgreSQL documentation
6 <refentry id="app-pg-ctl">
8 <refentrytitle><application>pg_ctl</application></refentrytitle>
9 <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
10 <refmiscinfo>Application</refmiscinfo>
14 <refname>pg_ctl</refname>
15 <refpurpose>initialize, start, stop, or control a <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> server</refpurpose>
18 <indexterm zone="app-pg-ctl">
19 <primary>pg_ctl</primary>
24 <command>pg_ctl</command>
25 <arg choice="plain"><option>init[db]</option></arg>
26 <arg choice="opt"><option>-s</option></arg>
27 <arg choice="opt"><option>-D</option> <replaceable>datadir</replaceable></arg>
28 <arg choice="opt"><option>-o</option> <replaceable>initdb-options</replaceable></arg>
32 <command>pg_ctl</command>
33 <arg choice="plain"><option>start</option></arg>
34 <arg choice="opt"><option>-w</option></arg>
35 <arg choice="opt"><option>-t</option> <replaceable>seconds</replaceable></arg>
36 <arg choice="opt"><option>-s</option></arg>
37 <arg choice="opt"><option>-D</option> <replaceable>datadir</replaceable></arg>
38 <arg choice="opt"><option>-l</option> <replaceable>filename</replaceable></arg>
39 <arg choice="opt"><option>-o</option> <replaceable>options</replaceable></arg>
40 <arg choice="opt"><option>-p</option> <replaceable>path</replaceable></arg>
41 <arg choice="opt"><option>-c</option></arg>
45 <command>pg_ctl</command>
46 <arg choice="plain"><option>stop</option></arg>
47 <arg choice="opt"><option>-W</option></arg>
48 <arg choice="opt"><option>-t</option> <replaceable>seconds</replaceable></arg>
49 <arg choice="opt"><option>-s</option></arg>
50 <arg choice="opt"><option>-D</option> <replaceable>datadir</replaceable></arg>
51 <arg choice="opt"><option>-m</option>
52 <group choice="plain">
53 <arg choice="plain"><option>s[mart]</option></arg>
54 <arg choice="plain"><option>f[ast]</option></arg>
55 <arg choice="plain"><option>i[mmediate]</option></arg>
61 <command>pg_ctl</command>
62 <arg choice="plain"><option>restart</option></arg>
63 <arg choice="opt"><option>-w</option></arg>
64 <arg choice="opt"><option>-t</option> <replaceable>seconds</replaceable></arg>
65 <arg choice="opt"><option>-s</option></arg>
66 <arg choice="opt"><option>-D</option> <replaceable>datadir</replaceable></arg>
67 <arg choice="opt"><option>-c</option></arg>
68 <arg choice="opt"><option>-m</option>
69 <group choice="plain">
70 <arg choice="plain"><option>s[mart]</option></arg>
71 <arg choice="plain"><option>f[ast]</option></arg>
72 <arg choice="plain"><option>i[mmediate]</option></arg>
75 <arg choice="opt"><option>-o</option> <replaceable>options</replaceable></arg>
79 <command>pg_ctl</command>
80 <arg choice="plain"><option>reload</option></arg>
81 <arg choice="opt"><option>-s</option></arg>
82 <arg choice="opt"><option>-D</option> <replaceable>datadir</replaceable></arg>
86 <command>pg_ctl</command>
87 <arg choice="plain"><option>status</option></arg>
88 <arg choice="opt"><option>-D</option> <replaceable>datadir</replaceable></arg>
92 <command>pg_ctl</command>
93 <arg choice="plain"><option>promote</option></arg>
94 <arg choice="opt"><option>-s</option></arg>
95 <arg choice="opt"><option>-D</option> <replaceable>datadir</replaceable></arg>
99 <command>pg_ctl</command>
100 <arg choice="plain"><option>kill</option></arg>
101 <arg choice="plain"><replaceable>signal_name</replaceable></arg>
102 <arg choice="plain"><replaceable>process_id</replaceable></arg>
106 <command>pg_ctl</command>
107 <arg choice="plain"><option>register</option></arg>
108 <arg choice="opt"><option>-N</option> <replaceable>servicename</replaceable></arg>
109 <arg choice="opt"><option>-U</option> <replaceable>username</replaceable></arg>
110 <arg choice="opt"><option>-P</option> <replaceable>password</replaceable></arg>
111 <arg choice="opt"><option>-D</option> <replaceable>datadir</replaceable></arg>
112 <arg choice="opt"><option>-S</option>
113 <group choice="plain">
114 <arg choice="plain"><option>a[uto]</option></arg>
115 <arg choice="plain"><option>d[emand]</option></arg>
118 <arg choice="opt"><option>-w</option></arg>
119 <arg choice="opt"><option>-t</option> <replaceable>seconds</replaceable></arg>
120 <arg choice="opt"><option>-s</option></arg>
121 <arg choice="opt"><option>-o</option> <replaceable>options</replaceable></arg>
125 <command>pg_ctl</command>
126 <arg choice="plain"><option>unregister</option></arg>
127 <arg choice="opt"><option>-N</option> <replaceable>servicename</replaceable></arg>
132 <refsect1 id="app-pg-ctl-description">
133 <title>Description</title>
135 <application>pg_ctl</application> is a utility for initializing a
136 <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> database cluster, starting,
137 stopping, or restarting the <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>
138 database server (<xref linkend="app-postgres">), or displaying the
139 status of a running server. Although the server can be started
140 manually, <application>pg_ctl</application> encapsulates tasks such
141 as redirecting log output and properly detaching from the terminal
142 and process group. It also provides convenient options for
147 The <option>init</option> or <option>initdb</option> mode creates a new
148 <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> database cluster. A database
149 cluster is a collection of databases that are managed by a single
150 server instance. This mode invokes the <command>initdb</command>
151 command. See <xref linkend="app-initdb"> for details.
155 In <option>start</option> mode, a new server is launched. The
156 server is started in the background, and its standard input is attached
157 to <filename>/dev/null</filename> (or <literal>nul</> on Windows).
158 On Unix-like systems, by default, the server's standard output and
159 standard error are sent to <application>pg_ctl</application>'s
160 standard output (not standard error). The standard output of
161 <application>pg_ctl</application> should then be redirected to a
162 file or piped to another process such as a log rotating program
163 like <application>rotatelogs</>; otherwise <command>postgres</command>
164 will write its output to the controlling terminal (from the
165 background) and will not leave the shell's process group. On
166 Windows, by default the server's standard output and standard error
167 are sent to the terminal. These default behaviors can be changed
168 by using <option>-l</option> to append the server's output to a log file.
169 Use of either <option>-l</option> or output redirection is recommended.
173 In <option>stop</option> mode, the server that is running in
174 the specified data directory is shut down. Three different
175 shutdown methods can be selected with the <option>-m</option>
176 option. <quote>Smart</quote> mode (the default) waits for all active
177 clients to disconnect and any online backup to finish.
178 If the server is in hot standby, recovery and streaming replication
179 will be terminated once all clients have disconnected.
180 <quote>Fast</quote> mode does not wait for clients to disconnect and
181 will terminate an online backup in progress. All active transactions are
182 rolled back and clients are forcibly disconnected, then the
183 server is shut down. <quote>Immediate</quote> mode will abort
184 all server processes immediately, without a clean shutdown.
185 This will lead to a crash-recovery run on the next restart.
189 <option>restart</option> mode effectively executes a stop followed
190 by a start. This allows changing the <command>postgres</command>
191 command-line options. <option>restart</option> might fail if
192 relative paths specified were specified on the command-line during
197 <option>reload</option> mode simply sends the
198 <command>postgres</command> process a <systemitem>SIGHUP</>
199 signal, causing it to reread its configuration files
200 (<filename>postgresql.conf</filename>,
201 <filename>pg_hba.conf</filename>, etc.). This allows changing of
202 configuration-file options that do not require a complete restart
207 <option>status</option> mode checks whether a server is running in
208 the specified data directory. If it is, the <acronym>PID</acronym>
209 and the command line options that were used to invoke it are
210 displayed. If the server is not running, the process returns an
215 In <option>promote</option> mode, the standby server that is
216 running in the specified data directory is commanded to exit
217 recovery and begin read-write operations.
221 <option>kill</option> mode allows you to send a signal to a specified
222 process. This is particularly valuable for <productname>Microsoft Windows</>
223 which does not have a <application>kill</> command. Use
224 <literal>--help</> to see a list of supported signal names.
228 <option>register</option> mode allows you to register a system service
229 on <productname>Microsoft Windows</>. The <option>-S</option> option
230 allows selection of service start type, either <quote>auto</quote> (start
231 service automatically on system startup) or <quote>demand</quote> (start
236 <option>unregister</option> mode allows you to unregister a system service
237 on <productname>Microsoft Windows</>. This undoes the effects of the
238 <option>register</option> command.
242 <refsect1 id="app-pg-ctl-options">
243 <title>Options</title>
248 <term><option>-c</option></term>
249 <term><option>--core-file</option></term>
252 Attempt to allow server crashes to produce core files, on platforms
253 where this is possible, by lifting any soft resource limit placed on
255 This is useful in debugging or diagnosing problems by allowing a
256 stack trace to be obtained from a failed server process.
262 <term><option>-D <replaceable class="parameter">datadir</replaceable></option></term>
263 <term><option>--pgdata <replaceable class="parameter">datadir</replaceable></option></term>
266 Specifies the file system location of the database configuration files. If
267 this is omitted, the environment variable
268 <envar>PGDATA</envar> is used.
274 <term><option>-l <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable></option></term>
275 <term><option>--log <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable></option></term>
278 Append the server log output to
279 <replaceable>filename</replaceable>. If the file does not
280 exist, it is created. The <systemitem>umask</> is set to 077,
281 so access to the log file is disallowed to other users by default.
287 <term><option>-m <replaceable class="parameter">mode</replaceable></option></term>
288 <term><option>--mode <replaceable class="parameter">mode</replaceable></option></term>
291 Specifies the shutdown mode. <replaceable>mode</replaceable>
292 can be <literal>smart</literal>, <literal>fast</literal>, or
293 <literal>immediate</literal>, or the first letter of one of
294 these three. If this is omitted, <literal>smart</literal> is used.
300 <term><option>-o <replaceable class="parameter">options</replaceable></option></term>
303 Specifies options to be passed directly to the
304 <command>postgres</command> command.
307 The options should usually be surrounded by single or double
308 quotes to ensure that they are passed through as a group.
314 <term><option>-o <replaceable class="parameter">initdb-options</replaceable></option></term>
317 Specifies options to be passed directly to the
318 <command>initdb</command> command.
321 The options should usually be surrounded by single or double
322 quotes to ensure that they are passed through as a group.
328 <term><option>-p <replaceable class="parameter">path</replaceable></option></term>
331 Specifies the location of the <filename>postgres</filename>
332 executable. By default the <filename>postgres</filename> executable is taken from the same
333 directory as <command>pg_ctl</command>, or failing that, the hard-wired
334 installation directory. It is not necessary to use this
335 option unless you are doing something unusual and get errors
336 that the <filename>postgres</filename> executable was not found.
340 In <literal>init</literal> mode, this option analogously
341 specifies the location of the <filename>initdb</filename>
348 <term><option>-s</option></term>
349 <term><option>--silent</option></term>
352 Print only errors, no informational messages.
358 <term><option>-t</option></term>
359 <term><option>--timeout</option></term>
362 The maximum number of seconds to wait when waiting for startup or
363 shutdown to complete. The default is 60 seconds.
369 <term><option>-V</></term>
370 <term><option>--version</></term>
373 Print the <application>pg_ctl</application> version and exit.
379 <term><option>-w</option></term>
382 Wait for the startup or shutdown to complete.
383 Waiting is the default option for shutdowns, but not startups.
384 When waiting for startup, <command>pg_ctl</command> repeatedly
385 attempts to connect to the server.
386 When waiting for shutdown, <command>pg_ctl</command> waits for
387 the server to remove its <acronym>PID</acronym> file.
388 This option allows the entry of an <acronym>SSL</> passphrase on startup.
389 <command>pg_ctl</command> returns an exit code based on the
390 success of the startup or shutdown.
396 <term><option>-W</option></term>
399 Do not wait for startup or shutdown to complete. This is the
400 default for start and restart modes.
406 <term><option>-?</></term>
407 <term><option>--help</></term>
410 Show help about <application>pg_ctl</application> command line
417 <refsect2 id="app-pg-ctl-windows-options">
418 <title>Options for Windows</title>
422 <term><option>-N <replaceable class="parameter">servicename</replaceable></option></term>
425 Name of the system service to register. The name will be used
426 as both the service name and the display name.
432 <term><option>-P <replaceable class="parameter">password</replaceable></option></term>
435 Password for the user to start the service.
441 <term><option>-S <replaceable class="parameter">start-type</replaceable></option></term>
444 Start type of the system service to register. start-type can
445 be <literal>auto</literal>, or <literal>demand</literal>, or
446 the first letter of one of these two. If this is omitted,
447 <literal>auto</literal> is used.
453 <term><option>-U <replaceable class="parameter">username</replaceable></option></term>
456 User name for the user to start the service. For domain users, use the
457 format <literal>DOMAIN\username</literal>.
468 <title>Environment</title>
472 <term><envar>PGDATA</envar></term>
476 Default data directory location.
484 <command>pg_ctl</command>, like most other <productname>PostgreSQL</>
486 also uses the environment variables supported by <application>libpq</>
487 (see <xref linkend="libpq-envars">).
488 For additional server variables, see <xref linkend="app-postgres">.
498 <term><filename>postmaster.pid</filename></term>
502 The existence of this file in the data directory is used to help
503 <application>pg_ctl</application> determine if the server is
510 <term><filename>postmaster.opts</filename></term>
513 <para>If this file exists in the data directory,
514 <application>pg_ctl</application> (in <option>restart</option> mode)
515 will pass the contents of the file as options to
516 <application>postgres</application>, unless overridden
517 by the <option>-o</option> option. The contents of this file
518 are also displayed in <option>status</option> mode.
527 <refsect1 id="R1-APP-PGCTL-2">
528 <title>Examples</title>
530 <refsect2 id="R2-APP-PGCTL-3">
531 <title>Starting the Server</title>
536 <prompt>$</prompt> <userinput>pg_ctl start</userinput>
541 To start the server, waiting until the server is
542 accepting connections:
544 <prompt>$</prompt> <userinput>pg_ctl -w start</userinput>
549 To start the server using port 5433, and
550 running without <function>fsync</function>, use:
552 <prompt>$</prompt> <userinput>pg_ctl -o "-F -p 5433" start</userinput>
556 <refsect2 id="R2-APP-PGCTL-4">
557 <title>Stopping the Server</title>
559 To stop the server, use:
561 <prompt>$</prompt> <userinput>pg_ctl stop</userinput>
563 The <option>-m</option> option allows control over
564 <emphasis>how</emphasis> the server shuts down:
566 <prompt>$</prompt> <userinput>pg_ctl stop -m fast</userinput>
570 <refsect2 id="R2-APP-PGCTL-5">
571 <title>Restarting the Server</title>
574 Restarting the server is almost equivalent to stopping the
575 server and starting it again,
576 except that <command>pg_ctl</command> saves and reuses the command line options that
577 were passed to the previously running instance. To restart
578 the server in the simplest form, use:
580 <prompt>$</prompt> <userinput>pg_ctl restart</userinput>
585 To restart the server,
586 waiting for it to shut down and restart:
588 <prompt>$</prompt> <userinput>pg_ctl -w restart</userinput>
593 To restart using port 5433, disabling <function>fsync</> upon restart:
595 <prompt>$</prompt> <userinput>pg_ctl -o "-F -p 5433" restart</userinput>
599 <refsect2 id="R2-APP-PGCTL-6">
600 <title>Showing the Server Status</title>
603 Here is sample status output from
604 <application>pg_ctl</application>:
606 <prompt>$</prompt> <userinput>pg_ctl status</userinput>
608 pg_ctl: server is running (PID: 13718)
609 /usr/local/pgsql/bin/postgres "-D" "/usr/local/pgsql/data" "-p" "5433" "-B" "128"
612 This is the command line that would be invoked in restart mode.
619 <title>See Also</title>
621 <simplelist type="inline">
622 <member><xref linkend="app-initdb"></member>
623 <member><xref linkend="app-postgres"></member>