CREATE DATABASE SQL - Language Statements CREATE DATABASE create a new database CREATE DATABASE CREATE DATABASE name [ [ WITH ] [ OWNER [=] dbowner ] [ LOCATION [=] 'dbpath' ] [ TEMPLATE [=] template ] [ ENCODING [=] encoding ] ] CREATE DATABASE creates a new PostgreSQL database. Normally, the creator becomes the owner of the new database. Superusers can create databases owned by other users using the OWNER clause. They can even create databases owned by users with no special privileges. Non-superusers with CREATEDB privilege can only create databases owned by themselves. An alternative location can be specified in order to, for example, store the database on a different disk. The path must have been prepared with the command. If the path name does not contain a slash, it is interpreted as an environment variable name, which must be known to the server process. This way the database administrator can exercise control over locations in which databases can be created. (A customary choice is, e.g., PGDATA2.) If the server is compiled with ALLOW_ABSOLUTE_DBPATHS (not so by default), absolute path names, as identified by a leading slash (e.g., /usr/local/pgsql/data), are allowed as well. By default, the new database will be created by cloning the standard system database template1. A different template can be specified by writing TEMPLATE name. In particular, by writing TEMPLATE template0, you can create a virgin database containing only the standard objects predefined by your version of PostgreSQL. This is useful if you wish to avoid copying any installation-local objects that may have been added to template1. The optional encoding parameter allows selection of the database encoding. When not specified, it defaults to the encoding used by the selected template database. name The name of a database to create. dbowner The name of the database user who will own the new database, or DEFAULT to use the default (namely, the user executing the command). dbpath An alternate file-system location in which to store the new database, specified as a string literal; or DEFAULT to use the default location. template The name of the template from which to create the new database, or DEFAULT to use the default template (template1). encoding Character set encoding to use in the new database. Specify a string constant (e.g., 'SQL_ASCII'), or an integer encoding number, or DEFAULT to use the default encoding. Optional parameters can be written in any order, not only the order illustrated above. CREATE DATABASE Message returned if the database was successfully created. ERROR: user 'username' is not allowed to create/drop databases You must have the special CREATEDB privilege to create databases. See . ERROR: createdb: database "name" already exists This occurs if a database with the specified name already exists. ERROR: database path may not contain single quotes The database location dbpath cannot contain single quotes. This is required so that the shell commands that create the database directory can execute safely. ERROR: CREATE DATABASE: may not be called in a transaction block If you have an explicit transaction block in progress you cannot call CREATE DATABASE. You must finish the transaction first. ERROR: Unable to create database directory 'path'. ERROR: Could not initialize database directory. These are most likely related to insufficient permissions on the data directory, a full disk, or other file system problems. The user under which the database server is running must have access to the location. Use to remove a database. The program is a wrapper program around this command, provided for convenience. There are security issues involved with using alternate database locations specified with absolute path names. See for more information. Although it is possible to copy a database other than template1 by specifying its name as the template, this is not (yet) intended as a general-purpose COPY DATABASE facility. We recommend that databases used as templates be treated as read-only. See for more information. To create a new database: CREATE DATABASE lusiadas; To create a new database in an alternate area ~/private_db, execute the following from the shell: mkdir private_db initlocation ~/private_db Then execute the following from within a psql session: CREATE DATABASE elsewhere WITH LOCATION '/home/olly/private_db'; There is no CREATE DATABASE statement in the SQL standard. Databases are equivalent to catalogs, whose creation is implementation-defined.