pg_ctl1Applicationpg_ctlinitialize, start, stop, or restart a PostgreSQL serverpg_ctlpg_ctlinit[db]-s-D datadir-o initdb-optionspg_ctlstart-w-t seconds-s-D datadir-l filename-o options-p path-cpg_ctlstop-W-t seconds-s-D datadir-m
s[mart]f[ast]i[mmediate]pg_ctlrestart-w-t seconds-s-D datadir-c-m
s[mart]f[ast]i[mmediate]-o optionspg_ctlreload-s-D datadirpg_ctlstatus-D datadirpg_ctlkillsignal_nameprocess_idpg_ctlregister-N servicename-U username-P password-D datadir-S
a[uto]d[emand]-w-t seconds-o optionspg_ctlunregister-N servicenameDescriptionpg_ctl is a utility for initializing a
PostgreSQL database cluster, starting,
stopping, or restarting the PostgreSQL
backend server (), or displaying the
status of a running server. Although the server can be started
manually, pg_ctl encapsulates tasks such
as redirecting log output and properly detaching from the terminal
and process group. It also provides convenient options for
controlled shutdown.
The or mode creates a new
PostgreSQL database cluster. A database
cluster is a collection of databases that are managed by a single
server instance. This mode invokes the initdb
command. See for details.
In mode, a new server is launched. The
server is started in the background, and its standard input is attached
to /dev/null (or nul> on Windows).
On Unix-like systems, by default, the server's standard output and
standard error are sent to pg_ctl's
standard output (not standard error). The standard output of
pg_ctl should then be redirected to a
file or piped to another process such as a log rotating program
like rotatelogs>; otherwise postgres
will write its output to the controlling terminal (from the
background) and will not leave the shell's process group. On
Windows, by default the server's standard output and standard error
are sent to the terminal. These default behaviors can be changed
by using to append the server's output to a log file.
Use of either or output redirection is recommended.
In mode, the server that is running in
the specified data directory is shut down. Three different
shutdown methods can be selected with the
option. Smart mode (the default) waits for all active
clients to disconnect and any online backup to finish.
If the server is in hot standby, recovery and streaming replication
will be terminated once all clients have disconnected.
Fast mode does not wait for clients to disconnect and
will terminate an online backup in progress. All active transactions are
rolled back and clients are forcibly disconnected, then the
server is shut down. Immediate mode will abort
all server processes immediately, without a clean shutdown.
This will lead to a crash-recovery run on the next restart.
mode effectively executes a stop followed
by a start. This allows changing the postgres
command-line options.
mode simply sends the
postgres process a SIGHUP>
signal, causing it to reread its configuration files
(postgresql.conf,
pg_hba.conf, etc.). This allows changing of
configuration-file options that do not require a complete restart
to take effect.
mode checks whether a server is running in
the specified data directory. If it is, the PID
and the command line options that were used to invoke it are
displayed.
mode allows you to send a signal to a specified
process. This is particularly valuable for Microsoft Windows>
which does not have a kill> command. Use
--help> to see a list of supported signal names.
mode allows you to register a system service
on Microsoft Windows>. The option
allows selection of service start type, either auto (start
service automatically on system startup) or demand (start
service on demand).
mode allows you to unregister a system service
on Microsoft Windows>. This undoes the effects of the
command.
Options
Attempt to allow server crashes to produce core files, on platforms
where this is possible, by lifting any soft resource limit placed on
core files.
This is useful in debugging or diagnosing problems by allowing a
stack trace to be obtained from a failed server process.
Specifies the file system location of the database files. If
this is omitted, the environment variable
PGDATA is used.
Append the server log output to
filename. If the file does not
exist, it is created. The umask> is set to 077,
so access to the log file is disallowed to other users by default.
Specifies the shutdown mode. mode
can be smart, fast, or
immediate, or the first letter of one of
these three. If this is omitted, smart is used.
Specifies options to be passed directly to the
postgres command.
The options should usually be surrounded by single or double
quotes to ensure that they are passed through as a group.
Specifies options to be passed directly to the
initdb command.
The options should usually be surrounded by single or double
quotes to ensure that they are passed through as a group.
Specifies the location of the postgres
executable. By default the postgres executable is taken from the same
directory as pg_ctl, or failing that, the hard-wired
installation directory. It is not necessary to use this
option unless you are doing something unusual and get errors
that the postgres executable was not found.
In init mode, this option analogously
specifies the location of the initdb
executable.
Print only errors, no informational messages.
The maximum number of seconds to wait when waiting for startup or
shutdown to complete. The default is 60 seconds.
Wait for the startup or shutdown to complete.
Waiting is the default option for shutdowns, but not startups.
When waiting for shutdown, pg_ctl waits for
the server to remove its PID file.
When waiting for startup, pg_ctl repeatedly
attempts to connect to the server via psql>, and
reports success when this is successful.
pg_ctl will attempt to use the proper port for
psql>. If the environment variable
PGPORT exists, that is used. Otherwise,
pg_ctl will see if a port has been set in the
postgresql.conf file. If not, it will use the
default port that PostgreSQL was compiled
with (5432 by default).
When waiting, pg_ctl will
return an exit code based on the success of the startup
or shutdown.
Do not wait for startup or shutdown to complete. This is the
default for start and restart modes.
Options for Windows
Name of the system service to register. The name will be used
as both the service name and the display name.
User name for the user to start the service. For domain users, use the
format DOMAIN\username.
Password for the user to start the service.
Start type of the system service to register. start-type can
be auto, or demand, or
the first letter of one of these two. If this is omitted,
auto is used.
EnvironmentPGDATA
Default data directory location.
PGHOST
Default host name or Unix-domain socket location for (used when waiting for startup).
PGPORT
Default port number for
(used when waiting for startup).
pg_ctl, like most other PostgreSQL>
utilities,
also uses the environment variables supported by libpq>
(see ).
For additional server variables, see .
Filespostmaster.pid
The existence of this file in the data directory is used to help
pg_ctl determine if the server is
currently running or not.
postmaster.optsIf this file exists in the data directory,
pg_ctl (in mode)
will pass the contents of the file as options to
postgres, unless overridden
by the option. The contents of this file
are also displayed in mode.
postgresql.conf
This file, located in the data directory, is parsed to find the
proper port to use with psql
when waiting for startup.
ExamplesStarting the Server
To start up a server:
$pg_ctl start
An example of starting the server, blocking until the server has
come up is:
$pg_ctl -w start
For a server using port 5433, and
running without fsync, use:
$pg_ctl -o "-F -p 5433" startStopping the Server$pg_ctl stop
stops the server. Using the switch allows one
to control how the backend shuts down.
Restarting the Server
Restarting the server is almost equivalent to stopping the
server and starting it again
except that pg_ctl saves and reuses the command line options that
were passed to the previously running instance. To restart
the server in the simplest form, use:
$pg_ctl restart
To restart the server,
waiting for it to shut down and come up again:
$pg_ctl -w restart
To restart using port 5433 and disabling fsync> after restarting:
$pg_ctl -o "-F -p 5433" restartShowing the Server Status
Here is a sample status output from
pg_ctl:
$pg_ctl status
pg_ctl: server is running (PID: 13718)
/usr/local/pgsql/bin/postgres "-D" "/usr/local/pgsql/data" "-p" "5433" "-B" "128"
This is the command line that would be invoked in restart mode.
See Also