1PG_CTL(1)                PostgreSQL 11.3 Documentation               PG_CTL(1)
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NAME

6       pg_ctl - initialize, start, stop, or control a PostgreSQL server
7

SYNOPSIS

9       pg_ctl init[db] [-D datadir] [-s] [-o initdb-options]
10
11       pg_ctl start [-D datadir] [-l filename] [-W] [-t seconds] [-s]
12              [-o options] [-p path] [-c]
13
14       pg_ctl stop [-D datadir] [-m s[mart] | f[ast] | i[mmediate]] [-W]
15              [-t seconds] [-s]
16
17       pg_ctl restart [-D datadir] [-m s[mart] | f[ast] | i[mmediate]] [-W]
18              [-t seconds] [-s] [-o options] [-c]
19
20       pg_ctl reload [-D datadir] [-s]
21
22       pg_ctl status [-D datadir]
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24       pg_ctl promote [-D datadir] [-W] [-t seconds] [-s]
25
26       pg_ctl kill signal_name process_id
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28       On Microsoft Windows, also:
29
30       pg_ctl register [-D datadir] [-N servicename] [-U username]
31              [-P password] [-S a[uto] | d[emand]] [-e source] [-W]
32              [-t seconds] [-s] [-o options]
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34       pg_ctl unregister [-N servicename]
35

DESCRIPTION

37       pg_ctl is a utility for initializing a PostgreSQL database cluster,
38       starting, stopping, or restarting the PostgreSQL database server
39       (postgres(1)), or displaying the status of a running server. Although
40       the server can be started manually, pg_ctl encapsulates tasks such as
41       redirecting log output and properly detaching from the terminal and
42       process group. It also provides convenient options for controlled
43       shutdown.
44
45       The init or initdb mode creates a new PostgreSQL database cluster, that
46       is, a collection of databases that will be managed by a single server
47       instance. This mode invokes the initdb command. See initdb(1) for
48       details.
49
50       start mode launches a new server. The server is started in the
51       background, and its standard input is attached to /dev/null (or nul on
52       Windows). On Unix-like systems, by default, the server's standard
53       output and standard error are sent to pg_ctl's standard output (not
54       standard error). The standard output of pg_ctl should then be
55       redirected to a file or piped to another process such as a log rotating
56       program like rotatelogs; otherwise postgres will write its output to
57       the controlling terminal (from the background) and will not leave the
58       shell's process group. On Windows, by default the server's standard
59       output and standard error are sent to the terminal. These default
60       behaviors can be changed by using -l to append the server's output to a
61       log file. Use of either -l or output redirection is recommended.
62
63       stop mode shuts down the server that is running in the specified data
64       directory. Three different shutdown methods can be selected with the -m
65       option.  “Smart” mode waits for all active clients to disconnect and
66       any online backup to finish. If the server is in hot standby, recovery
67       and streaming replication will be terminated once all clients have
68       disconnected.  “Fast” mode (the default) does not wait for clients to
69       disconnect and will terminate an online backup in progress. All active
70       transactions are rolled back and clients are forcibly disconnected,
71       then the server is shut down.  “Immediate” mode will abort all server
72       processes immediately, without a clean shutdown. This choice will lead
73       to a crash-recovery cycle during the next server start.
74
75       restart mode effectively executes a stop followed by a start. This
76       allows changing the postgres command-line options, or changing
77       configuration-file options that cannot be changed without restarting
78       the server. If relative paths were used on the command line during
79       server start, restart might fail unless pg_ctl is executed in the same
80       current directory as it was during server start.
81
82       reload mode simply sends the postgres server process a SIGHUP signal,
83       causing it to reread its configuration files (postgresql.conf,
84       pg_hba.conf, etc.). This allows changing configuration-file options
85       that do not require a full server restart to take effect.
86
87       status mode checks whether a server is running in the specified data
88       directory. If it is, the server's PID and the command line options that
89       were used to invoke it are displayed. If the server is not running,
90       pg_ctl returns an exit status of 3. If an accessible data directory is
91       not specified, pg_ctl returns an exit status of 4.
92
93       promote mode commands the standby server that is running in the
94       specified data directory to end standby mode and begin read-write
95       operations.
96
97       kill mode sends a signal to a specified process. This is primarily
98       valuable on Microsoft Windows which does not have a built-in kill
99       command. Use --help to see a list of supported signal names.
100
101       register mode registers the PostgreSQL server as a system service on
102       Microsoft Windows. The -S option allows selection of service start
103       type, either “auto” (start service automatically on system startup) or
104       “demand” (start service on demand).
105
106       unregister mode unregisters a system service on Microsoft Windows. This
107       undoes the effects of the register command.
108

OPTIONS

110       -c
111       --core-files
112           Attempt to allow server crashes to produce core files, on platforms
113           where this is possible, by lifting any soft resource limit placed
114           on core files. This is useful in debugging or diagnosing problems
115           by allowing a stack trace to be obtained from a failed server
116           process.
117
118       -D datadir
119       --pgdata=datadir
120           Specifies the file system location of the database configuration
121           files. If this option is omitted, the environment variable PGDATA
122           is used.
123
124       -l filename
125       --log=filename
126           Append the server log output to filename. If the file does not
127           exist, it is created. The umask is set to 077, so access to the log
128           file is disallowed to other users by default.
129
130       -m mode
131       --mode=mode
132           Specifies the shutdown mode.  mode can be smart, fast, or
133           immediate, or the first letter of one of these three. If this
134           option is omitted, fast is the default.
135
136       -o options
137       --options=options
138           Specifies options to be passed directly to the postgres command.
139           -o can be specified multiple times, with all the given options
140           being passed through.
141
142           The options should usually be surrounded by single or double quotes
143           to ensure that they are passed through as a group.
144
145       -o initdb-options
146       --options=initdb-options
147           Specifies options to be passed directly to the initdb command.  -o
148           can be specified multiple times, with all the given options being
149           passed through.
150
151           The initdb-options should usually be surrounded by single or double
152           quotes to ensure that they are passed through as a group.
153
154       -p path
155           Specifies the location of the postgres executable. By default the
156           postgres executable is taken from the same directory as pg_ctl, or
157           failing that, the hard-wired installation directory. It is not
158           necessary to use this option unless you are doing something unusual
159           and get errors that the postgres executable was not found.
160
161           In init mode, this option analogously specifies the location of the
162           initdb executable.
163
164       -s
165       --silent
166           Print only errors, no informational messages.
167
168       -t seconds
169       --timeout=seconds
170           Specifies the maximum number of seconds to wait when waiting for an
171           operation to complete (see option -w). Defaults to the value of the
172           PGCTLTIMEOUT environment variable or, if not set, to 60 seconds.
173
174       -V
175       --version
176           Print the pg_ctl version and exit.
177
178       -w
179       --wait
180           Wait for the operation to complete. This is supported for the modes
181           start, stop, restart, promote, and register, and is the default for
182           those modes.
183
184           When waiting, pg_ctl repeatedly checks the server's PID file,
185           sleeping for a short amount of time between checks. Startup is
186           considered complete when the PID file indicates that the server is
187           ready to accept connections. Shutdown is considered complete when
188           the server removes the PID file.  pg_ctl returns an exit code based
189           on the success of the startup or shutdown.
190
191           If the operation does not complete within the timeout (see option
192           -t), then pg_ctl exits with a nonzero exit status. But note that
193           the operation might continue in the background and eventually
194           succeed.
195
196       -W
197       --no-wait
198           Do not wait for the operation to complete. This is the opposite of
199           the option -w.
200
201           If waiting is disabled, the requested action is triggered, but
202           there is no feedback about its success. In that case, the server
203           log file or an external monitoring system would have to be used to
204           check the progress and success of the operation.
205
206           In prior releases of PostgreSQL, this was the default except for
207           the stop mode.
208
209       -?
210       --help
211           Show help about pg_ctl command line arguments, and exit.
212
213       If an option is specified that is valid, but not relevant to the
214       selected operating mode, pg_ctl ignores it.
215
216   Options for Windows
217       -e source
218           Name of the event source for pg_ctl to use for logging to the event
219           log when running as a Windows service. The default is PostgreSQL.
220           Note that this only controls messages sent from pg_ctl itself; once
221           started, the server will use the event source specified by its
222           event_source parameter. Should the server fail very early in
223           startup, before that parameter has been set, it might also log
224           using the default event source name PostgreSQL.
225
226       -N servicename
227           Name of the system service to register. This name will be used as
228           both the service name and the display name. The default is
229           PostgreSQL.
230
231       -P password
232           Password for the user to run the service as.
233
234       -S start-type
235           Start type of the system service.  start-type can be auto, or
236           demand, or the first letter of one of these two. If this option is
237           omitted, auto is the default.
238
239       -U username
240           User name for the user to run the service as. For domain users, use
241           the format DOMAIN\username.
242

ENVIRONMENT

244       PGCTLTIMEOUT
245           Default limit on the number of seconds to wait when waiting for
246           startup or shutdown to complete. If not set, the default is 60
247           seconds.
248
249       PGDATA
250           Default data directory location.
251
252       Most pg_ctl modes require knowing the data directory location;
253       therefore, the -D option is required unless PGDATA is set.
254
255       pg_ctl, like most other PostgreSQL utilities, also uses the environment
256       variables supported by libpq (see Section 34.14).
257
258       For additional variables that affect the server, see postgres(1).
259

FILES

261       postmaster.pid
262           pg_ctl examines this file in the data directory to determine
263           whether the server is currently running.
264
265       postmaster.opts
266           If this file exists in the data directory, pg_ctl (in restart mode)
267           will pass the contents of the file as options to postgres, unless
268           overridden by the -o option. The contents of this file are also
269           displayed in status mode.
270

EXAMPLES

272   Starting the Server
273       To start the server, waiting until the server is accepting connections:
274
275           $ pg_ctl start
276
277       To start the server using port 5433, and running without fsync, use:
278
279           $ pg_ctl -o "-F -p 5433" start
280
281   Stopping the Server
282       To stop the server, use:
283
284           $ pg_ctl stop
285
286       The -m option allows control over how the server shuts down:
287
288           $ pg_ctl stop -m smart
289
290   Restarting the Server
291       Restarting the server is almost equivalent to stopping the server and
292       starting it again, except that by default, pg_ctl saves and reuses the
293       command line options that were passed to the previously-running
294       instance. To restart the server using the same options as before, use:
295
296           $ pg_ctl restart
297
298       But if -o is specified, that replaces any previous options. To restart
299       using port 5433, disabling fsync upon restart:
300
301           $ pg_ctl -o "-F -p 5433" restart
302
303   Showing the Server Status
304       Here is sample status output from pg_ctl:
305
306           $ pg_ctl status
307
308           pg_ctl: server is running (PID: 13718)
309           /usr/local/pgsql/bin/postgres "-D" "/usr/local/pgsql/data" "-p" "5433" "-B" "128"
310
311       The second line is the command that would be invoked in restart mode.
312

SEE ALSO

314       initdb(1), postgres(1)
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318PostgreSQL 11.3                      2019                            PG_CTL(1)
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