1PG_CTL(1)                PostgreSQL 14.3 Documentation               PG_CTL(1)
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NAME

6       pg_ctl - initialize, start, stop, or control a PostgreSQL server
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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]
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17       pg_ctl restart [-D datadir] [-m s[mart] | f[ast] | i[mmediate]] [-W]
18              [-t seconds] [-s] [-o options] [-c]
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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]
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26       pg_ctl logrotate [-D datadir] [-s]
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28       pg_ctl kill signal_name process_id
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30       On Microsoft Windows, also:
31
32       pg_ctl register [-D datadir] [-N servicename] [-U username]
33              [-P password] [-S a[uto] | d[emand]] [-e source] [-W]
34              [-t seconds] [-s] [-o options]
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36       pg_ctl unregister [-N servicename]
37

DESCRIPTION

39       pg_ctl is a utility for initializing a PostgreSQL database cluster,
40       starting, stopping, or restarting the PostgreSQL database server
41       (postgres(1)), or displaying the status of a running server. Although
42       the server can be started manually, pg_ctl encapsulates tasks such as
43       redirecting log output and properly detaching from the terminal and
44       process group. It also provides convenient options for controlled
45       shutdown.
46
47       The init or initdb mode creates a new PostgreSQL database cluster, that
48       is, a collection of databases that will be managed by a single server
49       instance. This mode invokes the initdb command. See initdb(1) for
50       details.
51
52       start mode launches a new server. The server is started in the
53       background, and its standard input is attached to /dev/null (or nul on
54       Windows). On Unix-like systems, by default, the server's standard
55       output and standard error are sent to pg_ctl's standard output (not
56       standard error). The standard output of pg_ctl should then be
57       redirected to a file or piped to another process such as a log rotating
58       program like rotatelogs; otherwise postgres will write its output to
59       the controlling terminal (from the background) and will not leave the
60       shell's process group. On Windows, by default the server's standard
61       output and standard error are sent to the terminal. These default
62       behaviors can be changed by using -l to append the server's output to a
63       log file. Use of either -l or output redirection is recommended.
64
65       stop mode shuts down the server that is running in the specified data
66       directory. Three different shutdown methods can be selected with the -m
67       option.  “Smart” mode disallows new connections, then waits for all
68       existing clients to disconnect and any online backup to finish. If the
69       server is in hot standby, recovery and streaming replication will be
70       terminated once all clients have disconnected.  “Fast” mode (the
71       default) does not wait for clients to disconnect and will terminate an
72       online backup in progress. All active transactions are rolled back and
73       clients are forcibly disconnected, then the server is shut down.
74       “Immediate” mode will abort all server processes immediately, without a
75       clean shutdown. This choice will lead to a crash-recovery cycle during
76       the next server start.
77
78       restart mode effectively executes a stop followed by a start. This
79       allows changing the postgres command-line options, or changing
80       configuration-file options that cannot be changed without restarting
81       the server. If relative paths were used on the command line during
82       server start, restart might fail unless pg_ctl is executed in the same
83       current directory as it was during server start.
84
85       reload mode simply sends the postgres server process a SIGHUP signal,
86       causing it to reread its configuration files (postgresql.conf,
87       pg_hba.conf, etc.). This allows changing configuration-file options
88       that do not require a full server restart to take effect.
89
90       status mode checks whether a server is running in the specified data
91       directory. If it is, the server's PID and the command line options that
92       were used to invoke it are displayed. If the server is not running,
93       pg_ctl returns an exit status of 3. If an accessible data directory is
94       not specified, pg_ctl returns an exit status of 4.
95
96       promote mode commands the standby server that is running in the
97       specified data directory to end standby mode and begin read-write
98       operations.
99
100       logrotate mode rotates the server log file. For details on how to use
101       this mode with external log rotation tools, see Section 25.3.
102
103       kill mode sends a signal to a specified process. This is primarily
104       valuable on Microsoft Windows which does not have a built-in kill
105       command. Use --help to see a list of supported signal names.
106
107       register mode registers the PostgreSQL server as a system service on
108       Microsoft Windows. The -S option allows selection of service start
109       type, either “auto” (start service automatically on system startup) or
110       “demand” (start service on demand).
111
112       unregister mode unregisters a system service on Microsoft Windows. This
113       undoes the effects of the register command.
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OPTIONS

116       -c
117       --core-files
118           Attempt to allow server crashes to produce core files, on platforms
119           where this is possible, by lifting any soft resource limit placed
120           on core files. This is useful in debugging or diagnosing problems
121           by allowing a stack trace to be obtained from a failed server
122           process.
123
124       -D datadir
125       --pgdata=datadir
126           Specifies the file system location of the database configuration
127           files. If this option is omitted, the environment variable PGDATA
128           is used.
129
130       -l filename
131       --log=filename
132           Append the server log output to filename. If the file does not
133           exist, it is created. The umask is set to 077, so access to the log
134           file is disallowed to other users by default.
135
136       -m mode
137       --mode=mode
138           Specifies the shutdown mode.  mode can be smart, fast, or
139           immediate, or the first letter of one of these three. If this
140           option is omitted, fast is the default.
141
142       -o options
143       --options=options
144           Specifies options to be passed directly to the postgres command.
145           -o can be specified multiple times, with all the given options
146           being passed through.
147
148           The options should usually be surrounded by single or double quotes
149           to ensure that they are passed through as a group.
150
151       -o initdb-options
152       --options=initdb-options
153           Specifies options to be passed directly to the initdb command.  -o
154           can be specified multiple times, with all the given options being
155           passed through.
156
157           The initdb-options should usually be surrounded by single or double
158           quotes to ensure that they are passed through as a group.
159
160       -p path
161           Specifies the location of the postgres executable. By default the
162           postgres executable is taken from the same directory as pg_ctl, or
163           failing that, the hard-wired installation directory. It is not
164           necessary to use this option unless you are doing something unusual
165           and get errors that the postgres executable was not found.
166
167           In init mode, this option analogously specifies the location of the
168           initdb executable.
169
170       -s
171       --silent
172           Print only errors, no informational messages.
173
174       -t seconds
175       --timeout=seconds
176           Specifies the maximum number of seconds to wait when waiting for an
177           operation to complete (see option -w). Defaults to the value of the
178           PGCTLTIMEOUT environment variable or, if not set, to 60 seconds.
179
180       -V
181       --version
182           Print the pg_ctl version and exit.
183
184       -w
185       --wait
186           Wait for the operation to complete. This is supported for the modes
187           start, stop, restart, promote, and register, and is the default for
188           those modes.
189
190           When waiting, pg_ctl repeatedly checks the server's PID file,
191           sleeping for a short amount of time between checks. Startup is
192           considered complete when the PID file indicates that the server is
193           ready to accept connections. Shutdown is considered complete when
194           the server removes the PID file.  pg_ctl returns an exit code based
195           on the success of the startup or shutdown.
196
197           If the operation does not complete within the timeout (see option
198           -t), then pg_ctl exits with a nonzero exit status. But note that
199           the operation might continue in the background and eventually
200           succeed.
201
202       -W
203       --no-wait
204           Do not wait for the operation to complete. This is the opposite of
205           the option -w.
206
207           If waiting is disabled, the requested action is triggered, but
208           there is no feedback about its success. In that case, the server
209           log file or an external monitoring system would have to be used to
210           check the progress and success of the operation.
211
212           In prior releases of PostgreSQL, this was the default except for
213           the stop mode.
214
215       -?
216       --help
217           Show help about pg_ctl command line arguments, and exit.
218
219       If an option is specified that is valid, but not relevant to the
220       selected operating mode, pg_ctl ignores it.
221
222   Options for Windows
223       -e source
224           Name of the event source for pg_ctl to use for logging to the event
225           log when running as a Windows service. The default is PostgreSQL.
226           Note that this only controls messages sent from pg_ctl itself; once
227           started, the server will use the event source specified by its
228           event_source parameter. Should the server fail very early in
229           startup, before that parameter has been set, it might also log
230           using the default event source name PostgreSQL.
231
232       -N servicename
233           Name of the system service to register. This name will be used as
234           both the service name and the display name. The default is
235           PostgreSQL.
236
237       -P password
238           Password for the user to run the service as.
239
240       -S start-type
241           Start type of the system service.  start-type can be auto, or
242           demand, or the first letter of one of these two. If this option is
243           omitted, auto is the default.
244
245       -U username
246           User name for the user to run the service as. For domain users, use
247           the format DOMAIN\username.
248

ENVIRONMENT

250       PGCTLTIMEOUT
251           Default limit on the number of seconds to wait when waiting for
252           startup or shutdown to complete. If not set, the default is 60
253           seconds.
254
255       PGDATA
256           Default data directory location.
257
258       Most pg_ctl modes require knowing the data directory location;
259       therefore, the -D option is required unless PGDATA is set.
260
261       pg_ctl, like most other PostgreSQL utilities, also uses the environment
262       variables supported by libpq (see Section 34.15).
263
264       For additional variables that affect the server, see postgres(1).
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FILES

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

278   Starting the Server
279       To start the server, waiting until the server is accepting connections:
280
281           $ pg_ctl start
282
283       To start the server using port 5433, and running without fsync, use:
284
285           $ pg_ctl -o "-F -p 5433" start
286
287   Stopping the Server
288       To stop the server, use:
289
290           $ pg_ctl stop
291
292       The -m option allows control over how the server shuts down:
293
294           $ pg_ctl stop -m smart
295
296   Restarting the Server
297       Restarting the server is almost equivalent to stopping the server and
298       starting it again, except that by default, pg_ctl saves and reuses the
299       command line options that were passed to the previously-running
300       instance. To restart the server using the same options as before, use:
301
302           $ pg_ctl restart
303
304       But if -o is specified, that replaces any previous options. To restart
305       using port 5433, disabling fsync upon restart:
306
307           $ pg_ctl -o "-F -p 5433" restart
308
309   Showing the Server Status
310       Here is sample status output from pg_ctl:
311
312           $ pg_ctl status
313
314           pg_ctl: server is running (PID: 13718)
315           /usr/local/pgsql/bin/postgres "-D" "/usr/local/pgsql/data" "-p" "5433" "-B" "128"
316
317       The second line is the command that would be invoked in restart mode.
318

SEE ALSO

320       initdb(1), postgres(1)
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324PostgreSQL 14.3                      2022                            PG_CTL(1)
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