1CREATEDB(1) PostgreSQL 15.4 Documentation CREATEDB(1)
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6 createdb - create a new PostgreSQL database
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9 createdb [connection-option...] [option...] [dbname [description]]
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12 createdb creates a new PostgreSQL database.
13 Normally, the database user who executes this command becomes the owner
15 of the new database. However, a different owner can be specified via
16 the -O option, if the executing user has appropriate privileges.
17 createdb is a wrapper around the SQL command CREATE DATABASE. There is
19 no effective difference between creating databases via this utility and
20 via other methods for accessing the server.
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23 createdb accepts the following command-line arguments:
24 dbname
26 Specifies the name of the database to be created. The name must be
27 unique among all PostgreSQL databases in this cluster. The default
28 is to create a database with the same name as the current system
29 user.
30 description
32 Specifies a comment to be associated with the newly created
33 database.
34 -D tablespace
36 --tablespace=tablespace
37 Specifies the default tablespace for the database. (This name is
38 processed as a double-quoted identifier.)
39 -e
41 --echo
42 Echo the commands that createdb generates and sends to the server.
43 -E encoding
45 --encoding=encoding
46 Specifies the character encoding scheme to be used in this
47 database. The character sets supported by the PostgreSQL server are
48 described in Section 24.3.1.
49 -l locale
51 --locale=locale
52 Specifies the locale to be used in this database. This is
53 equivalent to specifying both --lc-collate and --lc-ctype.
54 --lc-collate=locale
56 Specifies the LC_COLLATE setting to be used in this database.
57 --lc-ctype=locale
59 Specifies the LC_CTYPE setting to be used in this database.
60 --icu-locale=locale
62 Specifies the ICU locale ID to be used in this database, if the ICU
63 locale provider is selected.
64 --locale-provider={libc|icu}
66 Specifies the locale provider for the database's default collation.
67 -O owner
69 --owner=owner
70 Specifies the database user who will own the new database. (This
71 name is processed as a double-quoted identifier.)
72 -S template
74 --strategy=strategy
75 Specifies the database creation strategy. See CREATE DATABASE
76 STRATEGY for more details.
77 -T template
79 --template=template
80 Specifies the template database from which to build this database.
81 (This name is processed as a double-quoted identifier.)
82 -V
84 --version
85 Print the createdb version and exit.
86 -?
88 --help
89 Show help about createdb command line arguments, and exit.
90 The options -D, -l, -E, -O, and -T correspond to options of the
92 underlying SQL command CREATE DATABASE; see there for more information
93 about them.
94 createdb also accepts the following command-line arguments for
96 connection parameters:
97 -h host
99 --host=host
100 Specifies the host name of the machine on which the server is
101 running. If the value begins with a slash, it is used as the
102 directory for the Unix domain socket.
103 -p port
105 --port=port
106 Specifies the TCP port or the local Unix domain socket file
107 extension on which the server is listening for connections.
108 -U username
110 --username=username
111 User name to connect as.
112 -w
114 --no-password
115 Never issue a password prompt. If the server requires password
116 authentication and a password is not available by other means such
117 as a .pgpass file, the connection attempt will fail. This option
118 can be useful in batch jobs and scripts where no user is present to
119 enter a password.
120 -W
122 --password
123 Force createdb to prompt for a password before connecting to a
124 database.
125 This option is never essential, since createdb will automatically
127 prompt for a password if the server demands password
128 authentication. However, createdb will waste a connection attempt
129 finding out that the server wants a password. In some cases it is
130 worth typing -W to avoid the extra connection attempt.
131 --maintenance-db=dbname
133 Specifies the name of the database to connect to when creating the
134 new database. If not specified, the postgres database will be used;
135 if that does not exist (or if it is the name of the new database
136 being created), template1 will be used. This can be a connection
137 string. If so, connection string parameters will override any
138 conflicting command line options.
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141 PGDATABASE
142 If set, the name of the database to create, unless overridden on
143 the command line.
144 PGHOST
146 PGPORT
147 PGUSER
148 Default connection parameters. PGUSER also determines the name of
149 the database to create, if it is not specified on the command line
150 or by PGDATABASE.
151 PG_COLOR
153 Specifies whether to use color in diagnostic messages. Possible
154 values are always, auto and never.
155 This utility, like most other PostgreSQL utilities, also uses the
157 environment variables supported by libpq (see Section 34.15).
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160 In case of difficulty, see CREATE DATABASE (CREATE_DATABASE(7)) and
161 psql(1) for discussions of potential problems and error messages. The
162 database server must be running at the targeted host. Also, any default
163 connection settings and environment variables used by the libpq
164 front-end library will apply.
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167 To create the database demo using the default database server:
168 $ createdb demo
170 To create the database demo using the server on host eden, port 5000,
172 using the template0 template database, here is the command-line command
173 and the underlying SQL command:
174 $ createdb -p 5000 -h eden -T template0 -e demo
176 CREATE DATABASE demo TEMPLATE template0;
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179 dropdb(1), CREATE DATABASE (CREATE_DATABASE(7))
180PostgreSQL 15.4 2023 CREATEDB(1)