1PG_CTL(1)                PostgreSQL 15.4 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]
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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. If the server is in hot standby,
69       recovery and streaming replication will be terminated once all clients
70       have disconnected.  “Fast” mode (the default) does not wait for clients
71       to disconnect. All active transactions are rolled back and clients are
72       forcibly disconnected, then the server is shut down.  “Immediate” mode
73       will abort all server processes immediately, without a clean shutdown.
74       This choice will lead to a crash-recovery cycle during the next server
75       start.
76
77       restart mode effectively executes a stop followed by a start. This
78       allows changing the postgres command-line options, or changing
79       configuration-file options that cannot be changed without restarting
80       the server. If relative paths were used on the command line during
81       server start, restart might fail unless pg_ctl is executed in the same
82       current directory as it was during server start.
83
84       reload mode simply sends the postgres server process a SIGHUP signal,
85       causing it to reread its configuration files (postgresql.conf,
86       pg_hba.conf, etc.). This allows changing configuration-file options
87       that do not require a full server restart to take effect.
88
89       status mode checks whether a server is running in the specified data
90       directory. If it is, the server's PID and the command line options that
91       were used to invoke it are displayed. If the server is not running,
92       pg_ctl returns an exit status of 3. If an accessible data directory is
93       not specified, pg_ctl returns an exit status of 4.
94
95       promote mode commands the standby server that is running in the
96       specified data directory to end standby mode and begin read-write
97       operations.
98
99       logrotate mode rotates the server log file. For details on how to use
100       this mode with external log rotation tools, see Section 25.3.
101
102       kill mode sends a signal to a specified process. This is primarily
103       valuable on Microsoft Windows which does not have a built-in kill
104       command. Use --help to see a list of supported signal names.
105
106       register mode registers the PostgreSQL server as a system service on
107       Microsoft Windows. The -S option allows selection of service start
108       type, either “auto” (start service automatically on system startup) or
109       “demand” (start service on demand).
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111       unregister mode unregisters a system service on Microsoft Windows. This
112       undoes the effects of the register command.
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OPTIONS

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

ENVIRONMENT

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

FILES

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

EXAMPLES

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

SEE ALSO

319       initdb(1), postgres(1)
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323PostgreSQL 15.4                      2023                            PG_CTL(1)
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