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man : pg_ctl(1)
PG_CTL(1) PostgreSQL Server Applications PG_CTL(1)
NAME
pg_ctl - start, stop, or restart a PostgreSQL server
SYNOPSIS
pg_ctl start [ -w ] [ -s ] [ -D datadir ] [ -l filename
] [ -o options ] [ -p path ]
pg_ctl stop [ -W ] [ -s ] [ -D datadir ] [ -m
[ s[mart] ] [ f[ast] ] [ i[mmediate] ]
]
pg_ctl restart [ -w ] [ -s ] [ -D datadir ] [ -m
[ s[mart] ] [ f[ast] ] [ i[mmediate] ]
] [ -o options ]
pg_ctl reload [ -s ] [ -D datadir ]
pg_ctl status [ -D datadir ]
pg_ctl kill [ signal_name ] [ process_id ]
pg_ctl register [ -N servicename ] [ -U username ] [ -P
password ] [ -D datadir ] [ -w ] [ -o options ]
pg_ctl unregister [ -N servicename ]
DESCRIPTION
pg_ctl is a utility for starting, stopping, or restarting
the PostgreSQL backend server (postmaster(1)), or display-
ing 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.
In start mode, a new server is launched. The server is
started in the background, and standard input is attached
to /dev/null. The standard output and standard error are
either appended to a log file (if the -l option is used),
or redirected to pg_ctl's standard output (not standard
error). If no log file is chosen, the standard output of
pg_ctl should be redirected to a file or piped to another
process such as a log rotating program like rotatelogs;
otherwise the postmaster will write its output to the con-
trolling terminal (from the background) and will not leave
the shell's process group.
In stop mode, the server that is running in the specified
data directory is shut down. Three different shutdown
methods can be selected with the -m option: ``Smart'' mode
waits for all the clients to disconnect. This is the
default. ``Fast'' mode does not wait for clients to dis-
connect. All active transactions are rolled back and
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clients are forcibly disconnected, then the server is shut
down. ``Immediate'' mode will abort all server processes
without a clean shutdown. This will lead to a recovery run
on restart.
restart mode effectively executes a stop followed by a
start. This allows changing the postmaster command-line
options.
reload mode simply sends the postmaster 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 com-
plete restart to take effect.
status mode checks whether a server is running in the
specified data directory. If it is, the PID and the com-
mand line options that were used to invoke it are dis-
played.
kill mode allows you to send a signal to a specified pro-
cess. This is particularly valuable for Microsoft Windows
which does not have a kill command. Use --help to see a
list of supported signal names.
register mode allows you to register a system service on
Microsoft Windows.
unregister mode allows you to unregister a system service
on Microsoft Windows, previously registered with the reg-
ister command.
OPTIONS
-D datadir
Specifies the file system location of the database
files. If this is omitted, the environment variable
PGDATA is used.
-l filename
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 from other
users is disallowed by default.
-m mode
Specifies the shutdown mode. mode may be smart,
fast, or immediate, or the first letter of one of
these three.
-o options
Specifies options to be passed directly to the
postmaster command.
The options are usually surrounded by single or
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double quotes to ensure that they are passed
through as a group.
-p path
Specifies the location of the postmaster exe-
cutable. By default the postmaster 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
postmaster executable was not found.
-s Only print errors, no informational messages.
-w Wait for the start or shutdown to complete. Times
out after 60 seconds. This is the default for shut-
downs. A successful shutdown is indicated by
removal of the PID file. For starting up, a suc-
cessful psql -l indicates success. pg_ctl will
attempt to use the proper port for psql. If the
environment variable PGPORT exists, that is used.
Otherwise, it will see if a port has been set in
the postgresql.conf file. If neither of those is
used, it will use the default port that PostgreSQL
was compiled with (5432 by default). When waiting,
pg_ctl will return an accurate exit code based on
the success of the startup or shutdown.
-W Do not wait for start or shutdown to complete. This
is the default for starts and restarts.
WINDOWS OPTIONS
-N servicename
Name of the system service to register. The name
will be used as both the service name and the dis-
play name.
-P password
Password for the user to start the service.
-U username
User name for the user to start the service. For
domain users, use the format DOMAIN\username.
ENVIRONMENT
PGDATA Default data directory location.
PGPORT Default port for psql(1) (used by the -w option).
For others, see postmaster(1).
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FILES
postmaster.pid
The existence of this file in the data directory is
used to help pg_ctl determine if the server is cur-
rently running or not.
postmaster.opts.default
If this file exists in the data directory, pg_ctl
(in start mode) will pass the contents of the file
as options to the postmaster command, unless over-
ridden by the -o option.
postmaster.opts
If this file exists in the data directory, pg_ctl
(in restart mode) will pass the contents of the
file as options to the postmaster, unless overrid-
den by the -o option. The contents of this file are
also displayed in status mode.
postgresql.conf
This file, located in the data directory, is parsed
to find the proper port to use with psql when the
-w is given in start mode.
NOTES
Waiting for complete start is not a well-defined operation
and may fail if access control is set up so that a local
client cannot connect without manual interaction (e.g.,
password authentication).
EXAMPLES
STARTING 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" start
STOPPING THE SERVER
$ pg_ctl stop
stops the server. Using the -m switch allows one to con-
trol how the backend shuts down.
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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 server, waiting for it to shut down and to come
up:
$ pg_ctl -w restart
To restart using port 5433 and disabling fsync after
restarting:
$ pg_ctl -o "-F -p 5433" restart
SHOWING THE SERVER STATUS
Here is a sample status output from pg_ctl:
$ pg_ctl status
pg_ctl: postmaster is running (pid: 13718)
Command line was:
/usr/local/pgsql/bin/postmaster '-D' '/usr/local/pgsql/data' '-p' '5433' '-B' '128'
This is the command line that would be invoked in restart
mode.
SEE ALSO
postmaster(1)
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