pg_ctl

 

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 PG_CTL(1)         PostgreSQL Server Applications        PG_CTL(1)
 
 
 
NAME
        pg_ctl - Starts, stops, or restarts postmaster
 
SYNOPSIS
        pg_ctl  start  [  -w ] [ -D datadir ] [ -l filename ] [ -o
        options ] [ -p path ]
 
        pg_ctl stop [ -W ] [ -D datadir ] [ -m { s[mart] |  f[ast]
        | i[mmediate] } ]
 
        pg_ctl  restart  [  -w  ]  [ -D datadir ] [ -m { s[mart] |
        f[ast] | i[mmediate] } ] [ -o options ]
 
        pg_ctl status [ -D datadir ]
 
DESCRIPTION
        pg_ctl is a utility for starting, stopping, or  restarting
        postmaster(1),  the PostgreSQL backend server, or display­
        ing the status of a running postmaster. Although the post­
        master  can  be started manually, pg_ctl encapulates tasks
        such as redirecting log output,  properly  detaching  from
        the  terminal and process group, and additionally provides
        an option for controlled shut down.
 
        In start mode, a new postmaster is launched. The server is
        started  in the background, the standard input attached to
        /dev/null. The standard  output  and  standard  error  are
        either  appended  to a log file, if the -l option is used,
        or are redirected to pg_ctl's standard output  (not  stan­
        dard error). If no log file is chosen, the standard output
        of pg_ctl should be redirected  to  a  file  or  piped  to
        another  process, for example a log rotating program, oth­
        erwise the postmaster will write its output the  the  con­
        trolling terminal (from the background) and will not leave
        the shell's process group.
 
        In stop mode, the postmaster that is running on the speci­
        fied 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  will  be rolled back.
        ``Immediate'' mode will abort without  complete  shutdown.
        This  will  lead  to  a  recovery  run on restart.  By the
        default, stop mode waits for the shutdown to complete.
 
        restart mode effectively executes a  stop  followed  by  a
        start. This allows the changing of postmaster command line
        options.
 
        status mode checks whether a postmaster is running and  if
        so displays the PID and the command line options that were
        used to invoke it.
 
    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 postmas­
               ter.
 
               The parameters are usually surrounded by single  or
               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 is taken from
               the same directory as pg_ctl, or failing that,  the
               hard-wired installation directory. It is not neces­
               sary to use this option unless you are doing  some­
               thing  unusual  and  get errors that the postmaster
               was not found.
 
        -w     Wait for the start or stutdown to  complete.  Times
               out after 60 seconds. This is the default for shut­
               downs.
 
        -W     Do not wait for start or shutdown to complete. This
               is the default for starts and restarts.
 
 
   
FILES
        If  the  file  postmaster.opts.default  exists in the data
        directory, the contents of the  file  will  be  passed  as
        options  to  the  postmaster,  unless overridden by the -o
        option.
 
 EXAMPLES
    STARTING THE POSTMASTER
        To start up postmaster:
 
        $ pg_ctl start
 
 
        An example of  starting  the  postmaster,  blocking  until
        postmaster comes up is:
 
        $ pg_ctl -w start
 
 
        For  a  postmaster  using  port  5433, and running without
        fsync, use:
 
        $ pg_ctl -o "-F -p 5433" start
 
 
    STOPPING THE POSTMASTER
        $ pg_ctl stop
 
        stops postmaster. Using the -m switch allows one  to  con­
        trol how the backend shuts down.
 
    RESTARTING THE POSTMASTER
        This  is almost equivalent to stopping the postmaster then
        starting it again except that pg_ctl saves and reuses  the
        command  line  options  that were passed to the previously
        running instance. To restart postmaster  in  the  simplest
        form:
 
        $ pg_ctl restart
 
 
        To  restart postmaster, 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 POSTMASTER 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.
 
 BUGS
        Waiting for complete start is not a well-defined operation
        and  may  fail  if  access control is set up in way that a
        local client cannot connect without manual interaction. It
        should be avoided.
 
SEE ALSO
        postmaster(1), PostgreSQL Administrator's Guide
 
 
 
 Application                 2001-02-08                  PG_CTL(1)

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