NAME

       pg_ctl - initialize, start, stop, or control a PostgreSQL server

SYNOPSIS

       pg_ctl init[db] [-s] [-D datadir] [-o initdb-options]

       pg_ctl start [-w] [-t seconds] [-s] [-D datadir] [-l filename] [-o options] [-p path] [-c]
              [-Z nodeopt]

       pg_ctl stop [-W] [-t seconds] [-s] [-D datadir] [-m s[mart] | f[ast] | i[mmediate]]

       pg_ctl restart [-w] [-t seconds] [-s] [-D datadir] [-c]
              [-m s[mart] | f[ast] | i[mmediate]] [-o options] [-Z nodeopt]

       pg_ctl reload [-s] [-D datadir]

       pg_ctl status [-D datadir]

       pg_ctl promote [-s] [-D datadir]

       pg_ctl kill signal_name process_id

       pg_ctl register [-N servicename] [-U username] [-P password] [-D datadir]
              [-S a[uto] | d[emand]] [-w] [-t seconds] [-s] [-o options]

       pg_ctl unregister [-N servicename]

DESCRIPTION

       pg_ctl is a utility for initializing a PostgreSQL database cluster, starting, stopping, or
       restarting the PostgreSQL database server (postgres(1)), or displaying 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.

       The init or initdb mode creates a new PostgreSQL database cluster. A database cluster is a
       collection of databases that are managed by a single server instance. This mode invokes
       the initdb command. See initdb(1) for details.

       In start mode, a new server is launched. The server is started in the background, and its
       standard input is attached to /dev/null (or nul on Windows). On Unix-like systems, by
       default, the server's standard output and standard error are sent to pg_ctl's standard
       output (not standard error). The standard output of pg_ctl should then be redirected to a
       file or piped to another process such as a log rotating program like rotatelogs; otherwise
       postgres will write its output to the controlling terminal (from the background) and will
       not leave the shell's process group. On Windows, by default the server's standard output
       and standard error are sent to the terminal. These default behaviors can be changed by
       using -l to append the server's output to a log file. Use of either -l or output
       redirection is recommended.

       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 (the
       default) waits for all active clients to disconnect and any online backup to finish. If
       the server is in hot standby, recovery and streaming replication will be terminated once
       all clients have disconnected.  “Fast” mode does not wait for clients to disconnect and
       will terminate an online backup in progress. All active transactions are rolled back and
       clients are forcibly disconnected, then the server is shut down.  “Immediate” mode will
       abort all server processes immediately, without a clean shutdown. This will lead to a
       crash-recovery run on the next restart.

       restart mode effectively executes a stop followed by a start. This allows changing the
       postgres command-line options.

       reload mode simply sends the postgres 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 complete restart to take effect.

       status mode checks whether a server is running in the specified data directory. If it is,
       the PID and the command line options that were used to invoke it are displayed. If the
       server is not running, the process returns an exit status of 3.

       In promote mode, the standby server that is running in the specified data directory is
       commanded to exit recovery and begin read-write operations.

       kill mode allows you to send a signal to a specified process. 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. The -S option
       allows selection of service start type, either “auto” (start service automatically on
       system startup) or “demand” (start service on demand).

       unregister mode allows you to unregister a system service on Microsoft Windows. This
       undoes the effects of the register command.

OPTIONS

       -c, --core-file
           Attempt to allow server crashes to produce core files, on platforms where this is
           possible, by lifting any soft resource limit placed on core files. This is useful in
           debugging or diagnosing problems by allowing a stack trace to be obtained from a
           failed server process.

       -D datadir, --pgdata datadir
           Specifies the file system location of the database files. If this is omitted, the
           environment variable PGDATA is used.

       -l filename, --log 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 is disallowed to other users by
           default.

       -m mode, --mode mode
           Specifies the shutdown mode.  mode can be smart, fast, or immediate, or the first
           letter of one of these three. If this is omitted, smart is used.

       -o options
           Specifies options to be passed directly to the postgres command.

           The options should usually be surrounded by single or double quotes to ensure that
           they are passed through as a group.

       -o initdb-options
           Specifies options to be passed directly to the initdb command.

           The options should usually be surrounded by single or double quotes to ensure that
           they are passed through as a group.

       -p path
           Specifies the location of the postgres executable. By default the postgres 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 postgres executable was not found.

           In init mode, this option analogously specifies the location of the initdb executable.

       -Z nodeopt
           Specifies to run node as a Coordinator, as a Datanode or in restore mode.  nodeopt can
           be respectively coordinator, datanode or restoremode.

           With restore mode, you can import Postgres-XC's catalog data from other coordinator or
           datanode

       -s, --silent
           Print only errors, no informational messages.

       -t, --timeout
           The maximum number of seconds to wait when waiting for startup or shutdown to
           complete. The default is 60 seconds.

       -V, --version
           Print the pg_ctl version and exit.

       -w
           Wait for the startup or shutdown to complete. Waiting is the default option for
           shutdowns, but not startups. When waiting for startup, pg_ctl repeatedly attempts to
           connect to the server. When waiting for shutdown, pg_ctl waits for the server to
           remove its PID file.  pg_ctl returns an exit code based on the success of the startup
           or shutdown.

       -W
           Do not wait for startup or shutdown to complete. This is the default for start and
           restart modes.

       -?, --help
           Show help about pg_ctl command line arguments, and exit.

ENVIRONMENT

       PGDATA
           Default data directory location.

       pg_ctl, like most other PostgreSQL utilities, also uses the environment variables
       supported by libpq (see Section 32.14, “Environment Variables”, in the documentation). For
       additional server variables, see postgres(1).

       This command controls individual Coordinator or Datanode.

FILES

       postmaster.pid
           The existence of this file in the data directory is used to help pg_ctl determine if
           the server is currently running.

       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 postgres, unless overridden by the -o option. The
           contents of this file are also displayed in status mode.

EXAMPLES

   Starting the Server
       To start the server:

           $ pg_ctl start

       To start the server, waiting until the server is accepting connections:

           $ pg_ctl -w start

       To start the server using port 5433, and running without fsync, use:

           $ pg_ctl -o "-F -p 5433" start

   Stopping the Server
       To stop the server, use:

           $ pg_ctl stop

       The -m option allows control over how the server shuts down:

           $ pg_ctl stop -m fast

   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 the server, waiting for it to shut down and restart:

           $ pg_ctl -w restart

       To restart using port 5433, disabling fsync upon restart:

           $ pg_ctl -o "-F -p 5433" restart

   Showing the Server Status
       Here is sample status output from pg_ctl:

           $ pg_ctl status
           pg_ctl: server is running (PID: 13718)
           /usr/local/pgsql/bin/postgres "-D" "/usr/local/pgsql/data" "-p" "5433" "-B" "128"

       This is the command line that would be invoked in restart mode.

SEE ALSO

       initdb(1), postgres(1)