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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 ]

DESCRIPTION
  pg_ctl is a utility for starting, stopping, or restarting postmaster(1),
  the PostgreSQL backend server, or displaying the status of a running
  postmaster. Although the postmaster can be started manually, pg_ctl
  encapsulates tasks such as redirecting log output, properly detaching from
  the terminal and process group, and it provides convenient options for
  controlled shutdown.

  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 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, for example a log
  rotating program, otherwise the postmaster will write its output the the
  controlling terminal (from the background) and will not leave the shell's
  process group.

  In stop mode, the postmaster 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 disconnect.
  All active transactions are rolled back and clients are forcibly
  disconnected, then the database is shut down. ``Immediate'' mode will abort
  all server processes without clean shutdown. This will lead to a recovery
  run on restart.

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

  reload mode simply sends the postmaster 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 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 postmaster.

       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 executable. By default the
       postmaster 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 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 shutdowns.

  -W   Do not wait for start or shutdown to complete. This is the default for
       starts and restarts.

ENVIRONMENT
  PGDATA
       Default data direction location

  For others, see postmaster(1).

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.

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. It should be avoided.

EXAMPLES
  STARTING THE POSTMASTER

  To start up a postmaster:

  $ pg_ctl start

  An example of starting the postmaster, blocking until the 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 the postmaster. Using the -m switch allows one to control how the
  backend shuts down.

  RESTARTING THE POSTMASTER

  This is almost equivalent to stopping the postmaster 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 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.

SEE ALSO
  postmaster(1), PostgreSQL Administrator's Guide

Index for Section 1

Alphabetical listing for P

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