initdb man page on BSDOS

Man page or keyword search:  
man Server   6284 pages
apropos Keyword Search (all sections)
Output format
BSDOS logo
[printable version]

INITDB(1)		PostgreSQL Server Applications		     INITDB(1)

NAME
       initdb - Create a new Postgres database cluster

SYNOPSIS
       initdb  { --pgdata  | -D dbdir } [ --sysid  | -i sysid ] [ --pwprompt |
       -W ] [ --encoding  | -E encoding ] [ -L directory ] [ --noclean | -n  ]
       [ --debug | -d ]

DESCRIPTION
       initdb  creates	a  new Postgres database cluster or system. A database
       cluster is a collection of databases that are managed by a single post‐
       master.

       Creating	 a  database  system  consists	of creating the directories in
       which the database data will live, generating the shared catalog tables
       (tables	that belong to the whole cluster rather than to any particular
       database), and creating the template1 database. When you create	a  new
       database,  everything in the template1 database is copied.  It contains
       catalog tables filled in for things like the built-in types.

       You must not execute initdb as root; it must be run by  the  Unix  user
       account	that will run the database server.  This is because you cannot
       run the database server as root either, but the server  needs  to  have
       access to the files initdb creates. Furthermore, during the initializa‐
       tion phase, when there are no users and no access  controls  installed,
       Postgres	 will  only connect with the name of the current Unix user, so
       you must log in under the account that will own the server process.

       Although initdb will attempt to create the  specified  data  directory,
       often  it  won't	 have  permission  to  do  so, since the parent of the
       desired data directory is often a root-owned directory. To  set	up  an
       arrangement like this, create an empty data directory as root, then use
       chown to hand over ownership of that directory  to  the	database  user
       account, then su to become the database user, and finally run initdb as
       the database user.

   OPTIONS
       --pgdata=dbdir

       -D dbdir
	      This option specifies where in  the  file	 system	 the  database
	      should  be  stored.  This	 is  the  only information required by
	      initdb, but you can avoid writing it by setting the PGDATA envi‐
	      ronment  variable,  which	 can  be convenient since the database
	      server (postmaster) can find the database directory later by the
	      same variable.

       --sysid=sysid

       -i sysid
	      Selects  the  system id of the database superuser. This defaults
	      to the effective user id of  the	user  running  initdb.	It  is
	      really  not  important  what  the	 superuser's sysid is, but one
	      might choose to start the numbering at some number like 1.

       --pwprompt

       -W     Makes initdb prompt for a password to give  the  database	 supe‐
	      ruser.  If you don't plan on using password authentication, this
	      is not important. Otherwise you won't be able  to	 use  password
	      authentication until you have a password set up.

       --encoding=encoding

       -E encoding
	      Selects  the  multibyte  encoding of the template database. This
	      will also be the default encoding of  any	 database  you	create
	      later, unless you override it there. To use the multibyte encod‐
	      ing feature, you must specify so at build time,  at  which  time
	      you also select the default for this option.

       Other, less commonly used, parameters are also available:

       -L directory
	      Specifies where initdb should find its input files to initialize
	      the database system. This is normally not necessary. You will be
	      told if you need to specify their location explicitly.

       --noclean

       -n     By  default,  when  initdb determines that an error prevented it
	      from completely creating the database  system,  it  removes  any
	      files  it may have created before discovering that it can't fin‐
	      ish the job. This option inhibits tidying-up and is thus	useful
	      for debugging.

       --debug

       -d     Print  debugging	output	from  the  bootstrap backend and a few
	      other messages of lesser interest for the general	 public.   The
	      bootstrap backend is the program initdb uses to create the cata‐
	      log  tables.  This  option  generates  a	tremendous  amount  of
	      extremely boring output.

SEE ALSO
       PostgreSQL Administrator's Guide

Application			  2000-12-25			     INITDB(1)
[top]
                             _         _         _ 
                            | |       | |       | |     
                            | |       | |       | |     
                         __ | | __ __ | | __ __ | | __  
                         \ \| |/ / \ \| |/ / \ \| |/ /  
                          \ \ / /   \ \ / /   \ \ / /   
                           \   /     \   /     \   /    
                            \_/       \_/       \_/ 
More information is available in HTML format for server BSDOS

List of man pages available for BSDOS

Copyright (c) for man pages and the logo by the respective OS vendor.

For those who want to learn more, the polarhome community provides shell access and support.

[legal] [privacy] [GNU] [policy] [cookies] [netiquette] [sponsors] [FAQ]
Tweet
Polarhome, production since 1999.
Member of Polarhome portal.
Based on Fawad Halim's script.
....................................................................
Vote for polarhome
Free Shell Accounts :: the biggest list on the net