-.\" This is -*-nroff-*-
-.\" XXX standard disclaimer belongs here....
-.\" $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/postgres-ref.sgml,v 1.1 1999/05/26 17:25:38 thomas Exp $
-.TH POSTGRESQL UNIX 05/19/99 PostgreSQL PostgreSQL
-.SH NAME
-postgres - the Postgres backend server
-.SH SYNOPSIS
-.BR "postgres"
-[\c
-.BR "-B"
-n_buffers]
-[\c
-.BR "-C"
-]
-[\c
-.BR "-D"
-data_directory]
-[\c
-.BR "-E"
-]
-[\c
-.BR "-F"
-]
-[\c
-.BR "-O"
-]
-[\c
-.BR "-Q"
-]
-[\c
-.BR "-S kbytes"
-]
-[\c
-.BR "-d"
-debug_level]
-[\c
-.BR "-e"
-]
-[\c
-.BR "-o"
-output_file]
-[\c
-.BR "-s"
-]
-[\c
-.BR "-v protocol"
-]
-[dbname]
-.in -5n
-.SH DESCRIPTION
-The Postgres backend server can be executed directly from the user shell.
-This should be done only while debugging by the DBA, and should not be
-done while other Postgres backends are being managed by a
-.IR postmaster
-on this set of databases.
-.PP
-Some of the switches explained in this man page can be passed to the backend
-through the "database options" field of a connection request, and thus can be
-set for a particular backend without going to the trouble of restarting the
-postmaster. This is particularly handy for debugging-related switches.
-.PP
-The optional argument
-.IR dbname
-specifies the name of the database to be accessed.
-.IR Dbname
-defaults to the value of the
-.SM USER
-environment variable.
-.PP
-The
-.IR postgres
-server understands the following command-line options:
-.TP
-.BR "-B" " n_buffers"
-If the backend is running under the
-.IR postmaster ,
-.IR "n_buffers"
-is the number of shared-memory buffers that the
-.IR "postmaster"
-has allocated for the backend server processes that it starts. If the
-backend is running standalone, this specifies the number of buffers to
-allocate. This value defaults to 64 buffers, where each buffer is 8k bytes
-(or whatever BLCKSZ is set to in config.h).
-.TP
-.BR "-C"
-Do not show server version number.
-.TP
-.BR "-D" " data_directory"
-This option specifies the pathname of the directory that contains the
-database system data (the tables, the catalogs, etc.). If you don't
-specify this option, Postgres uses the value of the PGDATA environment
-variable. You must either specify a -D option or set PGDATA.
-
-The data directory pathname for a database system is normally determined when
-the database system is created with
-.IR initdb ,
-with a --pgdata option to
-.IR initdb .
-.TP
-.BR "-E"
-Echo all queries.
-.TP
-.BR "-F"
-Disable automatic fsync() call after each transaction.
-This option improves performance, but an operating system crash
-while a transaction is in progress will probably cause data loss.
-.TP
-.BR "-O"
-Override restrictions, so system table structures can be modified(pg_*).
-.TP
-.BR "-Q"
-Specifies \*(lqquiet\*(rq mode.
-.TP
-.BR "-S" " kbytes"
-Specifies the amount of memory to be used by internal sorts and hashes
-before resorting to temporary disk files. The value is specified in
-kilobytes, and defaults to 512 kilobytes. Note that for a complex query,
-several sorts and/or hashes might be running in parallel, and each one
-will be allowed to use as much as -S kilobytes before it starts to put
-data into temporary files.
-.TP
-.BR "-e"
-The
-.IR "-e"
-option controls how dates are input to and output from the database.
-.IP
-If the
-.IR "-e"
-option is supplied, then all dates passed to and from the frontend
-processes will be assumed to be in
-.IR "European"
-format ie.
-.IR "DD-MM-YYYY"
-otherwise dates are input and output in
-.IR "American"
-format ie.
-.IR "MM-DD-YYYY"
-.TP
-.BR "-d" " debug_level"
-Turns on debugging at the numeric level
-.IR "debug_level" .
-Turning on debugging will cause query, parse trees, and query plans to
-be displayed.
-.TP
-.BR "-o" " output_file"
-Sends all debugging and error output to
-.IR output_file .
-If the backend is running under the
-.IR postmaster ,
-error messages are still sent to the frontend process as well as to
-.IR output_file ,
-but debugging output is sent to the controlling tty of the
-.IR postmaster
-(since only one file descriptor can be sent to an actual file).
-.TP
-.BR "-s"
-Print time information and other statistics at the end of each query.
-This is useful for benchmarking or for use in tuning the number of
-buffers.
-.TP
-.BR "-v" " protocol"
-Specifies the number of the frontend/backend protocol to be used for this
-particular session.
-.SH "DEVELOPER COMMAND OPTIONS"
-There are several other options that may be specified, used mainly
-for debugging purposes. These are listed here only for the use by
-Postgres system developers.
-.BR "Use of any of these options is highly discouraged" .
-Furthermore, any of these options may disappear or change at any time.
-.TP
-.BR "-A" "n|r|b|Q\fIn\fP|X\fIn\fP"
-.IP
-This option generates a tremendous amount of output.
-.TP
-.BR "-L"
-Turns off the locking system.
-.TP
-.BR "-N"
-Disables use of newline as a query delimiter.
-.TP
-.BR "-f"
-Forbids the use of particular scan and join methods:
-.IR s " and " i
-disable sequential and index scans respectively, while
-.IR n ", " m " and " h
-disable nested-loop, merge and hash joins respectively.
-(Neither sequential scans nor nested-loop joins can be disabled completely;
-the -fs and -fn options simply discourage the optimizer from using those
-plan types if it has any other alternative.)
-.TP
-.BR "-i"
-Prevents query execution, but shows the plan tree.
-.TP
-.BR "-p" " databasename"
-Indicates to the backend server that it has been started by a
-.IR postmaster
-and make different assumptions about buffer pool management, file
-descriptors, etc. Switches following -p are restricted to those
-considered "secure".
-.TP
-.BR "-t" "pa[rser]|pl[anner]|e[xecutor]"
-Print timing statistics for each query relating to each of the major
-system modules. This option cannot be used with
-.BR "-s" .
-.SH "SEE ALSO"
-ipcclean(1),
-psql(1),
-postmaster(1).
-.SH "DIAGNOSTICS"
-Of the nigh-infinite number of error messages you may see when you
-execute the backend server directly, the most common will probably be:
-.TP
-.BR "semget: No space left on device"
-If you see this message, you should run the
-.IR ipcclean
-command. After doing this, try starting
-.IR postgres
-again. If this still doesn't work, you probably need to configure
-your kernel for shared memory and semaphores as described in the
-installation notes.
+
+
+
+
+ Application
+
+
+
+
+
+ Run a
Postgres single-user backend
+
+
+
+
+ 1999-05-19
+
+
+postgres [ dbname ]
+postgres [ -B nBuffers ] [ -C ] [ -D DataDir ] [ -E ] [ -F ]
+ [ -O ] [ -Q ] [ -S SortSize ] [ -d [ DebugLevel ] ] [ -e ]
+ [ -o ] [ OutputFile ] [ -s ] [ -v protocol ] [ dbname ]
+
+
+
+
+ 1999-05-19
+
+
</div>
<div class="diff add">+ Inputs</div>
<div class="diff add">+
+
postgres accepts the following command line arguments:
+
+
+
+
+ dbname
+
+
+ The optional argument
+ dbname
+ specifies the name of the database to be accessed.
+ dbname
+ defaults to the value of the
+ USER
+ environment variable.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ -B nBuffers
+
+
+ If the backend is running under the
+ nBuffers
+ is the number of shared-memory buffers that the
+ has allocated for the backend server processes that it starts. If the
+ backend is running standalone, this specifies the number of buffers to
+ allocate. This value defaults to 64 buffers, where each buffer is 8k bytes
+ (or whatever BLCKSZ is set to in config.h).
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ -C
+
+
+ Do not show the server version number.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ -D DataDir
+
+
+ Specifies the directory to use as the root of the tree of database
+ directories. If -D is not given, the default data directory name is
+ the value of the environment variable
+ PGDATA.
+ If PGDATA is not set, then the directory used is
+ $POSTGRESHOME/data.
+ If neither environment variable is set and this command-line
+ option is not specified, the default directory that was
+ set at compile-time is used.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ -E
+
+
+ Echo all queries.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ -F
+
+
+ Disable an automatic fsync() call after each transaction.
+ This option improves performance, but an operating system crash
+ while a transaction is in progress may cause the loss of
+ the most recently entered data. Without the fsync() call
+ the data is buffered by the operating system, and written to disk sometime later.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ -O
+
+
+ Override restrictions, so system table structures can be modified.
+ These tables are typically those with a leading "pg_" in the table name.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ -Q
+
+
+ Specifies "quiet" mode.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ -S SortSize
+
+
+ Specifies the amount of memory to be used by internal sorts and hashes
+ before resorting to temporary disk files. The value is specified in
+ kilobytes, and defaults to 512 kilobytes. Note that for a complex query,
+ several sorts and/or hashes might be running in parallel, and each one
+ will be allowed to use as much as
+ SortSize kilobytes
+ before it starts to put data into temporary files.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ -d [ DebugLevel ]
+
+
+ The optional argument DebugLevel
+ determines the amount of debugging output the backend servers will
+ produce.
+ If DebugLevel
+ is one, the postmaster will trace all connection traffic,
+ and nothing else.
+ For levels two and higher,
+ debugging is turned on in the backend process and the postmaster
+ displays more information,
+ including the backend environment and process traffic.
+ Note that if no file is specified for backend servers to
+ send their debugging output then this output will appear on the
+ controlling tty of their parent
postmaster.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ -e
+
+
+ This option controls how dates are interpreted upon
+ input to and output from the database.
+ If the
+ option is supplied, then dates passed to and from the frontend
+ processes will be assumed to be in "European"
+ format (DD-MM-YYYY),
+ otherwise dates are assumed to be in
+ "American" format (MM-DD-YYYY).
+ Dates are accepted by the backend in a wide variety of formats,
+ and for input dates this switch mostly affects the interpretation
+ for ambiguous cases. See
+ for more information.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ -o OutputFile
+
+
+ Sends all debugging and error output to
+ OutputFile.
+ If the backend is running under the
postmaster,
+ error messages are still sent to the frontend process as well as to
+ OutputFile,
+ but debugging output is sent to the controlling tty of the
+ (since only one file descriptor can be sent to an actual file).
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ -s
+
+
+ Print time information and other statistics at the end of each query.
+ This is useful for benchmarking or for use in tuning the number of
+ buffers.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ -v protocol
+
+
+ Specifies the number of the frontend/backend protocol to be used for this
+ particular session.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ There are several other options that may be specified, used mainly
+ for debugging purposes. These are listed here only for the use by
+
Postgres system developers.
+ Use of any of these options is highly discouraged.
+ Furthermore, any of these options may disappear or change at any time.
+
+
+ These special-case options are:
+
+
+
+
+ -A n|r|b|Q\fIn\fP|X\fIn\fP
+
+
+ This option generates a tremendous amount of output.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ -L
+
+
+ Turns off the locking system.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ -N
+
+
+ Disables use of newline as a query delimiter.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ -f [ s | i | m | n | h ]
+
+
+ Forbids the use of particular scan and join methods:
+ s and i
+ disable sequential and index scans respectively, while
+ n, m, and h
+ disable nested-loop, merge and hash joins respectively.
+
+
+ Neither sequential scans nor nested-loop joins can be disabled completely;
+ the -fs and -fn
+ options simply discourage the optimizer from using those
+ plan types if it has any other alternative.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ -i
+
+
+ Prevents query execution, but shows the plan tree.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ -p dbname
+
+
+ Indicates to the backend server that it has been started by a
+ and make different assumptions about buffer pool management, file
+ descriptors, etc. Switches following -p are restricted to those
+ considered "secure".
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ -t pa[rser] | pl[anner] | e[xecutor]
+
+
+ Print timing statistics for each query relating to each of the major
+ system modules. This option cannot be used with .
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ 1999-05-19
+
+
</div>
<div class="diff add">+ Outputs</div>
<div class="diff add">+
+ Of the nigh-infinite number of error messages you may see when you
+ execute the backend server directly, the most common will probably be:
+
+
+
+
+ semget: No space left on device
+
+
+ If you see this message, you should run the
+ command. After doing this, try starting
+ again. If this still doesn't work, you probably need to configure
+ your kernel for shared memory and semaphores as described in the
+ installation notes. If you have a kernel with particularly small shared memory
+ and/or semaphore limits, you may have to reconfigure your kernel to increase
+ its shared memory or semaphore parameters.
+
+
+ You may be able to postpone
+ reconfiguring your kernel by decreasing -B to reduce
+
Postgres' shared memory
+ consumption.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ 1999-05-19
+
+
</div>
<div class="diff add">+ Description</div>
<div class="diff add">+
+
+ The Postgres backend server can be executed directly from the user shell.
+ This should be done only while debugging by the DBA, and should not be
+ done while other Postgres backends are being managed by a
+ on this set of databases.
+
+
+ Some of the switches explained here can be passed to the backend
+ through the "database options" field of a connection request, and thus can be
+ set for a particular backend without going to the trouble of restarting the
+ postmaster. This is particularly handy for debugging-related switches.
+
+
+ The optional argument dbname
+ specifies the name of the database to be accessed.
+ dbname
+ defaults to the value of the
+ USER environment variable.
+
+
+
+
+
+ 1998-10-04
+
+
</div>
<div class="diff add">+ Notes</div>
<div class="diff add">+
+
+ Useful utilities for dealing with shared memory problems include
+ See also .
+
+
+
+
+
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