How to start postgresql server windows

1. Basic PG_CTL Initialization Commands in Windows

2. Use SERVICES.MSC to START/STOP a PostgreSQL Session in Windows

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Today, we will be learning how to start a PostgreSQL server on Windows. In the previous article about downloading and installing PostgreSQL on Windows, we already learned how to start a session, create a USER, issue queries, and work with different database objects.

Our topic now focuses on trying to run a PostgreSQL server session to which other users in a local system can connect.

Basic PG_CTL Initialization Commands in Windows

PG_CTL is a utility used to start and control a PostgreSQL server. PG_CTL is a manual setup for initializing a PostgreSQL session as it provides a controlled exit, encapsulates different tasks, and can be used for various operations related to our database.

To start a server on Windows, go to your command prompt inside the PostgreSQL installation for the BIN folder.

pg_ctl start -D "[\data folder directory]";

This will start your PostgreSQL server. To do this on a different port on your computer on which you want other users to listen, use a query as follows.

pg_ctl -o "-F -p [post_number]" start

Enter your PORT NUMBER in the port_number defined without the brackets. This will help start your server and allow other users to connect to it on different systems.

However, if your PostgreSQL server stopped due to a reason or a slight malfunction, you are better off using any of the following commands to make it work.

pg_ctl restart -D "[\data folder];
pg_ctl start company; --may or may not work / may produce errors
...

Many times, there will be no need to do any of this. Starting PGADMIN, for example, tends to already create a PostgreSQL session on a pre-defined port in your PC, allowing other users to discover it easily.

There may be no need to write any of the commands given above to make your PostgreSQL server boot up.

Specify Paths While Issuing PG_CTL START/RESTART in Windows

Sometimes, calling a simple PG_CTL START/RESTART isn’t the way to go. You may need to specify the DATA folder path within your PostgreSQL installation and then issue the boot commands.

Calling the queries given above, you will get an OUTPUT.

Output:

pg_ctl: another server might be running; trying to start server anyway
waiting for server to start....2022-04-28 19:28:38.766 PKT [3228] LOG:  redirecting log output to logging collector process
2022-04-28 19:28:38.766 PKT [3228] HINT:  Future log output will appear in directory "log".
 stopped waiting
pg_ctl: could not start server
Examine the log output.

The output given above happens when a PostgreSQL server is already running. Because we already had PGADMIN booted up and running in the background, calling the query above would be unable to initialize a server on the port already being used.

However, doing something below would run separate servers on the same PC.

pg_ctl -o "-F -p 5656" start -D "C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\14\data"

Output:

waiting for server to start....2022-04-28 19:34:04.588 PKT [11784] LOG:  redirecting log output to logging collector process
2022-04-28 19:34:04.588 PKT [11784] HINT:  Future log output will appear in directory "log".
 done
server started

Similarly, you could also issue the same commands for RESTART.

pg_ctl restart -D "C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\14\data"

or

pg_ctl -o "-F -p 5656" restart -D "C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\14\data"

Output:

waiting for server to shut down.... done
server stopped
waiting for server to start....2022-04-28 19:35:46.007 PKT [884] LOG:  redirecting log output to logging collector process
2022-04-28 19:35:46.007 PKT [884] HINT:  Future log output will appear in directory "log".
 done
server started

You can see in the output how the server is first shut down because it is already running, then it is restarted and logged for any changes during its session.

Use SERVICES.MSC to START/STOP a PostgreSQL Session in Windows

We already know that a PostgreSQL server is instantiated on your PC when you launch it, either from PSQL or PGADMIN. We can do a few things in SERVICES.MSC For STOPPED or PAUSED services, the Windows Services Manager.

1. Press Windows+R and type in SERVICES.MSC.

2. Once the Windows Services Manager has opened, search for the PostgreSQL server service in the list. It may be named as follows: postgresql-x64-14 - PostgreSQL Server 14.

   

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3. Right-click on this to either START, STOP, PAUSE, RESUME, or RESTART your server. You can even change the startup time to AUTOMATIC for it to start by itself the next time.

The Services Manager also tends to tell us the cause of the failure of a specific service. To view the executable path, you can open the General tab and view it as follows.

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Initiate the PostgreSQL Server From the COMMAND PROMPT Using NET START

We can use the NET START command to start a service from the command prompt. The syntax is as follows.

You may need to find the SERVICE_NAME for your PostgreSQL session. It is also mentioned in the General tab.

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Now you can issue a command as follows.

net start postgresql-x64-14;

This will boot up our server and display output as follows.

Output:

The postgresql-x64-14 - PostgreSQL Server 14 service is starting.
The postgresql-x64-14 - PostgreSQL Server 14 service was started successfully.

However, remember that COMMAND PROMPT needs to be started as an ADMINISTRATOR and not a normal user.

Right-click on the CMD.EXE executable file and click Run as Administrator. Else you will get an error as follows.

Output:

System error 5 has occurred.

Access is denied.

So today, we learned how to start a PostgreSQL server on Windows in different ways. We hope you read through this article carefully and can use it per your needs.

PostgreSQL is an advanced, freely available, and highly stable relational database management system that offers numerous features, such as accuracy, integrity, resilience, etc. The Postgres database is widely used for storing data of web apps, mobile apps, analytical apps, etc. However, to attain any Postgres features, you must know how to start, stop, or restart a Postgres Server.

To tackle such scenarios, Postgres offers different methods, such as the “pg_ctl” utility, “services” manager, etc. This post presents a practical guide on how to start, stop, or restart the PostgreSQL server on the Windows Operating System.

How Do I Start the Postgres Server?

There are various ways to start the Postgres server on Windows, such as using the “net start” command, “pg_ctl” utility, or “services” manager.

Method 1: Starting Postgres Server Using “net start”

Launch the Windows CMD as an administrator and execute the “net start” command to start the Postgres Server:

net start postgresql-x64-15

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Method 2: Starting Postgres Server Using “pg_ctl”

Firstly, you need to find the directory’s path where Postgres is located. If you didn’t change the default path while installing Postgres, then it must be located in the “Program Files” directory inside the “C” drive.

The complete path will look something like this: “C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\15\data”:

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Once you find the complete path, open the CMD and execute the following command to “start the Postgres Server”:

pg_ctl -D "C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\15\data" start

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Note: Windows Path for Postgres tools must be set to get the error-free output. Else you will encounter a “not recognized as an internal/external command” error.

Method 3: Starting Postgres Server Using Services Manager

Press the “win” key + “R” to launch the “Run” window. Type the “services.msc” and hit the “OK” button to open the Services Manager:

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In the “Services Manager”, search for “Postgresql-x64-15”, select the service, and hit the “Start/play” button to start a Postgres server via the “services” manager:

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Once you press the “start” button the service’s status will be changed to “running”:

Картинка с сайта: www.commandprompt.com

How to Stop the Postgres Server on Windows?

A Postgres server can be stopped using the “net stop” command, the “pg_ctl” utility, or the “services” manager.

Method 1: Stopping the Postgres Server Using “net stop”

Execute the below-mentioned command from the Command prompt to stop the Postgres Server:

net stop postgresql-x64-15

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Method 2: Stopping the PostgreSQL Server via the “pg_ctl”

Users may use the “pg_ctl” utility to stop the Postgres server:

pg_ctl -D "C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\15\data" stop

Картинка с сайта: www.commandprompt.com

Method 3: Stopping the Postgres Server Using the Services Manager

Open the “Services Manager”, search for “Postgresql-x64-15”, select the service, and hit the “Stop” button to stop a Postgres server via the “services” manager:

Картинка с сайта: www.commandprompt.com

Clicking on the “Stop” button will stop the Postgres Server.

Note: Similarly, to pause a Postgres Server on Windows, you can select the “pause” button from the Services manager or execute the “net pause postgresql-x64-15” command from the command prompt.

How Do I Restart the Postgres Server on Windows?

You can restart the Postgres server on the windows operating system using the “Services” Manager and “pg_ctl” utility.

Method 1: Restarting the Postgres Server via the “pg_ctl”

Run the below-given command from the CMD to restart the Postgres Server:

pg_ctl -D "C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\15\data" restart

Картинка с сайта: www.commandprompt.com

Method 2: Restarting the Postgres Server Using the Services Manager

Launch the “Services Manager”, locate the “Postgresql-x64-15”, select the desired service, and hit the “restart” button to restart a Postgres server via the “services” manager:

Картинка с сайта: www.commandprompt.com

Clicking on the Restart button will restart the Postgres Server.

Conclusion

There are various ways to start, stop, or restart the Postgres server on Windows, such as using the “net start” command, “pg_ctl” utility, or “services” manager. To get the error-free output, Windows Path for Postgres tools must be set. Else you will encounter a “not recognized as an internal/external command” error. This post presented a practical guide on how to start, stop, or restart the PostgreSQL server on the windows operating system.

To start Postgresql in Windows, you first need to locate where the PostgreSQL installation folder is saved on your computer. Once you’ve found the folder, navigate to the «bin» subdirectory. From here, you can open command prompt window and run the command «pg_ctl -D [path to data directory] start» to start the PostgreSQL server. Additionally, you can also start the server by going to the Start Menu, finding the PostgreSQL folder, and selecting the option to start the server.

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What is the default tablespace for PostgreSQL in Windows?

The default tablespace for PostgreSQL in Windows is the «pg_default» tablespace.

What is the default connection encryption setting for PostgreSQL in Windows?

The default connection encryption setting for PostgreSQL in Windows is «require». This means that the server will only accept encrypted connections from clients.

How to start PostgreSQL in Windows and set the server timezone?

To start PostgreSQL in Windows and set the server timezone, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Start menu and search for «Services» to open the Services window.
2. In the Services window, look for a service named «PostgreSQL» and start it by right-clicking on it and selecting «Start».
3. Next, open the pgAdmin tool, which is a graphical administration tool for PostgreSQL.
4. Connect to the PostgreSQL server by providing the necessary credentials such as the server address, port number, username, and password.
5. Once connected, right-click on the server in the pgAdmin tool and select «Query Tool» to open a SQL query window.
6. In the query window, run the following SQL command to set the server timezone to your desired timezone (replace ‘UTC’ with your preferred timezone):
   SET TIME ZONE ‘UTC’;
7. After running the SQL command, the server timezone will be set to the specified value. You can verify the timezone setting by running the following SQL command:
   SELECT current_setting(‘TIMEZONE’);
8. Restart the PostgreSQL service in the Services window to apply the timezone changes.
9. The PostgreSQL server will now be running with the specified timezone setting.

How to start PostgreSQL in Windows in the background?

To start PostgreSQL in the background on Windows, you can follow these steps:

1. Open a command prompt as an administrator.
2. Navigate to the bin directory of your PostgreSQL installation. This is usually located at C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL[version]\bin.
3. Run the following command to start the PostgreSQL service in the background:

1

pg_ctl.exe start -D "C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\[version]\data" -l logfile

Make sure to replace [version] with the version number of your PostgreSQL installation.

1. You can also add the -w flag to make sure that the command prompt stays open after starting the service:

1

pg_ctl.exe start -D "C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\[version]\data" -l logfile -w

1. PostgreSQL should now be running in the background. You can access it using a tool like pgAdmin or connect to it using psql from the command line.
2. To stop PostgreSQL, you can run the following command:

1

pg_ctl.exe stop -D "C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\[version]\data"

Remember to replace [version] with the version number of your PostgreSQL installation.

What is the default timezone for PostgreSQL in Windows?

The default timezone for PostgreSQL in Windows is UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).