createdb

createdb — create a newPostgreSQLdatabase

Synopsis

createdb[connection-option...] [option...] [dbname[description]]

Description

createdbcreates a newPostgreSQLdatabase.

Normally, the database user who executes this command becomes the owner of the new database. However, a different owner can be specified via the-Ooption, if the executing user has appropriate privileges.

createdbis a wrapper around theSQLcommandCREATE DATABASE. There is no effective difference between creating databases via this utility and via other methods for accessing the server.

Options

createdbaccepts the following command-line arguments:

dbname

Specifies the name of the database to be created. The name must be unique among allPostgreSQLdatabases in this cluster. The default is to create a database with the same name as the current system user.

description

Specifies a comment to be associated with the newly created database.

-D

tablespace

--tablespace=

tablespace

Specifies the default tablespace for the database. (This name is processed as a double-quoted identifier.)

-e

--echo

Echo the commands thatcreatedbgenerates and sends to the server.

-E

encoding

--encoding=

encoding

Specifies the character encoding scheme to be used in this database. The character sets supported by thePostgreSQLserver are described inSection 23.3.1.

-l

locale

--locale=

locale

Specifies the locale to be used in this database. This is equivalent to specifying both--lc-collateand--lc-ctype.

--lc-collate=

locale

Specifies the LC_COLLATE setting to be used in this database.

--lc-ctype=

locale

Specifies the LC_CTYPE setting to be used in this database.

-O

owner

--owner=

owner

Specifies the database user who will own the new database. (This name is processed as a double-quoted identifier.)

-T

template

--template=

template

Specifies the template database from which to build this database. (This name is processed as a double-quoted identifier.)

-V

--version

Print thecreatedbversion and exit.

-?

--help

Show help aboutcreatedbcommand line arguments, and exit.

The options-D,-l,-E,-O, and-Tcorrespond to options of the underlying SQL commandCREATE DATABASE; see there for more information about them.

createdbalso accepts the following command-line arguments for connection parameters:

-h

host

--host=

host

Specifies the host name of the machine on which the server is running. If the value begins with a slash, it is used as the directory for the Unix domain socket.

-p

port

--port=

port

Specifies the TCP port or the local Unix domain socket file extension on which the server is listening for connections.

-U

username

--username=

username

User name to connect as.

-w

--no-password

Never issue a password prompt. If the server requires password authentication and a password is not available by other means such as a.pgpassfile, the connection attempt will fail. This option can be useful in batch jobs and scripts where no user is present to enter a password.

-W

--password

Forcecreatedbto prompt for a password before connecting to a database.

This option is never essential, sincecreatedbwill automatically prompt for a password if the server demands password authentication. However,createdbwill waste a connection attempt finding out that the server wants a password. In some cases it is worth typing-Wto avoid the extra connection attempt.

--maintenance-db=

dbname

Specifies the name of the database to connect to when creating the new database. If not specified, thepostgresdatabase will be used; if that does not exist (or if it is the name of the new database being created),template1will be used.

Environment

PGDATABASE

If set, the name of the database to create, unless overridden on the command line.

PGHOST

PGPORT

PGUSER

Default connection parameters.PGUSERalso determines the name of the database to create, if it is not specified on the command line or byPGDATABASE.

This utility, like most otherPostgreSQLutilities, also uses the environment variables supported bylibpq(seeSection 33.14).

Diagnostics

In case of difficulty, seeCREATE DATABASEandpsqlfor discussions of potential problems and error messages. The database server must be running at the targeted host. Also, any default connection settings and environment variables used by thelibpqfront-end library will apply.

Examples

To create the databasedemousing the default database server:

$ 
createdb demo

To create the databasedemousing the server on hosteden, port 5000, using thetemplate0template database, here is the command-line command and the underlying SQL command:

$ 
createdb -p 5000 -h eden -T template0 -e demo
CREATE DATABASE demo TEMPLATE template0;

See Also

dropdb

,

CREATE DATABASE