Restarting PostgreSQL on Ubuntu using the pg_ctl command

If you show more information about the restart process, you can use the pg_ctl command:

sudo -u postgres pg_ctl restart -D /var/lib/postgresql/<version>/main
Code language: JavaScript (javascript) sudo -u postgres pg_ctl restart -D /var/lib/postgresql/16/main 

In this command, you need to replace <version> with your PostgreSQL version number.

Note that the data directory is /var/lib/postgresql/<version>/main by default. If your PostgreSQL data directory is different, you need to adjust it accordingly.

For example, to restart PostgreSQL 16.x, you can use the following command:

sudo -u postgres pg_ctl restart -D /var/lib/postgresql/16/mainCode language: JavaScript (javascript)

If you encounter the following error, the pg_ctl may not be in your system’s PATH:

sudo: pg_ctl: command not foundCode language: HTTP (http)

To fix it, you need to create a symbolic link to pg_ctrl in /usr/local/bin/:

sudo ln -s /usr/lib/postgresql/<version>/bin/pg_ctl /usr/local/bin/pg_ctl      
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

Replace the <version> with your PostgreSQL version number.

For example, the following command restarts the PostgreSQL 16.x on Ubuntu: 后端启动，系统重启要重新启动

sudo -u postgres pg_ctl restart -D /var/lib/postgresql/16/main     Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Now, you should be able to use pg_ctl from any directory.