The PostgreSQL 9.0 Reference Manual - Volume 1B

The PostgreSQL 9.0 Reference Manual - Volume 1B - SQL Command Reference
by The PostgreSQL Global Development Group
Paperback (6"x9"), 488 pages
ISBN 9781906966058
RRP £14.95 ($19.95)

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PostgreSQL 9.0 Reference Manual
Volume 1B

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2.5 dropdb

Name

dropdb -- remove a PostgreSQL database

Synopsis

dropdb [connection-option...] [option...] dbname

Description

dropdb destroys an existing PostgreSQL database. The user who executes this command must be a database superuser or the owner of the database.

dropdb is a wrapper around the SQL command DROP DATABASE. There is no effective difference between dropping databases via this utility and via other methods for accessing the server.

Options

dropdb accepts the following command-line arguments:

dbname: Specifies the name of the database to be removed.
-e
--echo: Echo the commands that dropdb generates and sends to the server.
-i
--interactive: Issues a verification prompt before doing anything destructive.
-V
--version: Print the dropdb version and exit.
-?
--help: Show help about dropdb command line arguments, and exit.

dropdb also 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 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 ‘.pgpass’ file, 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: Force dropdb to prompt for a password before connecting to a database. This option is never essential, since dropdb will automatically prompt for a password if the server demands password authentication. However, dropdb will waste a connection attempt finding out that the server wants a password. In some cases it is worth typing -W to avoid the extra connection attempt.

Environment

PGHOST
PGPORT
PGUSER: Default connection parameters

This utility, like most other PostgreSQL utilities, also uses the environment variables supported by libpq (see Volume 2: Environment Variables).

Diagnostics

In case of difficulty, see DROP DATABASE and psql for 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 the libpq front-end library will apply.

Examples

To destroy the database demo on the default database server:

$ dropdb demo

To destroy the database demo using the server on host eden, port 5000, with verification and a peek at the underlying command:

$ dropdb -p 5000 -h eden -i -e demo
Database "demo" will be permanently deleted.
Are you sure? (y/n) y
DROP DATABASE demo;