How can I start PostgreSQL on Windows?

Question

I have installed Postgresql on my Windows 10 PC. I have used the pgAdmin II tool to create a database called company, and now I want to start the database server running. I

Answer 1

If you have installed postgres via the Windows installer you can start it in Services like so:

Answer 2

Go inside bin folder in C drive where Postgres is installed. run following command in git bash or Command prompt:

pg_ctl.exe restart -D "<path upto data>"

Ex:

pg_ctl.exe restart -D  "C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\9.6\data"

Another way: type "services.msc" in run popup(windows + R). This will show all services running Select Postgres service from list and click on start/stop/restart.

Thanks

Answer 3

If you are getting an error "psql.exe' is not recognized as an internal or external command,... "

There can be : Causes

• System is unable to find the psql.exe tool, because the path to this tool is not specified in the system environment variable PATH

or - PostgreSQL Database client not installed on your PC

Since you have already installed PostgreSQL the latter can not be the issue(assuming everything is installed as expected)

In order to fix the first one "please specify the full path to the bin directory in the PostgreSQL installation folder, where this tool resides."

For example

Path: "C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\10\bin"

Answer 4

pg_ctl is a command line (Windows) program not a SQL statement. You need to do that from a cmd.exe. Or use net start postgresql-9.5

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If you have installed Postgres through the installer, you should start the Windows service instead of running pg_ctl manually, e.g. using:

net start postgresql-9.5

Note that the name of the service might be different in your installation. Another option is to start the service through the Windows control panel

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I have used the pgAdmin II tool to create a database called company

Which means that Postgres is already running, so I don't understand why you think you need to do that again. Especially because the installer typically sets the service to start automatically when Windows is started.

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The reason you are not seeing any result is that psql requires every SQL command to be terminated with ; in your case it's simply waiting for you to finish the statement.

See here for more details: In psql, why do some commands have no effect?

Answer 5

first find your binaries file where it is saved. get the path in terminal mine is

C:\Users\LENOVO\Documents\postgresql-9.5.21-1-windows-x64-binaries (1)\pgsql\bin

then find your local user data path, it is in mostly

C:\usr\local\pgsql\data

now all we have to hit following command in the binary terminal path:

C:\Users\LENOVO\Documents\postgresql-9.5.21-1-windows-x64-binaries (1)\pgsql\bin>pg_ctl -D "C:\usr\local\pgsql\data" start

all done!

autovaccum launcher started! cheers!

Answer 6

I found using

net start postgres_service_name

the only reliable way to operate Postgres on Windows