path: root/doc/src/sgml/man1/dropdb.1

'\" t
.\"     Title: dropdb
.\"    Author: The PostgreSQL Global Development Group
.\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets vsnapshot <http://docbook.sf.net/>
.\"      Date: 2024
.\"    Manual: PostgreSQL 16.3 Documentation
.\"    Source: PostgreSQL 16.3
.\"  Language: English
.\"
.TH "DROPDB" "1" "2024" "PostgreSQL 16.3" "PostgreSQL 16.3 Documentation"
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.SH "NAME"
dropdb \- remove a PostgreSQL database
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.HP \w'\fBdropdb\fR\ 'u
\fBdropdb\fR [\fIconnection\-option\fR...] [\fIoption\fR...] \fIdbname\fR
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.PP
dropdb
destroys an existing
PostgreSQL
database\&. The user who executes this command must be a database superuser or the owner of the database\&.
.PP
dropdb
is a wrapper around the
SQL
command
\fBDROP DATABASE\fR\&. There is no effective difference between dropping databases via this utility and via other methods for accessing the server\&.
.SH "OPTIONS"
.PP
dropdb
accepts the following command\-line arguments:
.PP
\fIdbname\fR
.RS 4
Specifies the name of the database to be removed\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-e\fR
.br
\fB\-\-echo\fR
.RS 4
Echo the commands that
dropdb
generates and sends to the server\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-f\fR
.br
\fB\-\-force\fR
.RS 4
Attempt to terminate all existing connections to the target database before dropping it\&. See
DROP DATABASE (\fBDROP_DATABASE\fR(7))
for more information on this option\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-i\fR
.br
\fB\-\-interactive\fR
.RS 4
Issues a verification prompt before doing anything destructive\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-V\fR
.br
\fB\-\-version\fR
.RS 4
Print the
dropdb
version and exit\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-if\-exists\fR
.RS 4
Do not throw an error if the database does not exist\&. A notice is issued in this case\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-?\fR
.br
\fB\-\-help\fR
.RS 4
Show help about
dropdb
command line arguments, and exit\&.
.RE
.PP
dropdb
also accepts the following command\-line arguments for connection parameters:
.PP
\fB\-h \fR\fB\fIhost\fR\fR
.br
\fB\-\-host=\fR\fB\fIhost\fR\fR
.RS 4
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\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-p \fR\fB\fIport\fR\fR
.br
\fB\-\-port=\fR\fB\fIport\fR\fR
.RS 4
Specifies the TCP port or local Unix domain socket file extension on which the server is listening for connections\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-U \fR\fB\fIusername\fR\fR
.br
\fB\-\-username=\fR\fB\fIusername\fR\fR
.RS 4
User name to connect as\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-w\fR
.br
\fB\-\-no\-password\fR
.RS 4
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\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-W\fR
.br
\fB\-\-password\fR
.RS 4
Force
dropdb
to prompt for a password before connecting to a database\&.
.sp
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
\fB\-W\fR
to avoid the extra connection attempt\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-maintenance\-db=\fR\fB\fIdbname\fR\fR
.RS 4
Specifies the name of the database to connect to in order to drop the target database\&. If not specified, the
postgres
database will be used; if that does not exist (or is the database being dropped),
template1
will be used\&. This can be a
connection string\&. If so, connection string parameters will override any conflicting command line options\&.
.RE
.SH "ENVIRONMENT"
.PP
\fBPGHOST\fR
.br
\fBPGPORT\fR
.br
\fBPGUSER\fR
.RS 4
Default connection parameters
.RE
.PP
\fBPG_COLOR\fR
.RS 4
Specifies whether to use color in diagnostic messages\&. Possible values are
always,
auto
and
never\&.
.RE
.PP
This utility, like most other
PostgreSQL
utilities, also uses the environment variables supported by
libpq
(see
Section\ \&34.15)\&.
.SH "DIAGNOSTICS"
.PP
In case of difficulty, see
DROP DATABASE (\fBDROP_DATABASE\fR(7))
and
\fBpsql\fR(1)
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\&.
.SH "EXAMPLES"
.PP
To destroy the database
demo
on the default database server:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
$ \fBdropdb demo\fR
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.PP
To destroy the database
demo
using the server on host
eden, port 5000, with verification and a peek at the underlying command:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
$ \fBdropdb \-p 5000 \-h eden \-i \-e demo\fR
Database "demo" will be permanently deleted\&.
Are you sure? (y/n) \fBy\fR
DROP DATABASE demo;
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.SH "SEE ALSO"
\fBcreatedb\fR(1), DROP DATABASE (\fBDROP_DATABASE\fR(7))