DROPDB(1) PostgreSQL Client Applications DROPDB(1)NAME
dropdb - remove a PostgreSQL database
SYNOPSIS
dropdb [ options... ] dbname
DESCRIPTION
dropdb destroys an existing PostgreSQL database. The user who executes this command must be a database superuser or the owner of the data-
base.
dropdb is a shell script wrapper around the SQL command DROP DATABASE [drop_database(7)] via the PostgreSQL interactive terminal psql(1).
Thus, there is nothing special about dropping databases via this or other methods. This means that the psql must be found by the script and
that a database server is running at the targeted host. Also, any default settings and environment variables available to psql and the
libpq front-end library do apply.
OPTIONS
dropdb accepts the following command-line arguments:
dbname Specifies the name of the database to be removed. The database must be one of the existing PostgreSQL databases in this installa-
tion.
-e
--echo Echo the queries that dropdb generates and sends to the server.
-i
--interactive
Issues a verification prompt before doing anything destructive.
-q
--quiet
Do not display a response.
createdb 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 host begins with a slash, it is used as the directory for
the Unix domain socket.
-p port
--port port
Specifies the Internet TCP/IP 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
--password
Force password prompt.
DIAGNOSTICS
DROP DATABASE
The database was successfully removed.
dropdb: Database removal failed.
Something didn't work out.
If there is an error condition, the backend error message will be displayed. See DROP DATABASE [drop_database(7)] and psql(1) for possi-
bilities.
ENVIRONMENT
PGHOST
PGPORT
PGUSER Default connection parameters
EXAMPLES
To destroy the database demo on the default database server:
$ dropdb demo
DROP DATABASE
To destroy the database demo using the server on host eden, port 5000, with verification and a peek at the underlying query:
$ dropdb -p 5000 -h eden -i -e demo
Database "demo" will be permanently deleted.
Are you sure? (y/n) y
DROP DATABASE "demo"
DROP DATABASE
SEE ALSO createdb(1), DROP DATABASE [drop_database(7)]
Application 2002-11-22 DROPDB(1)
Check Out this Related Man Page
DROPDB(1) PostgreSQL 9.2.7 Documentation DROPDB(1)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 (DROP_DATABASE(7)). 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.
--if-exists
Do not throw an error if the database does not exist. A notice is issued in this case.
-?, --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.
--maintenance-db=dbname
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.
ENVIRONMENT
PGHOST, PGPORT, PGUSER
Default connection parameters
This utility, like most other PostgreSQL utilities, also uses the environment variables supported by libpq (see Section 31.14, "Environment
Variables", in the documentation).
DIAGNOSTICS
In case of difficulty, see DROP DATABASE (DROP_DATABASE(7)) and psql(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.
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;
SEE ALSO createdb(1), DROP DATABASE (DROP_DATABASE(7))
PostgreSQL 9.2.7 2014-02-17 DROPDB(1)