---
name: "pg_autoctl create worker"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "pg-auto-failover-cli"
version: "2.2-2"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/pg_autoctl create worker"
---

# pg\_autoctl create worker(1)

pg\_autoctl create worker pg\_autoctl create worker - Initialize a pg\_auto\_failover worker node

## NAME

pg\_autoctl create worker - pg\_autoctl create worker

pg\_autoctl create worker - Initialize a pg\_auto\_failover worker node

## SYNOPSIS

The command **pg\_autoctl create worker** initializes a pg\_auto\_failover Worker node for a Citus formation. The worker is special in a Citus formation: that's where the client application connects to either to manage the formation and the sharding of the tables, or for its normal SQL traffic.

The worker also has to register every worker in the formation.

```
usage: pg_autoctl create worker
  --pgctl           path to pg_ctl
  --pgdata          path to data director
  --pghost          PostgreSQL's hostname
  --pgport          PostgreSQL's port number
  --hostname        hostname by which postgres is reachable
  --listen          PostgreSQL's listen_addresses
  --proxyport       Proxy's port number
  --username        PostgreSQL's username
  --dbname          PostgreSQL's database name
  --name            pg_auto_failover node name
  --formation       pg_auto_failover formation
  --group           pg_auto_failover group Id
  --monitor         pg_auto_failover Monitor Postgres URL
  --auth            authentication method for connections from monitor
  --skip-pg-hba     skip editing pg_hba.conf rules
  --citus-secondary when used, this worker node is a citus secondary
  --citus-cluster   name of the Citus Cluster for read-replicas
  --ssl-self-signed setup network encryption using self signed certificates (does NOT protect against MITM)
  --ssl-mode        use that sslmode in connection strings
  --ssl-ca-file     set the Postgres ssl_ca_file to that file path
  --ssl-crl-file    set the Postgres ssl_crl_file to that file path
  --no-ssl          don't enable network encryption (NOT recommended, prefer --ssl-self-signed)
  --server-key      set the Postgres ssl_key_file to that file path
  --server-cert     set the Postgres ssl_cert_file to that file path
```

## DESCRIPTION

This commands works the same as the *pg\_autoctl create postgres* command and implements the following extra steps:

- 1\.

  adds **shared\_preload\_libraries = citus** to the local PostgreSQL instance configuration.

- 2\.

  creates the extension **citus** in the target database.

- 3\.

  gets the coordinator node hostname from the pg\_auto\_failover monitor.

  This operation is retried when it fails, as the coordinator might appear later than some of the workers when the whole formation is initialized at once, in parallel, on multiple nodes.

- 4\.

  adds node to the coordinator

  This is done in two steps. First, we call the SQL function **master\_add\_inactive\_node** on the coordinator, and second, we call the SQL function **master\_activate\_node**.

  This way allows for easier diagnostics in case things go wrong. In the first step, the network and authentication setup needs to allow for nodes to connect to each other. In the second step, the Citus *reference tables* are distributed to the new node, and this operation has its own set of failure cases to handle.

**IMPORTANT:**

The default **--dbname** is the same as the current system user name, which in many case is going to be **postgres**. Please make sure to use the **--dbname** option with the actual database that you're going to use with your application.

Citus does not support multiple databases, you have to use the database where Citus is created. When using Citus, that is essential to the well behaving of worker failover.

## OPTIONS

See the manual page for *pg\_autoctl create postgres* for the common options. This section now lists the options that are specific to **pg\_autoctl create worker**:

- **--proxyport**

  The **--proxyport** option allows pg\_auto\_failover to register the proxy port in the **pg\_dist\_poolinfo** entry for the worker node in its Coordinator, rather than the **--pgport** entry as would usually be done.

- **--citus-secondary**

  Use this option to create a worker dedicated to a Citus Secondary cluster.

  See *Citus Secondaries and read-replica* for more information.

- **--citus-cluster**

  Use this option to name the Citus Secondary cluster that this worker node belongs to. Use the same cluster name again for the worker nodes that are part of this cluster.

  See *Citus Secondaries and read-replica* for more information.

## AUTHOR

Microsoft

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.