---
name: "pg_autoctl"
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"
---

# pg\_autoctl(1)

pg\_autoctl pg\_autoctl - control a pg\_auto\_failover node

## NAME

pg\_autoctl - pg\_autoctl

pg\_autoctl - control a pg\_auto\_failover node

## SYNOPSIS

pg\_autoctl provides the following commands:

```
pg_autoctl
+ create    Create a pg_auto_failover node, or formation
+ drop      Drop a pg_auto_failover node, or formation
+ config    Manages the pg_autoctl configuration
+ show      Show pg_auto_failover information
+ enable    Enable a feature on a formation
+ disable   Disable a feature on a formation
+ get       Get a pg_auto_failover node, or formation setting
+ set       Set a pg_auto_failover node, or formation setting
+ perform   Perform an action orchestrated by the monitor
  activate  Activate a Citus worker from the Citus coordinator
  run       Run the pg_autoctl service (monitor or keeper)
  stop      signal the pg_autoctl service for it to stop
  reload    signal the pg_autoctl for it to reload its configuration
  status    Display the current status of the pg_autoctl service
  help      print help message
  version   print pg_autoctl version
pg_autoctl create
  monitor      Initialize a pg_auto_failover monitor node
  postgres     Initialize a pg_auto_failover standalone postgres node
  coordinator  Initialize a pg_auto_failover citus coordinator node
  worker       Initialize a pg_auto_failover citus worker node
  formation    Create a new formation on the pg_auto_failover monitor
pg_autoctl drop
  monitor    Drop the pg_auto_failover monitor
  node       Drop a node from the pg_auto_failover monitor
  formation  Drop a formation on the pg_auto_failover monitor
pg_autoctl config
  check  Check pg_autoctl configuration
  get    Get the value of a given pg_autoctl configuration variable
  set    Set the value of a given pg_autoctl configuration variable
pg_autoctl show
  uri            Show the postgres uri to use to connect to pg_auto_failover nodes
  events         Prints monitor's state of nodes in a given formation and group
  state          Prints monitor's state of nodes in a given formation and group
  settings       Print replication settings for a formation from the monitor
  standby-names  Prints synchronous_standby_names for a given group
  file           List pg_autoctl internal files (config, state, pid)
  systemd        Print systemd service file for this node
pg_autoctl enable
  secondary    Enable secondary nodes on a formation
  maintenance  Enable Postgres maintenance mode on this node
  ssl          Enable SSL configuration on this node
  monitor      Enable a monitor for this node to be orchestrated from
pg_autoctl disable
  secondary    Disable secondary nodes on a formation
  maintenance  Disable Postgres maintenance mode on this node
  ssl          Disable SSL configuration on this node
  monitor      Disable the monitor for this node
pg_autoctl get
+ node       get a node property from the pg_auto_failover monitor
+ formation  get a formation property from the pg_auto_failover monitor
pg_autoctl get node
  replication-quorum  get replication-quorum property from the monitor
  candidate-priority  get candidate property from the monitor
pg_autoctl get formation
  settings              get replication settings for a formation from the monitor
  number-sync-standbys  get number_sync_standbys for a formation from the monitor
pg_autoctl set
+ node       set a node property on the monitor
+ formation  set a formation property on the monitor
pg_autoctl set node
  metadata            set metadata on the monitor
  replication-quorum  set replication-quorum property on the monitor
  candidate-priority  set candidate property on the monitor
pg_autoctl set formation
  number-sync-standbys  set number-sync-standbys for a formation on the monitor
pg_autoctl perform
  failover    Perform a failover for given formation and group
  switchover  Perform a switchover for given formation and group
  promotion   Perform a failover that promotes a target node
```

## DESCRIPTION

The pg\_autoctl tool is the client tool provided by pg\_auto\_failover to create and manage Postgres nodes and the pg\_auto\_failover monitor node. The command is built with many sub-commands that each have their own manual page.

## HELP

To get the full recursive list of supported commands, use:

```
pg_autoctl help
```

## VERSION

To grab the version of pg\_autoctl that you're using, use:

```
pg_autoctl --version
pg_autoctl version
```

A typical output would be:

```
pg_autoctl version 1.4.2
pg_autoctl extension version 1.4
compiled with PostgreSQL 12.3 on x86_64-apple-darwin16.7.0, compiled by Apple LLVM version 8.1.0 (clang-802.0.42), 64-bit
compatible with Postgres 10, 11, 12, and 13
```

The version is also available as a JSON document when using the **--json** option:

```
pg_autoctl --version --json
pg_autoctl version --json
```

A typical JSON output would be:

```
{
    "pg_autoctl": "1.4.2",
    "pgautofailover": "1.4",
    "pg_major": "12",
    "pg_version": "12.3",
    "pg_version_str": "PostgreSQL 12.3 on x86_64-apple-darwin16.7.0, compiled by Apple LLVM version 8.1.0 (clang-802.0.42), 64-bit",
    "pg_version_num": 120003
}
```

This is for version 1.4.2 of pg\_auto\_failover. This particular version of the pg\_autoctl client tool has been compiled using **libpq** for PostgreSQL 12.3 and is compatible with Postgres 10, 11, 12, and 13.

## ENVIRONMENT

PG\_AUTOCTL\_DEBUG

When this environment variable is set (to anything) then **pg\_autoctl** allows more commands. Use with care, this opens abilities to destroy your production clusters.

## AUTHOR

Microsoft

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.