DROPDB(1)                                        PostgreSQL Client Applications                                        DROPDB(1)



NAME
       dropdb - remove a PostgreSQL database


SYNOPSIS
       dropdb [ 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.

       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  connec-
              tions.

       -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 pass-
              word authentication.  However, dropdb will waste a connection attempt finding out that the server  wants  a  pass-
              word.  In some cases it is worth typing -W to avoid the extra connection attempt.

ENVIRONMENT
       PGHOST

       PGPORT

       PGUSER Default connection parameters

       This  utility,  like  most other PostgreSQL utilities, also uses the environment variables supported by libpq (see 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 environ-
       ment 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)]



Application                                                2011-09-22                                                  DROPDB(1)