Start Command (start)

Source: pgBackRest Command Docs: start

After stop prevents pgBackRest processes from running, use start to permit them again. This does not immediately start any processes. See Starting and Stopping for details and examples.

General Options

Allow Run as Root Option (--allow-root)

Allow the command to run as the root user.

By default, only restore can run as root because it manages file ownership. Other commands can create root-owned files, for example in the repository. The PostgreSQL user cannot access these files, which causes later commands to fail.

Enable this option to run another command as root. Preferably, run pgBackRest as the user that owns the repository and PostgreSQL cluster.

default: n
example: --allow-root

Config Option (--config)

pgBackRest configuration file.

Use this option to select a configuration file other than the default.

default: CFGOPTDEF_CONFIG_PATH "/" PROJECT_CONFIG_FILE
example: --config=/conf/pgbackrest/pgbackrest.conf

Config Include Path Option (--config-include-path)

Path to additional pgBackRest configuration files.

pgBackRest combines files with the .conf extension in this location with its configuration file. The result is one configuration file.

default: CFGOPTDEF_CONFIG_PATH "/" PROJECT_CONFIG_INCLUDE_PATH
example: --config-include-path=/conf/pgbackrest/conf.d

Config Path Option (--config-path)

Base path of pgBackRest configuration files.

Set the default base path for --config and --config-include-path. Explicit command-line values for these options override this setting.

For example, specify only --config-path=/conf/pgbackrest to set the --config default to /conf/pgbackrest/pgbackrest.conf. This also sets the --config-include-path default to /conf/pgbackrest/conf.d.

default: CFGOPTDEF_CONFIG_PATH
example: --config-path=/conf/pgbackrest

Lock Path Option (--lock-path)

Path where lock files are stored.

pgBackRest creates lock files in this path to prevent conflicting operations from running at the same time.

default: /tmp/pgbackrest
example: --lock-path=/backup/db/lock

Neutral Umask Option (--neutral-umask)

Use a neutral umask.

Set the umask to 0000 to control repository permissions. The default directory mode is 0750. The default file mode is 0640.

To use the executing user’s umask, set neutral-umask=n in the configuration file or --no-neutral-umask on the command line.

default: y
example: --no-neutral-umask

Set Process Priority Option (--priority)

Set process priority.

Set the process priority, or niceness, used by the kernel scheduler. Positive values decrease priority. Negative values increase priority. Processes usually lack permission to increase their priority.

allowed: [-20, 19]
example: --priority=19

Stanza Option (--stanza)

Defines the stanza.

A stanza contains the configuration for a PostgreSQL database cluster. It defines the cluster location, backup method, archive options, and other settings. Most database servers have one PostgreSQL cluster and one stanza. A backup server has a stanza for each cluster that needs a backup.

Choose a stanza name that describes the databases in the cluster. The primary and all replicas use the same stanza name. A functional name, such as app or dw, is preferable to a local cluster name, such as main or prod.

example: --stanza=main

Log Options

Console Log Level Option (--log-level-console)

Level for console logging.

The following log levels are supported:

• off - No logging at all (not recommended)
• error - Log only errors
• warn - Log warnings and errors
• info - Log info, warnings, and errors
• detail - Log detail, info, warnings, and errors
• debug - Log debug, detail, info, warnings, and errors
• trace - Log trace (very verbose debugging), debug, info, warnings, and errors

default: warn
example: --log-level-console=error

File Log Level Option (--log-level-file)

Level for file logging.

The following log levels are supported:

• off - No logging at all (not recommended)
• error - Log only errors
• warn - Log warnings and errors
• info - Log info, warnings, and errors
• detail - Log detail, info, warnings, and errors
• debug - Log debug, detail, info, warnings, and errors
• trace - Log trace (very verbose debugging), debug, info, warnings, and errors

default: info
example: --log-level-file=debug

Std Error Log Level Option (--log-level-stderr)

Level for stderr logging.

Select the log levels that write to stderr instead of stdout, which log-level-console controls. Output to stderr excludes the timestamp and process.

The following log levels are supported:

• off - No logging at all (not recommended)
• error - Log only errors
• warn - Log warnings and errors
• info - Log info, warnings, and errors
• detail - Log detail, info, warnings, and errors
• debug - Log debug, detail, info, warnings, and errors
• trace - Log trace (very verbose debugging), debug, info, warnings, and errors

default: off
example: --log-level-stderr=error

Log Path Option (--log-path)

Path where log files are stored.

pgBackRest stores log files in this path. If log-level-file=off, no log path is necessary.

default: /var/log/pgbackrest
example: --log-path=/backup/db/log

Log Timestamp Option (--log-timestamp)

Enable timestamp in logging.

Include timestamps in console and file logs. Disable this option for special uses, such as documentation generation.

default: y
example: --no-log-timestamp