Contents

.psqlrc / psqlrc

psql's default configuration file

~/.psqlrc is the default user configuration file for psql.

Location

On UNIX/UNIX-like systems, this file will be in the user's home directory.

On Windows, the user's configuration file is named %APPDATA%\postgresql\psqlrc.conf.

Additionally, a system-wide psqlrc file may be present; this will usually be in the location specified by the configure option --sysconfdir and defaults to PREFIX/etc (e.g. /usr/local/pgsql/etc), however many distribution packages will place it in the system's standard configuration directory (e.g. /etc, /usr/local/etc).

Customization for particular PostgreSQL versions

Both the system-wide psqlrc file and the user's ~/.psqlrc file can be made psql-version-specific by appending a dash and the PostgreSQL major or minor release number, for example ~/.psqlrc-11 or ~/.psqlrc-11.4. The most specific version-matching file will be read in preference to a non-version-specific file.

Controlling processing of .psqlrc

The following settings provide additional control over how psql processes configuration files:

  • -X or --no-psqlrc
    • These command-line options force psql not to read any configuration files (both the user's ~/.psqlrc file and the system-wide psqlrc file)
  • -c command or --command command
    • The psqlrc and ~/.psqlrc files will be ignored if either of these command line options are used
  • PSQLRC environment variable:
    • setting this variable will cause psql to look for the .psqlrc file in the specified location.

Categories

Client application, psql

See also

psql