Preventing PostgreSQL from starting on boot in Ubuntu

Question

I am using PostgreSQL 9.2 and it runs automatically when I start the system (Kubuntu).

How can I avoid this?

I need to start it manually, and I don't want it to start unattended because I need to look at the console.

Answer 1

Ubuntu or Debian can run multiple instances of PostgreSQL and provide a specific way to autostart/stop/start each cluster.

There should be a file named start.conf inside /etc/postgresql/9.2/main (or more generally /etc/postgresql/<version>/<clustername>) with these self-explanatory contents:

# Automatic startup configuration
# auto: automatically start/stop the cluster in the init script
# manual: do not start/stop in init scripts, but allow manual startup with
#         pg_ctlcluster
# disabled: do not allow manual startup with pg_ctlcluster (this can be easily
#           circumvented and is only meant to be a small protection for
#           accidents).

auto

If you replace auto by manual, you could start this PostgreSQL instance only when desired with the command:

sudo pg_ctlcluster 9.2 main start

As for looking at the console, what you should want instead is having this run in a terminal when you work with the database:

tail -f /var/log/postgresql/postgresql-9.2-main.log

Answer 2

Short Term

The command /usr/sbin/update-rc.d is used to start, stop, enable, or disable services.

Type "man update-rc.d" to familiarize yourself with the command and its parameters.

Then type something along the lines of "sudo update-rc.d disable [service]" for any service listed in your /etc/init.d/ directory. That will prevent [service] from starting at boot. If you also want to shut down the service immediately, try "sudo update-rc.d stop [service]"

Long Term

you probably do not need to run postgresql manually in order to see its console output. You just need to log that output, and tail the log file.