$ pg_ctl --help
pg_ctl is a utility to start, stop, restart, reload configuration files,
or report the status of a PostgreSQL server.
Usage:
pg_ctl start [-w] [-D DATADIR] [-s] [-l FILENAME] [-o "OPTIONS"]
pg_ctl stop [-W] [-D DATADIR] [-s] [-m SHUTDOWN-MODE]
pg_ctl restart [-w] [-D DATADIR] [-s] [-m SHUTDOWN-MODE] [-o "OPTIONS"]
pg_ctl reload [-D DATADIR] [-s]
pg_ctl status [-D DATADIR]
Common options:
-D DATADIR location of the database storage area
-s only print errors, no informational messages
-w wait until operation completes
-W do not wait until operation completes
--help show this help, then exit
--version output version information, then exit
(The default is to wait for shutdown, but not for start or restart.)
If the -D option is omitted, the environment variable PGDATA is used.
Options for start or restart:
-l FILENAME write (or append) server log to FILENAME. The
use of this option is highly recommended.
-o OPTIONS command line options to pass to the postmaster
(PostgreSQL server executable)
-p PATH-TO-POSTMASTER normally not necessary
Options for stop or restart:
-m SHUTDOWN-MODE may be 'smart', 'fast', or 'immediate'
Shutdown modes are:
smart quit after all clients have disconnected
fast quit directly, with proper shutdown
immediate quit without complete shutdown; will lead to recovery on restart