PostgreSQL /etc/systemd/postgresql@.service

Original 📋 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat) 40 lines

Works On

Viewing:
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat)
Same on:
Debian 10 (Buster) Debian 11 (Bullseye) Debian 12 (Bookworm) Debian 13 (Trixie) Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)
Other versions:

Details

Size
40 lines
MD5
5b25f284506ad288820d584bea86fb23
SHA256
4c44931bba34e0754b7c0762852a5c1b615a1e307df9c458d231232d55e4c907
/etc/systemd/postgresql@.service
# systemd service template for PostgreSQL clusters. The actual instances will
# be called "postgresql@version-cluster", e.g. "postgresql@9.3-main". The
# variable %i expands to "version-cluster", %I expands to "version/cluster".
# (%I breaks for cluster names containing dashes.)

[Unit]
Description=PostgreSQL Cluster %i
AssertPathExists=/etc/postgresql/%I/postgresql.conf
RequiresMountsFor=/etc/postgresql/%I /var/lib/postgresql/%I
PartOf=postgresql.service
ReloadPropagatedFrom=postgresql.service
Before=postgresql.service
# stop server before networking goes down on shutdown
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=forking
# -: ignore startup failure (recovery might take arbitrarily long)
# the actual pg_ctl timeout is configured in pg_ctl.conf
ExecStart=-/usr/bin/pg_ctlcluster --skip-systemctl-redirect %i start
# 0 is the same as infinity, but "infinity" needs systemd 229
TimeoutStartSec=0
ExecStop=/usr/bin/pg_ctlcluster --skip-systemctl-redirect -m fast %i stop
TimeoutStopSec=1h
ExecReload=/usr/bin/pg_ctlcluster --skip-systemctl-redirect %i reload
PIDFile=/run/postgresql/%i.pid
SyslogIdentifier=postgresql@%i
# prevent OOM killer from choosing the postmaster (individual backends will
# reset the score to 0)
OOMScoreAdjust=-900
# restarting automatically will prevent "pg_ctlcluster ... stop" from working,
# so we disable it here. Also, the postmaster will restart by itself on most
# problems anyway, so it is questionable if one wants to enable external
# automatic restarts.
#Restart=on-failure
# (This should make pg_ctlcluster stop work, but doesn't:)
#RestartPreventExitStatus=SIGINT SIGTERM

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Copy & Paste

curl:
curl https://exampleconfig.com/api/v1/config/original/5b25f284506ad288820d584bea86fb23?hint=postgresql@.service
wget:
wget -O postgresql@.service https://exampleconfig.com/api/v1/config/original/5b25f284506ad288820d584bea86fb23?hint=postgresql@.service

For AI Agents

<prompt><role>DevOps agent</role><source url='https://exampleconfig.com/api/v1/config/original/5b25f284506ad288820d584bea86fb23?hint=postgresql@.service' /><config><app>PostgreSQL</app><os>Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat)</os><location>/etc/systemd/postgresql@.service</location><lines>40</lines><md5>5b25f284506ad288820d584bea86fb23</md5><sha256>4c44931bba34e0754b7c0762852a5c1b615a1e307df9c458d231232d55e4c907</sha256></config></prompt>

Paste into Claude, ChatGPT, or any AI assistant.

Install PostgreSQL

Alpine Linux

sudo apk add postgresql

Debian

sudo apt update && sudo apt install postgresql

Red Hat Enterprise Linux

sudo yum install postgresql17-server

Ubuntu

sudo apt update && sudo apt install postgresql

File Location

File Path
/etc/systemd/postgresql@.service
Directory
/etc/systemd/
Significance
System-wide configuration directory
Description
Files in /etc/ contain system-wide configuration settings that affect all users.

FAQ

When should I use this postgresql@.service?

Use it to restore a missing default, confirm what shipped, or diff against your current PostgreSQL config.

How do I restore PostgreSQL defaults?

Download the file, back up the current one in /etc/systemd/postgresql@.service, replace it, then reload or restart PostgreSQL.

Is postgresql@.service safe for production?

It is the vendor default for Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat). Treat it as a baseline and review security and performance settings before production use.

How does this differ from other OS versions?

Defaults vary by distro and version. This copy matches Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat).

Can I use this for PostgreSQL troubleshooting?

Yes. Diff it against yours to find drift, then restore only the sections you need.