PostgreSQL 9.0.23 Documentation
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# 31.13. Environment Variables

The following environment variables can be used to select default connection parameter values, which will be used by `PQconnectdb`, `PQsetdbLogin` and `PQsetdb` if no value is directly specified by the calling code. These are useful to avoid hard-coding database connection information into simple client applications, for example.

- `PGHOST` behaves the same as the host connection parameter.

- `PGHOSTADDR` behaves the same as the hostaddr connection parameter. This can be set instead of or in addition to `PGHOST` to avoid DNS lookup overhead.

- `PGPORT` behaves the same as the port connection parameter.

- `PGDATABASE` behaves the same as the dbname connection parameter.

- `PGUSER` behaves the same as the user connection parameter.

- `PGPASSWORD` behaves the same as the password connection parameter. Use of this environment variable is not recommended for security reasons, as some operating systems allow non-root users to see process environment variables via ps; instead consider using the `~/.pgpass` file (see Section 31.14).

- `PGPASSFILE` specifies the name of the password file to use for lookups. If not set, it defaults to `~/.pgpass` (see Section 31.14).

- `PGSERVICE` behaves the same as the service connection parameter.

- `PGSERVICEFILE` specifies the name of the per-user connection service file. If not set, it defaults to `~/.pg_service.conf` (see Section 31.15).

- `PGREALM` sets the Kerberos realm to use with PostgreSQL, if it is different from the local realm. If `PGREALM` is set, libpq applications will attempt authentication with servers for this realm and use separate ticket files to avoid conflicts with local ticket files. This environment variable is only used if Kerberos authentication is selected by the server.

- `PGOPTIONS` behaves the same as the options connection parameter.

- `PGAPPNAME` behaves the same as the application_name connection parameter.

- `PGSSLMODE` behaves the same as the sslmode connection parameter.

- `PGREQUIRESSL` behaves the same as the requiressl connection parameter.

- `PGSSLCERT` behaves the same as the sslcert connection parameter.

- `PGSSLKEY` behaves the same as the sslkey connection parameter.

- `PGSSLROOTCERT` behaves the same as the sslrootcert connection parameter.

- `PGSSLCRL` behaves the same as the sslcrl connection parameter.

- `PGKRBSRVNAME` behaves the same as the krbsrvname connection parameter.

- `PGGSSLIB` behaves the same as the gsslib connection parameter.

- `PGCONNECT_TIMEOUT` behaves the same as the connect_timeout connection parameter.

The following environment variables can be used to specify default behavior for each PostgreSQL session. (See also the ALTER USER and ALTER DATABASE commands for ways to set default behavior on a per-user or per-database basis.)

- `PGDATESTYLE` sets the default style of date/time representation. (Equivalent to `SET datestyle TO ...`.)

- `PGTZ` sets the default time zone. (Equivalent to `SET timezone TO ...`.)

- `PGCLIENTENCODING` sets the default client character set encoding. (Equivalent to `SET client_encoding TO ...`.)

- `PGGEQO` sets the default mode for the genetic query optimizer. (Equivalent to `SET geqo TO ...`.)

Refer to the SQL command SET for information on correct values for these environment variables.

The following environment variables determine internal behavior of libpq; they override compiled-in defaults.

- `PGSYSCONFDIR` sets the directory containing the `pg_service.conf` file and in a future version possibly other system-wide configuration files.

- `PGLOCALEDIR` sets the directory containing the `locale` files for message internationalization.

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