dropdb destroys an existing PostgreSQL database. The user who executes this command must be a database superuser or the owner of the database.
dropdb is a wrapper around the SQL command DROP DATABASE. The database server must be running on the targeted host. There is nothing special about dropping databases via this or other methods. Also, any default settings and environment variables used by the libpq front-end library will apply.
dropdb accepts the following command-line arguments:
Specifies the name of the database to be removed.
Echo the commands that dropdb generates and sends to the server.
Issues a verification prompt before doing anything destructive.
Do not display a response.
createdb also accepts the following command-line arguments for connection parameters:
Specifies the host name of the machine on which the server is running. If the value begins with a slash, it is used as the directory for the Unix domain socket.
Specifies the TCP port or local Unix domain socket file extension on which the server is listening for connections.
User name to connect as
Force password prompt.
The database was successfully removed.
Something didn't work out.
If there is an error condition, the backend error message will be displayed. See DROP DATABASE for possibilities.
To destroy the database demo on the default database server:
$ dropdb demo DROP DATABASE
To destroy the database demo using the server on host eden, port 5000, with verification and a peek at the underlying command:
$ dropdb -p 5000 -h eden -i -e demo Database "demo" will be permanently deleted. Are you sure? (y/n) y DROP DATABASE "demo" DROP DATABASE