PostgreSQL 17 – Change Data Directory
0. Overview
1. Stop PostgreSQL Service
2. Create the New Directory
3. Copy Existing Data to New Location
4. Move existing data directory
5. Update PostgreSQL Configuration to Use New Data Directory
6. Reload systemd and start PostgreSQL
7. Edit postgres .bash_profile
8. Verify New Data Directory is in Use
9. Remove Old Data Directory (Optional – A week after)
0. Overview
To change the PostgreSQL 17 data directory from its default location From:/var/lib/pgsql/17/dataTo:/pgData/pgsql17/data
1. Stop PostgreSQL Service
[postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$ psql -c "SHOW data_directory;" data_directory ------------------------ /var/lib/pgsql/17/data <---- existing data directory (1 row) [postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$ [root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]# systemctl stop postgresql-17 [root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]# [root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]# ps -ef | grep postgres root 5759 4079 0 18:09 pts/1 00:00:00 grep --color=auto postgres [root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]#
2. Create the New Directory
[root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]# mkdir -p /pgData/pgsql17/data [root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]# chown postgres:postgres /pgData/pgsql17/data [root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]# chmod 700 /pgData/pgsql17/data [root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]#
3. Copy Existing Data to New Location
[postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$ nohup rsync -av --progress /var/lib/pgsql/17/data/ /pgData/pgsql17/data/ > rsync_pgdata.log 2>&1 & [1] 5863 [postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$ [postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$ tail -f rsync_pgdata.log pg_wal/000000010000000000000002 16,777,216 100% 17.68MB/s 0:00:00 (xfr#1621, to-chk=3/1652) pg_wal/archive_status/ pg_wal/summaries/ pg_xact/ pg_xact/0000 8,192 100% 8.84kB/s 0:00:00 (xfr#1622, to-chk=0/1652) sent 73,827,441 bytes received 31,005 bytes 49,238,964.00 bytes/sec total size is 73,717,583 speedup is 1.00 ^C[1]+ Done nohup rsync -av --progress /var/lib/pgsql/17/data/ /pgData/pgsql17/data/ > rsync_pgdata.log 2>&1 [postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$
4. Move existing data directory
[postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$ mv /var/lib/pgsql/17/data /var/lib/pgsql/17/data_bkp_10072025
[postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$
5. Update PostgreSQL Configuration to Use New Data Directory
[postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$ cat /usr/lib/systemd/system/postgresql-17.service | grep -i "Environment=PGDATA" Environment=PGDATA=/var/lib/pgsql/17/data/ <----- [postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$ [root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]# ls -ltr /usr/lib/systemd/system/postgresql-17.service -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 1788 Aug 13 17:39 /usr/lib/systemd/system/postgresql-17.service [root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]# [root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]# sed -i 's|^Environment=PGDATA=.*|Environment=PGDATA=/pgData/pgsql17/data/|' /usr/lib/systemd/system/postgresql-17.service [root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]# [root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]# cat /usr/lib/systemd/system/postgresql-17.service | grep -i "Environment=PGDATA" Environment=PGDATA=/pgData/pgsql17/data/ <------ [root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]#
6. Reload systemd and start PostgreSQL
[root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]# systemctl daemon-reload [root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]# [root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]# systemctl start postgresql-17 [root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]# [root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]# systemctl cat postgresql-17 | grep -i Environment=PGDATA Environment=PGDATA=/pgData/pgsql17/data/ <----- [root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]# [root@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]# systemctl status postgresql-17 ● postgresql-17.service - PostgreSQL 17 database server Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/postgresql-17.service; enabled; preset: disabled) Active: active (running) since Tue 2025-10-07 18:33:05 +08; 2min 26s ago Docs: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/17/static/ Process: 5911 ExecStartPre=/usr/pgsql-17/bin/postgresql-17-check-db-dir ${PGDATA} (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS) Main PID: 5916 (postgres) Tasks: 7 (limit: 15700) Memory: 21.3M CPU: 177ms CGroup: /system.slice/postgresql-17.service ├─5916 /usr/pgsql-17/bin/postgres -D /pgData/pgsql17/data/ ├─5917 "postgres: logger " ├─5918 "postgres: checkpointer " ├─5919 "postgres: background writer " ├─5921 "postgres: walwriter " ├─5922 "postgres: autovacuum launcher " └─5923 "postgres: logical replication launcher " Oct 07 18:33:05 lxicbpgdsgv01.rajasekhar.com systemd[1]: Starting PostgreSQL 17 database server... Oct 07 18:33:05 lxicbpgdsgv01.rajasekhar.com postgres[5916]: 2025-10-07 18:33:05.392 +08 [5916] LOG: redirecting log output to logging collector process Oct 07 18:33:05 lxicbpgdsgv01.rajasekhar.com postgres[5916]: 2025-10-07 18:33:05.392 +08 [5916] HINT: Future log output will appear in directory "log". Oct 07 18:33:05 lxicbpgdsgv01.rajasekhar.com systemd[1]: Started PostgreSQL 17 database server.
7. Edit postgres .bash_profile
[postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$ cat .bash_profile | grep -i PGDATA= PGDATA=/var/lib/pgsql/17/data [postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$ [postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$ sed -i 's|^PGDATA=.*|PGDATA=/pgData/pgsql17/data|' ~/.bash_profile [postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$ [postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$ cat .bash_profile | grep -i PGDATA= PGDATA=/pgData/pgsql17/data <----- [postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$ . .bash_profile <-- reload the profile [postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$
8. Verify New Data Directory is in Use
[postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$ psql -c "SHOW data_directory;" data_directory ---------------------- /pgData/pgsql17/data <---- new data directory (1 row) [postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$
9. Remove Old Data Directory (Optional – A week after)
[postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$ ls -ld /var/lib/pgsql/17/data_bkp_10072025 drwx------. 20 postgres postgres 4096 Oct 7 18:20 /var/lib/pgsql/17/data_bkp_10072025 [postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$ rm -rf /var/lib/pgsql/17/data_bkp_10072025 [postgres@lxicbpgdsgv01 ~]$
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Rajasekhar Amudala
Email: br8dba@gmail.com
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