Re: pg_ctl only allows 12 parameters?

On Mon, Dec 18, 2023 at 10:41 AM David G. Johnston <
david(dot)g(dot)johnston(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:

> On Mon, Dec 18, 2023 at 8:31 AM Ron Johnson <ronljohnsonjr(at)gmail(dot)com>
> wrote:
>
>> On Mon, Dec 18, 2023 at 10:11 AM David G. Johnston <
>> david(dot)g(dot)johnston(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
>>
>>> On Monday, December 18, 2023, Ron Johnson <ronljohnsonjr(at)gmail(dot)com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> PG 14.10
>>>>
>>>> pg_ctl failed when I added a thirteenth parameter (log_temp_files). Is
>>>> this documented, and I missed it?
>>>>
>>>> (The purpose is to optimize for a 30-thread pg_restore of a multi-TB
>>>> 9.6 database. Once it's finished, I stop/start, to enable "production"
>>>> values like fsync=on.)
>>>>
>>>> pg_ctl restart -wt999 -mfast
>>>> -o '-c fsync=off' \
>>>> -o '-c full_page_writes=off' \
>>>> -o '-c log_statement=none' \
>>>> -o '-c log_temp_files=100kB' \
>>>> -o '-c max_wal_size=36GB' \
>>>> -o '-c wal_level=minimal' \
>>>> -o '-c max_wal_senders=0' \
>>>> -o '-c wal_buffers=64MB' \
>>>> -o '-c log_checkpoints=off' \
>>>> -o '-c autovacuum=off'
>>>> pg_ctl: too many command-line arguments (first is "restart")
>>>>
>>>
>>> Arguments are not parameters. Try putting the restart argument after
>>> all parameters.
>>>
>>
>> Quite irritating. "pg_ctl restart" instantly tells you what it's doing.
>>
>> And still, why the limitation?
>>
>
> I'm thinking that the forced ordering being different than what is
> documented is a shell-specific issue. As for why only one of restart,
> stop, start, etc... can be specified for any given invocation of pg_ctl,
> that seems like an entirely realistic limitation and typo-preventing
> feature.
>

The error message is "pg_ctl: *too many command-line arguments*". It's
manifestly obvious that the command failed when I added a "-" option, not a
"start", "stop" command. and yet pg_ctl complained about command-line
arguments.