IPCCLEAN(1)                                           IPCCLEAN(1)

NAME
       ipcclean  -  Clean  up  shared  memory and semaphores from
       aborted backends

SYNOPSIS
       ipcclean

   INPUTS
       None.

   OUTPUTS
       None.

DESCRIPTION
       ipcclean cleans up shared memory and semaphore space  from
       aborted  backends  by deleting all instances owned by user
       postgres.  Only the DBA should execute this program as  it
       can  cause  bizarre behavior (i.e., crashes) if run during
       multi-user execution. This program should be  executed  if
       messages  such  as  semget:  No  space  left on device are
       encountered when starting up the postmaster or the backend
       server.

       If  this  command is executed while postmaster is running,
       the shared memory and semaphores allocated by the postmas-
       ter will be deleted. This will result in a general failure
       of the backends servers started by that postmaster.

       This script is a hack, but in the many years since it  was
       written,  no one has come up with an equally effective and
       portable solution.  Suggestions are welcome.

       The script makes assumption about the format of output  of
       the  ipcs  utility  which may not be true across different
       operating systems.  Therefore, it may  not  work  on  your
       particular OS.

Application               15 August 1999                        1