32.17. The Connection Service File#
The connection service file allows libpq connection parameters to be associated with a single service name. That service name can then be specified in a libpq connection string, and the associated settings will be used. This allows connection parameters to be modified without requiring a recompile of the libpq-using application. The service name can also be specified using thePGSERVICE environment variable.
Service names can be defined in either a per-user service file or a system-wide file. If the same service name exists in both the user and the system file, the user file takes precedence. By default, the per-user service file is named~/.pg_service.conf. On Microsoft Windows, it is named%APPDATA%\postgresql\.pg_service.conf (where%APPDATA% refers to the Application Data subdirectory in the user's profile). A different file name can be specified by setting the environment variablePGSERVICEFILE. The system-wide file is namedpg_service.conf. By default it is sought in theetc directory of thePostgres Pro installation (usepg_config --sysconfdir to identify this directory precisely). Another directory, but not a different file name, can be specified by setting the environment variablePGSYSCONFDIR.
Either service file uses an“INI file” format where the section name is the service name and the parameters are connection parameters; seeSection 32.1.2 for a list. For example:
# comment[mydb]host=somehostport=5433user=admin
An example file is provided in thePostgres Pro installation atshare/pg_service.conf.sample.
Connection parameters obtained from a service file are combined with parameters obtained from other sources. A service file setting overrides the corresponding environment variable, and in turn can be overridden by a value given directly in the connection string. For example, using the above service file, a connection stringservice=mydb port=5434 will use hostsomehost, port5434, useradmin, and other parameters as set by environment variables or built-in defaults.