COMMAND NAME: gpinitsystem

Initializes a Greenplum Database system by using configuration 
parameters specified in a configuration file (gp_init_config).


*****************************************************
SYNOPSIS
*****************************************************

gpinitsystem -c <gpinitsystem_config> 
            [-h <hostfile_gpinitsystem>]
            [-B <parallel_processes>] 
            [-p <postgresql_conf_param_file>]
            [-s <standby_coordinator_host>]
                [-P <standby_coordinator_port>] [ {-S | --standby-datadir} <standby_coordinator_datadir>]
            [-m number | --max_connections=<number>] [-b size | --shared_buffers=<size>]
            [-n locale | --locale=<locale>] [--lc-collate=<locale>]
            [--lc-ctype=<locale>] [--lc-messages=<locale>] 
            [--lc-monetary=<locale>] [--lc-numeric=<locale>] 
            [--lc-time=<locale>] [-e password | --su_password=<password>]
            [--mirror-mode={group|spread}] [-a] [-q] [-l <logfile_directory>] [-D]
            [-I input_configuration_file]
            [-O output_configuration_file]

gpinitsystem -v


*****************************************************
DESCRIPTION
*****************************************************

The gpinitsystem utility will create a Greenplum Database instance 
using the values defined in a configuration file. See the 
INITIALIZATION CONFIGURATION FILE FORMAT section below. An example 
initialization configuration file can be found in 
$GPHOME/docs/cli_help/gpconfigs/gpinitsystem_config.
 
Before running this utility, make sure that you have installed 
the Greenplum Database software on all the hosts in the array.
In a Greenplum Database DBMS, each database instance (the coordinator 
and all segments) must be initialized across all of the hosts in 
the system in such a way that they can all work together as a 
unified DBMS. The gpinitsystem utility takes care of initializing 
the Greenplum coordinator and each segment instance, and configuring 
the system as a whole.

Before running gpinitsystem, you must set the $GPHOME environment 
variable to point to the location of your Greenplum Database 
installation on the coordinator host and exchange SSH keys between 
all host addresses in the array using gpssh-exkeys.

This utility performs the following tasks:

* Verifies that the parameters in the configuration file are correct.
* Ensures that a connection can be established to each host address. 
  If a host address cannot be reached, the utility will exit.
* Verifies the locale settings.
* Displays the configuration that will be used and prompts the 
  user for confirmation.
* Initializes the coordinator instance.
* Initializes the standby coordinator instance (if specified).
* Initializes the primary segment instances.
* Initializes the mirror segment instances (if mirroring is configured).
* Configures the Greenplum Database system and checks for errors.
* Starts the Greenplum Database system.


*****************************************************
OPTIONS
*****************************************************

-a

 Do not prompt the user for confirmation.


-B <parallel_processes>

 The number of segments to create in parallel. If not specified, 
 the utility will start up to 4 parallel processes at a time.


-c <gpinitsystem_config>

 Required. The full path and filename of the configuration file, which 
 contains all of the defined parameters to configure and initialize a 
 new Greenplum system. See INITIALIZATION CONFIGURATION FILE FORMAT below.

-D

 Sets log output level to debug.


-h <hostfile_gpinitsystem>

 Optional. The full path and file name of a file that contains the host 
 addresses of your segment hosts. If not specified on the command line, 
 you can specify the host file using the MACHINE_LIST_FILE parameter 
 in the gpinitsystem_config file.

-I <input_configuration_file>
 Optional.  The full path and filename of an input configuration file,
 which defines the Greenplum Database members and segments using the
 QD_PRIMARY_ARRAY and PRIMARY_ARRAY parameters. The input configuration
 file is typically created by using gpinitsystem with the -O
 output_configuration_file option. You must provide either the -c
 cluster_configuration_file option or the -I input_configuration_file
 option to gpinitsystem.


--locale=<locale> | -n <locale>  

 Sets the default locale used by Greenplum Database. If not specified, 
 the LC_ALL, LC_COLLATE, or LANG environment variable of the coordinator 
 host determines the locale. If these are not set, the default locale 
 is C (POSIX). A locale identifier consists of a language identifier 
 and a region identifier, and optionally a character set encoding. 
 For example, sv_SE is Swedish as spoken in Sweden, en_US is U.S. 
 English, and fr_CA is French Canadian. If more than one character 
 set can be useful for a locale, then the specifications look like 
 this: en_US.UTF-8 (locale specification and character set encoding). 
 On most systems, the command locale will show the locale environment 
 settings and locale -a will show a list of all available locales.


--lc-collate=<locale>

 Similar to --locale, but sets the locale used for collation (sorting data). 
 The sort order cannot be changed after Greenplum Database is initialized, 
 so it is important to choose a collation locale that is compatible with 
 the character set encodings that you plan to use for your data. There is a 
 special collation name of C or POSIX (byte-order sorting as opposed to 
 dictionary-order sorting). The C collation can be used with any 
 character encoding.


--lc-ctype=<locale>

 Similar to --locale, but sets the locale used for character classification 
 (what character sequences are valid and how they are interpreted). This 
 cannot be changed after Greenplum Database is initialized, so it is 
 important to choose a character classification locale that is compatible 
 with the data you plan to store in Greenplum Database.


--lc-messages=<locale>

 Similar to --locale, but sets the locale used for messages output by 
 Greenplum Database. The current version of Greenplum Database does not 
 support multiple locales for output messages (all messages are in English), 
 so changing this setting will not have any effect.


--lc-monetary=<locale> 

 Similar to --locale, but sets the locale used for formatting currency amounts.


--lc-numeric=<locale> 

 Similar to --locale, but sets the locale used for formatting numbers.


--lc-time=<locale>

 Similar to --locale, but sets the locale used for formatting dates and times.


-l <logfile_directory>

 The directory to write the log file. Defaults to ~/gpAdminLogs.


--max_connections=<number> | -m <number>

 Sets the maximum number of client connections allowed to the coordinator. 
 The default is 25.


-O output_configuration_file
 Optional. When used with the -O option, gpinitsystem does not create a new
 Greenplum Database cluster but instead writes the supplied cluster
 configuration information to the specified output_configuration_file. This file
 defines Greenplum Database members and segments using the QD_PRIMARY_ARRAY,
 PRIMARY_ARRAY, and MIRROR_ARRAY parameters, and can be later used with -I
 input_configuration_file to initialize a new cluster.


-p <postgresql_conf_param_file>

 Optional. The name of a file that contains postgresql.conf parameter 
 settings that you want to set for Greenplum Database. These settings 
 will be used when the individual coordinator and segment instances are 
 initialized. You can also set parameters after initialization using 
 the gpconfig utility.


-q

 Run in quiet mode. Command output is not displayed on the screen, 
 but is still written to the log file.


--shared_buffers=<size> | -b <size>

 Sets the amount of memory a Greenplum server instance uses for shared 
 memory buffers. You can specify sizing in kilobytes (kB), megabytes (MB) 
 or gigabytes (GB). The default is 125MB.


-s <standby_coordinator_host>

 Optional. If you wish to configure a backup coordinator host, specify the 
 host name using this option. The Greenplum Database software must 
 already be installed and configured on this host.


-P <standby_coordinator_port>

 Optional and effective only when specified with -s.  This option can
 specify the port to be used by the standby coordinator.  The default value
 is the same as the primary coordinator.


--segment-datadir=<standby_coordinator_datadir> | -S <standby_coordinator_datadir>

 Optional and effective only when specified with -s.  Specifies the
 data directory of the standby.


--su_password=<superuser_password> | -e <superuser_password>

 The password to set for the Greenplum Database superuser. Defaults 
 to 'gparray'. You can always change the superuser password at a 
 later time using the ALTER ROLE command. Client connections over 
 the network require a password login for the database superuser 
 account (for example, the gpadmin user).

 Best practises: Always use passwords, do not use default passwords,
 change default passwords immediately after installation.


--mirror-mode={group|spread}

 Uses the specified mirroring mode. The default is to group the set of mirror
 segments together on an alternate host from their primary segment set.
 Specifying spread will place each mirror on a different host within the
 Greenplum Database array. Spreading is only allowed if there is a
 sufficient number of hosts in the array (number of hosts is greater
 than the number of segment instances).


-v | --version

 Displays the version of this utility.


--help

 Displays the online help.


*****************************************************
INITIALIZATION CONFIGURATION FILE FORMAT
*****************************************************

MACHINE_LIST_FILE

 Optional. Can be used in place of the -h option. This specifies 
 the file that contains the list of segment host address names that 
 comprise the Greenplum system. The coordinator host is assumed to be 
 the host from which you are running the utility and should not be 
 included in this file. If your segment hosts have multiple network 
 interfaces, then this file would include all addresses for the host. 
 Give the absolute path to the file.


SEG_PREFIX

 Required. This specifies a prefix that will be used to name the 
 data directories on the coordinator and segment instances. The naming 
 convention for data directories in a Greenplum Database system 
 is SEG_PREFIX<number> where <number> starts with 0 for segment 
 instances (the coordinator is always -1). So for example, if you choose 
 the prefix gpseg, your coordinator instance data directory would be 
 named gpseg-1, and the segment instances would be named 
 gpseg0, gpseg1, gpseg2, gpseg3, and so on.


PORT_BASE

 Required. This specifies the base number by which primary segment 
 port numbers are calculated. The first primary segment port on a 
 host is set as PORT_BASE, and then incremented by one for each 
 additional primary segment on that host. Valid values range from 
 1 through 65535.


DATA_DIRECTORY

 Required. This specifies the data storage location(s) where the 
 utility will create the primary segment data directories. The 
 number of locations in the list dictate the number of primary 
 segments that will get created per physical host (if multiple 
 addresses for a host are listed in the host file, the number of 
 segments will be spread evenly across the specified interface 
 addresses). It is OK to list the same data storage area multiple 
 times if you want your data directories created in the same location. 
 The user who runs gpinitsystem (for example, the gpadmin user) must 
 have permission to write to these directories. For example, this 
 will create six primary segments per host:

  declare -a DATA_DIRECTORY=(/data1/primary /data1/primary /data1/primary /data2/primary /data2/primary /data2/primary)


COORDINATOR_HOSTNAME

 Required. The host name of the coordinator instance. This host name must 
 exactly match the configured host name of the machine (run the hostname 
 command to determine the correct hostname).


COORDINATOR_DIRECTORY

 Required. This specifies the location where the data directory will 
 be created on the coordinator host. You must make sure that the user who runs 
 gpinitsystem (for example, the gpadmin user) has permissions to write 
 to this directory.


COORDINATOR_PORT

 Required. The port number for the coordinator instance. This is the port 
 number that users and client connections will use when accessing the 
 Greenplum Database system.


TRUSTED_SHELL

 Required. The shell the gpinitsystem utility uses to execute commands 
 on remote hosts. Allowed values are ssh. You must set up your trusted 
 host environment before running the gpinitsystem utility (you can 
 use gpssh-exkeys to do this).


ENCODING

 Required. The character set encoding to use. This character set must 
 be compatible with the --locale settings used, especially --lc-collate 
 and --lc-ctype. Greenplum Database supports the same character sets 
 as PostgreSQL.


DATABASE_NAME

 Optional. The name of a Greenplum Database database to create after 
 the system is initialized. You can always create a database later 
 using the CREATE DATABASE command or the createdb utility.


MIRROR_PORT_BASE

 Optional. This specifies the base number by which mirror segment 
 port numbers are calculated. The first mirror segment port on a 
 host is set as MIRROR_PORT_BASE, and then incremented by one 
 for each additional mirror segment on that host. Valid values 
 range from 1 through 65535 and cannot conflict with the ports 
 calculated by PORT_BASE.


MIRROR_DATA_DIRECTORY

 Optional. This specifies the data storage location(s) where the utility 
 will create the mirror segment data directories. There must be the same 
 number of data directories declared for mirror segment instances as for 
 primary segment instances (see the DATA_DIRECTORY parameter). The user 
 who runs gpinitsystem (for example, the gpadmin user) must have permission 
 to write to these directories. For example:

  declare -a MIRROR_DATA_DIRECTORY=(/data1/mirror /data1/mirror /data1/mirror /data2/mirror /data2/mirror /data2/mirror)


*****************************************************
EXAMPLES
*****************************************************

Initialize a Greenplum Database array by supplying a configuration file
and a segment host address file, and set up a spread mirroring configuration:

 $ gpinitsystem -c gpinitsystem_config -h hostfile_gpinitsystem --mirror-mode=spread


Initialize a Greenplum Database array and set the superuser remote password:

 $ gpinitsystem -c gpinitsystem_config -h hostfile_gpinitsystem --su-password=mypassword


Initialize a Greenplum Database array with an optional standby coordinator host:

 $ gpinitsystem -c gpinitsystem_config -h hostfile_gpinitsystem -s host09

*****************************************************
SEE ALSO
*****************************************************

gpssh-exkeys
