Stop a database

This article explains how to stop a database.

Introduction

For Exasol 2025.1 and later, you can use Exasol Admin to start and stop databases. For earlier versions, you must use either ConfD or the Administration API.

When you stop a database normally, the following happens:

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this procedure.

Procedure (Exasol Admin)

  1. Log in to Exasol Admin and open the Databases page.

  2. Click on the Stop database icon .

    stop database

    The database status will change from Running to Stopped.

Procedure (command line)

This procedure uses the c4 and confd_client command-line tools in a Linux terminal. To learn more about these tools, see Exasol Deployment Tool (c4) and ConfD.

  1. Connect to the cluster operating system (COS) using c4 connect -i PLAY_ID -s cos.

    Example:
    Copy 
    ./c4 connect -i c3275f84 -s cos

    For more information about how to use c4 commands, see How to use c4.

  2. To find the database name when you are connected to COS, use the ConfD job db_list.

    Example:
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    confd_client db_list
    - MY_DATABASE

  3. To stop the database, use the ConfD job db_stop with the db_name parameter.

    Parameter name Data type Description
    cluster string

    This parameter has no function in on-premises deployments.
    force boolean

    When set to True, the database is forced to shut down.

    This option should only be used if the database cannot be shut down normally.

    The force option should only be used if the database cannot be shut down normally. For more information, see Forced shutdown.

    Example:
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    confd_client db_stop db_name: MY_DATABASE

Forced shutdown

Stopping the database with the force option will not shut down the database cleanly and should only be used if the database cannot be stopped normally. The following table describes what happens during a normal (controlled) shutdown versus a forced shutdown.

  Normal shutdown Forced shutdown

Goal

Graceful termination with audit trail

Immediate termination to overcome a critical failure

Usage

Standard operating procedure

Last resort when normal shutdown is blocked

Duration

Variable, includes a grace period (up to several minutes for large systems)

Immediate

Active transactions

Aborted using standard mechanisms (session kill) and rolled back internally by the database

Abruptly terminated with no cleanup/rollback recorded

Auditing and logging

System statistics and a shutdown record are flushed and written to auditing system tables (clear audit trail)

No auditing entry is written, equivalent to a complete system crash
Connections

Rejected with a shutting down SQL exception

 Immediately terminated, no new connections can be made

Verification

To verify that the database has stopped, use the ConfD job db_state. If the result is setup, the database is stopped.

Example:
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confd_client db_state db_name: MY_DATABASE
...
Result:
'setup'