<command>initdb</command>
    will only be accessible by the cluster owner by default.  The
    <option>--allow-group-access</option> option allows any user in the same
    group as the cluster owner to read files in the cluster.  This is useful
    for performing backups as a non-privileged user.
  </para>

  <para>
   <command>initdb</command> initializes the database cluster's default locale
   and character set encoding. These can also be set separately for each
   database when it is created. <command>initdb</command> determines those
   settings for the template databases, which will serve as the default for
   all other databases.
  </para>

  <para>
   By default, <command>initdb</command> uses the locale provider
   <literal>libc</literal> (see <xref linkend="locale-providers"/>). The
   <literal>libc</literal> locale provider takes the locale settings from the
   environment, and determines the encoding from the locale settings.
  </para>

  <para>
   To choose a different locale for the cluster, use the option
   <option>--locale</option>.  There are also individual options
   <option>--lc-*</option> and <option>--icu-locale</option> (see below) to
   set values for the individual locale categories.  Note that inconsistent
   settings for different locale categories can give nonsensical results, so
   this should be used with care.
  </para>

  <para>
   Alternatively, <command>initdb</command> can use the ICU library to provide
   locale services by specifying <literal>--locale-provider=icu</literal>. The
   server must be built with ICU support. To choose the specific ICU locale ID
   to apply, use the option <option>--icu-locale</option>.  Note that for
   implementation reasons and to support legacy code,
   <command>initdb</command> will still select and initialize libc locale
   settings when the ICU locale provider is used.
  </para>

  <para>
   When <command>initdb</command> runs, it will print out the locale settings
   it has chosen.  If you have complex requirements or specified multiple
   options, it is advisable to check that the result matches what was
   intended.
  </para>

  <para>
   More details about locale settings can be found in <xref
   linkend="locale"/>.
  </para>

  <para>
   To alter the default encoding, use the <option>--encoding</option>.
   More details can be found in <xref linkend="multibyte"/>.
  </para>

 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Options</title>

   <para>
    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry id="app-initdb-option-auth">
      <term><option>-A <replaceable class="parameter">authmethod</replaceable></option></term>
      <term><option>--auth=<replaceable class="parameter">authmethod</replaceable></option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        This option specifies the default authentication method for local
        users used in <filename>pg_hba.conf</filename> (<literal>host</literal>
        and <literal>local</literal> lines).  See <xref linkend="auth-pg-hba-conf"/>
        for an overview of valid values.
       </para>

       <para>
        <command>initdb</command> will
        prepopulate <filename>pg_hba.conf</filename> entries using the
        specified authentication method for non-replication as well as
        replication connections.
       </para>

       <para>
        Do not use <literal>trust</literal> unless you trust all local users on your
        system.  <literal>trust</literal> is the default for ease of installation.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry id="app-initdb-option-auth-host">
      <term><option>--auth-host=<replaceable class="parameter">authmethod</replaceable></option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        This option specifies the authentication method for local users via
        TCP/IP connections used in <filename>pg_hba.conf</filename>
        (<literal>host</literal> lines).
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry id="app-initdb-option-auth-local">