automatically prompt
        for a password if the server demands password authentication.
        However, <application>createdb</application> will waste a
        connection attempt finding out that the server wants a password.
        In some cases it is worth typing <option>-W</option> to avoid the extra
        connection attempt.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>--maintenance-db=<replaceable class="parameter">dbname</replaceable></option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
         Specifies the name of the database to connect to when creating the
         new database. If not specified, the <literal>postgres</literal>
         database will be used; if that does not exist (or if it is the name
         of the new database being created), <literal>template1</literal> will
         be used.
         This can be a <link linkend="libpq-connstring">connection
         string</link>.  If so, connection string parameters will override any
         conflicting command line options.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
   </para>

 </refsect1>


 <refsect1>
  <title>Environment</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><envar>PGDATABASE</envar></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      If set, the name of the database to create, unless overridden on
      the command line.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><envar>PGHOST</envar></term>
    <term><envar>PGPORT</envar></term>
    <term><envar>PGUSER</envar></term>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      Default connection parameters.  <envar>PGUSER</envar> also
      determines the name of the database to create, if it is not
      specified on the command line or by <envar>PGDATABASE</envar>.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><envar>PG_COLOR</envar></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Specifies whether to use color in diagnostic messages. Possible values
      are <literal>always</literal>, <literal>auto</literal> and
      <literal>never</literal>.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>

  <para>
   This utility, like most other <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> utilities,
   also uses the environment variables supported by <application>libpq</application>
   (see <xref linkend="libpq-envars"/>).
  </para>

 </refsect1>


 <refsect1>
  <title>Diagnostics</title>

  <para>
   In case of difficulty, see <xref linkend="sql-createdatabase"/>
   and <xref linkend="app-psql"/> for
   discussions of potential problems and error messages.
   The database server must be running at the
   targeted host.  Also, any default connection settings and environment
   variables used by the <application>libpq</application> front-end
   library will apply.
  </para>

 </refsect1>


 <refsect1>
  <title>Examples</title>

   <para>
    To create the database <literal>demo</literal> using the default
    database server:
<screen>
<prompt>$ </prompt><userinput>createdb demo</userinput>
</screen>
   </para>

   <para>
    To create the database <literal>demo</literal> using the
    server on host <literal>eden</literal>, port 5000, using the
    <literal>template0</literal> template database,  here is the
    command-line command and the underlying SQL command:
<screen>
<prompt>$ </prompt><userinput>createdb -p 5000 -h eden -T template0 -e demo</userinput>
<computeroutput>CREATE DATABASE demo TEMPLATE template0;</computeroutput>
</screen></para>
 </refsect1>


 <refsect1>
  <title>See Also</title>

  <simplelist type="inline">
   <member><xref linkend="app-dropdb"/></member>
   <member><xref linkend="sql-createdatabase"/></member>
  </simplelist>
 </refsect1>

</refentry>