PGPORT

PGPORT is an environment variable used by PostgreSQL client libraries (libpq) and accompanying command-line tools to specify the TCP port to use when connecting to a database server. It is a client-side setting and does not affect server configuration. If PGPORT is not set, clients use the port specified in a connection string or default to 5432.

PGPORT is typically used alongside other connection context variables such as PGHOST and PGUSER. Setting PGPORT allows scripts and tools to connect without embedding the port in every command. For example, on Unix-like systems you might export PGPORT=5433 and then run psql -h localhost -U myuser mydb; on Windows you can set PGPORT=5433 in the environment. Note that PGPORT applies only to TCP/IP connections; when using Unix domain sockets (for example, a local socket directory), the port is ignored.

PGPORT must be a valid port number (1-65535). If the value is invalid, the connection will fail. The setting can be overridden by a connection string or by command-line parameters that specify a different port.

Security considerations: environment variables can be exposed through process listings on some systems or inherited by child processes. While PGPORT itself is not a password, care should be taken with environment-based configurations when sensitive credentials are involved. For persistent or portable configurations, alternatives like a connection service file (.pg_service.conf) or explicit connection strings may reduce exposure.

See also: PGHOST, PGPASSWORD, PGUSER, LIBPQ, PostgreSQL.