Using vsql

psql is a character-based, interactive, front-end that is part of PostgreSQL and used by other database management systems. It allows you to type in SQL statements and see the results. It also provides a number of meta-commands and various shell-like features to facilitate writing scripts and automating a wide variety of tasks. On a Vertica host, psql is actually a symbolic link to vsql.

You can connect to vsql from the:

• Administration Tools
• Linux command line

General Notes

• SQL statements can be spread over several lines for clarity.
• You can cancel SQL statements by typing Ctrl+C.
• When you disconnect a user session, any transactions in progress are automatically rolled back.
• To view wide result sets, you can the Linux less utility to truncate long lines.
  1. Before connecting to the database, specify that you want to use less for query output:

     $ export PAGER=less

  2. Connect to the database.
  3. Query a wide table:

     => select * from wide_table;

  4. At the less prompt, type:

     -S

• If a shell running vsql fails (crashes or freezes), the vsql processes continue to run even if you stop the database. In that case, log in as root on the machine on which the shell was running and manually kill the vsql process. For example:

  # ps -ef | grep Vertica

  

  fred 2401 1 0 06:02 pts/1 00:00:00 /opt/Vertica/bin/vsql -p 5433 -h test01_site01 quick_start_single

  

  # kill -9 2401