PSQL resource stuck in stopping state

Question

PSQL resource stuck in stopping state

Zain 0

User's image

Our PSQL server has been in this state for several hours after attempting to restart it. This happens often, we will restart or stop and start it, and both of these processes will take a few hours. It used to take minutes.

SAI JAGADEESH KUDIPUDI 490 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-19T10:31:07.01+00:00
Hi Zain,
We understand the issue where the PostgreSQL (PSQL) server remains in a Starting / Stopping / Restarting state for several hours after a restart or stop‑start operation. This behavior is occurring repeatedly, and earlier the same operations used to complete within a few minutes, which clearly indicates an abnormal condition.
Please Follow the below steps to resolve the issue:
STEP 1:

Run the following Azure CLI command to check the current state of the server using bash command:
az postgres flexible-server show [--name] [--resource-group] [--subscription]

Look for the state property to confirm the stopping status.

If the server remains unresponsive, try forcing a restart using the CLI bash command

az postgres flexible-server restart --name <server-name> --resource-group <resource-group>

Use the Azure Monitor logs to check for errors or blockers. Run the following to query logs

az monitor log-analytics query \ --workspace <workspace-id> \ --analytics-query "AzureDiagnostics | where ResourceId == '<server-resource-id>'"

Confirm if the server has management locks that might be preventing the stop action using bash command:
az resource lock list --resource-name <server-name> --resource-group <resource-group> --resource-type "Microsoft.DBforPostgreSQL/flexibleServers"
-- Remove locks if present:
az resource lock delete --ids <lock-id>

If resource exhaustion is suspected, scale the server up temporarily using bash command:
az postgres flexible-server update --name <server-name> --resource-group <resource-group> --sku-name GP_Gen5_4

STEP 2:

If the server becomes responsive, log in using psql and identify any blocking queries:

SELECT pid, state, query FROM pg_stat_activity WHERE state != 'idle';

-- Terminate blocking processes

SELECT pg_terminate_backend(pid) FROM pg_stat_activity WHERE state != 'idle';

Visit the Azure Status Page - https://status.azure.com to confirm no platform outages and check the notifications in the Azure portal for planned maintenance.
Hope this helps. If you have any follow-up questions, please let me know. I would be happy to help.
Manoj Kumar Boyini 9,645 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-05T14:20:30.96+00:00

Hi Zain,

The PG team has resolved the issue, and the server was running. Could you please check and confirm if the server was operational?

1 answer

Your answer

Manoj Kumar Boyini 9,645 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-05T14:20:30.96+00:00

Hi Zain,

The PG team has resolved the issue, and the server was running. Could you please check and confirm if the server was operational?

Answer 1

SAI JAGADEESH KUDIPUDI 490 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi **Zain,
**We have checked on our end and the server is in a healthy state. Please verify and let us know if the issue persists.

Share via

PSQL resource stuck in stopping state

1 answer

Your answer