My Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server is stuck in 'Starting' state

Question

My Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server is stuck in 'Starting' state

DataHub DataHub 0

Because of a storage capacity issue, my server is unable to start, and is not responding. The storage percent of is at 99.871%.

I woud like to rescale the storage so that I'm able to start it again. However the storage scaling options are disabled.

How to increase the storage size to 64 Gib?

Shree Hima Bindu Maganti 7,110 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-07T17:24:36.7566667+00:00
Hi @DataHub DataHub
When an Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Flexible Server becomes stuck in the “Starting” state due to storage usage reaching nearly 100%, the server may be unable to complete the startup process because PostgreSQL requires a small amount of free disk space for internal operations such as temporary files and background services. When storage is almost full, the service may fail to initialize properly, and as a result, the Compute and Storage scaling options in the Azure portal can appear disabled while the server remains in the starting state.

In this situation, you can increase the storage size using Azure CLI, which can still apply configuration changes even if the portal options are unavailable. For example, you can run the following command to increase the storage to 64 GiB:

az postgres flexible-server update \ --resource-group <resource-group-name> \ --name <server-name> \ --storage-size 64

After the storage update is applied, the server should be able to complete the startup process once additional space becomes available. You can then confirm the updated storage configuration from the Azure portal.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/postgresql/scale/how-to-scale-storage-size?tabs=portal-scale-storage-size-ssd%2Cportal-scale-storage-size-ssd-v2
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/postgresql/scale/how-to-auto-grow-storage?tabs=portal-enable-existing-server%2Cportal-disable-existing-server%2Cportal-enable-new-server
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/postgresql/configure-maintain/how-to-manage-server-cli
Let me know if you have any further assistances needed.
Saraswathi Devadula 15,685 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-09T05:02:52.1233333+00:00

Hi @DataHub DataHub
We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet. In case if you have any resolution please do share that same with the community as it can be helpful to others. Otherwise, will respond with more details and we will try to help.

1 answer

Your answer

Shree Hima Bindu Maganti 7,110 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-07T17:24:36.7566667+00:00

Hi @DataHub DataHub
When an Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Flexible Server becomes stuck in the “Starting” state due to storage usage reaching nearly 100%, the server may be unable to complete the startup process because PostgreSQL requires a small amount of free disk space for internal operations such as temporary files and background services. When storage is almost full, the service may fail to initialize properly, and as a result, the Compute and Storage scaling options in the Azure portal can appear disabled while the server remains in the starting state.

In this situation, you can increase the storage size using Azure CLI, which can still apply configuration changes even if the portal options are unavailable. For example, you can run the following command to increase the storage to 64 GiB:

az postgres flexible-server update \ --resource-group <resource-group-name> \ --name <server-name> \ --storage-size 64

After the storage update is applied, the server should be able to complete the startup process once additional space becomes available. You can then confirm the updated storage configuration from the Azure portal.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/postgresql/scale/how-to-scale-storage-size?tabs=portal-scale-storage-size-ssd%2Cportal-scale-storage-size-ssd-v2
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/postgresql/scale/how-to-auto-grow-storage?tabs=portal-enable-existing-server%2Cportal-disable-existing-server%2Cportal-enable-new-server
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/postgresql/configure-maintain/how-to-manage-server-cli
Let me know if you have any further assistances needed.
Saraswathi Devadula 15,685 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-09T05:02:52.1233333+00:00

Hi @DataHub DataHub
We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet. In case if you have any resolution please do share that same with the community as it can be helpful to others. Otherwise, will respond with more details and we will try to help.

Answer 1

Hi @DataHub DataHub

You cannot scale storage while the server is stuck in the “Starting” state. The fix is to enable storage autogrow or manually increase storage through the Azure portal/CLI once the server is responsive again.

If the portal options are disable, you can scale using azure CLI and rest API.

az postgres flexible-server update --resource-group <resource_group> --name <server> --storage-size <storage_size>

PATCH https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/<sub-id>/resourceGroups/<rg>/providers/Microsoft.DBforPostgreSQL/flexibleServers/<server-name>?api-version=2021-06-01
{
  "properties": {
    "storage": {
      "storageSizeGB": 64
    }
  }
}

To prevent these kinds of issues in future, please follow the below**
Enable Storage Autogrow**: This automatically increases storage when usage nears capacity.

Monitor Usage Alerts: Set alerts at 80–90% usage to avoid hitting the critical threshold.

https://docs.azure.cn/en-us/postgresql/scale/how-to-scale-storage-size?utm_source=copilot.com&tabs=portal-scale-storage-size-ssd%2Cportal-scale-storage-size-ssd-v2

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My Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server is stuck in 'Starting' state

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