---
title: Manual PostgreSQL configuration and tuning | Tiger Data Docs
description: Manually configure your self-hosted database using the PostgreSQL configuration file
---

If you prefer to tune settings yourself, or for settings not covered by `timescaledb-tune`, you can manually configure your installation using the PostgreSQL configuration file.

For some common configuration settings you might want to adjust, see the [about configuration](/docs/deploy/self-hosted/configuration/about-configuration/index.md) page.

For more information about the PostgreSQL configuration page, see the [PostgreSQL documentation](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/config-setting.html).

## Edit the PostgreSQL configuration file

The location of the PostgreSQL configuration file depends on your operating system and installation.

1. **Find the location of the config file for your instance**

   1. Connect to your database:

      Terminal window

      ```
      psql -d "postgres://<username>:<password>@<host>:<port>/<database-name>"
      ```

   2. Retrieve the database file location from the database internal configuration.

      ```
      SHOW config_file;
      ```

      PostgreSQL returns the path to your configuration file. For example:

      ```
      --------------------------------------------
      /home/postgres/pgdata/data/postgresql.conf
      (1 row)
      ```

2. **Open the config file, then edit your PostgreSQL configuration**

   See the [PostgreSQL documentation](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/config-setting.html) for details on available settings.

   Terminal window

   ```
   vi /home/postgres/pgdata/data/postgresql.conf
   ```

3. **Save your updated configuration**

   When you have saved the changes you make to the configuration file, the new configuration is not applied immediately. The configuration file is automatically reloaded when the server receives a `SIGHUP` signal. To manually reload the file, use the `pg_ctl` command.

## Setting parameters at the command prompt

If you don’t want to open the configuration file to make changes, you can also set parameters directly from the command prompt, using the `postgres` command. For example:

```
postgres -c log_connections=yes -c log_destination='syslog'
```