diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/postgres-ref.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/postgres-ref.sgml
index 9c961492a9e..b80c9caafac 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/postgres-ref.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/postgres-ref.sgml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
@@ -365,13 +365,29 @@ PostgreSQL documentation
Notes
- To stop a running query use the SIGINT signal. To
- tell postgres to reread the configuration file,
- use a SIGHUP signal. The
- postmaster uses SIGTERM
+ To cancel a running query, send the SIGINT signal
+ to the postgres process running that command.
+
+
+
+ To tell postgres to reread the configuration file,
+ send a SIGHUP signal. Normally it's best to
+ SIGHUP the postmaster instead;
+ the postmaster will in turn SIGHUP
+ each of its children. But in some cases it might be desirable to have only
+ one postgres process reread the configuration file.
+
+
+
+ The postmaster uses SIGTERM
to tell a postgres process to quit normally and
SIGQUIT to terminate without the normal cleanup.
- These should not be used by users.
+ These signals should not be used by users. It is also
+ unwise to send SIGKILL to a postgres
+ process --- the postmaster will interpret this as
+ a crash in postgres, and will force all the sibling
+ postgres processes to quit as part of its standard
+ crash-recovery procedure.
diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/postmaster.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/postmaster.sgml
index 77aecf70310..f4ec3c98986 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/postmaster.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/postmaster.sgml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
@@ -473,10 +473,11 @@ PostgreSQL documentation
If at all possible, do not use
SIGKILL to kill the
- postmaster. This will prevent
+ postmaster. Doing so will prevent
postmaster from freeing the system
resources (e.g., shared memory and semaphores) that it holds before
- terminating.
+ terminating. This may cause problems for starting a fresh
+ postmaster run.