ym class="acronym">HBA</acronym> stands for host-based authentication.) A default
   <code class="filename">pg_hba.conf</code> file is installed when the data
   directory is initialized by <a class="xref" href="app-initdb.html" title="initdb"><span class="refentrytitle"><span class="application">initdb</span></span></a>.  It is
   possible to place the authentication configuration file elsewhere,
   however; see the <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-file-locations.html#GUC-HBA-FILE">hba_file</a> configu