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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><title>26.5. Hot Standby</title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet.css" /><link rev="made" href="pgsql-docs@lists.postgresql.org" /><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.79.1" /><link rel="prev" href="log-shipping-alternative.html" title="26.4. Alternative Method for Log Shipping" /><link rel="next" href="monitoring.html" title="Chapter 27. Monitoring Database Activity" /></head><body id="docContent" class="container-fluid col-10"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/transitional" class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="5" align="center">26.5. Hot Standby</th></tr><tr><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="log-shipping-alternative.html" title="26.4. Alternative Method for Log Shipping">Prev</a> </td><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="u" href="high-availability.html" title="Chapter 26. High Availability, Load Balancing, and Replication">Up</a></td><th width="60%" align="center">Chapter 26. High Availability, Load Balancing, and Replication</th><td width="10%" align="right"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html" title="PostgreSQL 13.4 Documentation">Home</a></td><td width="10%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="monitoring.html" title="Chapter 27. Monitoring Database Activity">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr></hr></div><div class="sect1" id="HOT-STANDBY"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both">26.5. Hot Standby</h2></div></div></div><div class="toc"><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="hot-standby.html#HOT-STANDBY-USERS">26.5.1. User's Overview</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="hot-standby.html#HOT-STANDBY-CONFLICT">26.5.2. Handling Query Conflicts</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="hot-standby.html#HOT-STANDBY-ADMIN">26.5.3. Administrator's Overview</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="hot-standby.html#HOT-STANDBY-PARAMETERS">26.5.4. Hot Standby Parameter Reference</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="hot-standby.html#HOT-STANDBY-CAVEATS">26.5.5. Caveats</a></span></dt></dl></div><a id="id-1.6.13.19.2" class="indexterm"></a><p>
Hot Standby is the term used to describe the ability to connect to
the server and run read-only queries while the server is in archive
recovery or standby mode. This
is useful both for replication purposes and for restoring a backup
to a desired state with great precision.
The term Hot Standby also refers to the ability of the server to move
from recovery through to normal operation while users continue running
queries and/or keep their connections open.
</p><p>
Running queries in hot standby mode is similar to normal query operation,
though there are several usage and administrative differences
explained below.
</p><div class="sect2" id="HOT-STANDBY-USERS"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">26.5.1. User's Overview</h3></div></div></div><p>
When the <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-replication.html#GUC-HOT-STANDBY">hot_standby</a> parameter is set to true on a
standby server, it will begin accepting connections once the recovery has
brought the system to a consistent state. All such connections are
strictly read-only; not even temporary tables may be written.
</p><p>
The data on the standby takes some time to arrive from the primary server
so there will be a measurable delay between primary and standby. Running the
same query nearly simultaneously on both primary and standby might therefore
return differing results. We say that data on the standby is
<em class="firstterm">eventually consistent</em> with the primary. Once the
commit record for a transaction is replayed on the standby, the changes
made by that transaction will be visible to any new snapshots taken on
the standby. Snapshots may be taken at the start of each query or at the
start of each transaction, depending on the current transaction isolation
level. For more details, see <a class="xref" href="transaction-iso.html" title="13.2. Transaction Isolation">Section 13.2</a>.
</p><p>
Transactions started during hot standby may issue the following commands:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>
Query access: <code class="command">SELECT</code>, <code class="command">COPY TO</code>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Cursor commands: <code class="command">DECLARE</code>, <code class="command">FETCH</code>, <code class="command">CLOSE</code>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Settings: <code class="command">SHOW</code>, <code class="command">SET</code>, <code class="command">RESET</code>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Transaction management commands:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem"><p>
<code class="command">BEGIN</code>, <code class="command">END</code>, <code class="command">ABORT</code>, <code class="command">START TRANSACTION</code>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<code class="command">SAVEPOINT</code>, <code class="command">RELEASE</code>, <code class="command">ROLLBACK TO SAVEPOINT</code>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<code class="command">EXCEPTION</code> blocks and other internal subtransactions
</p></li></ul></div><p>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<code class="command">LOCK TABLE</code>, though only when explicitly in one of these modes:
<code class="literal">ACCESS SHARE</code>, <code class="literal">ROW SHARE</code> or <code class="literal">ROW EXCLUSIVE</code>.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Plans and resources: <code class="command">PREPARE</code>, <code class="command">EXECUTE</code>,
<code class="command">DEALLOCATE</code>, <code class="command">DISCARD</code>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Plugins and extensions: <code class="command">LOAD</code>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<code class="command">UNLISTEN</code>
</p></li></ul></div><p>
</p><p>
Transactions started during hot standby will never be assigned a
transaction ID and cannot write to the system write-ahead log.
Therefore, the following actions will produce error messages:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>
Data Manipulation Language (DML): <code class="command">INSERT</code>,
<code class="command">UPDATE</code>, <code class="command">DELETE</code>, <code class="command">COPY FROM</code>,
<code class="command">TRUNCATE</code>.
Note that there are no allowed actions that result in a trigger
being executed during recovery. This restriction applies even to
temporary tables, because table rows cannot be read or written without
assigning a transaction ID, which is currently not possible in a
Hot Standby environment.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Data Definition Language (DDL): <code class="command">CREATE</code>,
<code class="command">DROP</code>, <code class="command">ALTER</code>, <code class="command">COMMENT</code>.
This restriction applies even to temporary tables, because carrying
out these operations would require updating the system catalog tables.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<code class="command">SELECT ... FOR SHARE | UPDATE</code>, because row locks cannot be
taken without updating the underlying data files.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Rules on <code class="command">SELECT</code> statements that generate DML commands.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<code class="command">LOCK</code> that explicitly requests a mode higher than <code class="literal">ROW EXCLUSIVE MODE</code>.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<code class="command">LOCK</code> in short default form, since it requests <code class="literal">ACCESS EXCLUSIVE MODE</code>.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Transaction management commands that explicitly set non-read-only state:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem"><p>
<code class="command">BEGIN READ WRITE</code>,
<code class="command">START TRANSACTION READ WRITE</code>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<code class="command">SET TRANSACTION READ WRITE</code>,
<code class="command">SET SESSION CHARACTERISTICS AS TRANSACTION READ WRITE</code>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<code class="command">SET transaction_read_only = off</code>
</p></li></ul></div><p>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Two-phase commit commands: <code class="command">PREPARE TRANSACTION</code>,
<code class="command">COMMIT PREPARED</code>, <code class="command">ROLLBACK PREPARED</code>
because even read-only transactions need to write WAL in the
prepare phase (the first phase of two phase commit).
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Sequence updates: <code class="function">nextval()</code>, <code class="function">setval()</code>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<code class="command">LISTEN</code>, <code class="command">NOTIFY</code>
</p></li></ul></div><p>
</p><p>
In normal operation, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">read-only</span>”</span> transactions are allowed to
use <code class="command">LISTEN</code> and <code class="command">NOTIFY</code>,
so Hot Standby sessions operate under slightly tighter
restrictions than ordinary read-only sessions. It is possible that some
of these restrictions might be loosened in a future release.
</p><p>
During hot standby, the parameter <code class="varname">transaction_read_only</code> is always
true and may not be changed. But as long as no attempt is made to modify
the database, connections during hot standby will act much like any other
database connection. If failover or switchover occurs, the database will
switch to normal processing mode. Sessions will remain connected while the
server changes mode. Once hot standby finishes, it will be possible to
initiate read-write transactions (even from a session begun during
hot standby).
</p><p>
Users will be able to tell whether their session is read-only by
issuing <code class="command">SHOW transaction_read_only</code>. In addition, a set of
functions (<a class="xref" href="functions-admin.html#FUNCTIONS-RECOVERY-INFO-TABLE" title="Table 9.86. Recovery Information Functions">Table 9.86</a>) allow users to
access information about the standby server. These allow you to write
programs that are aware of the current state of the database. These
can be used to monitor the progress of recovery, or to allow you to
write complex programs that restore the database to particular states.
</p></div><div class="sect2" id="HOT-STANDBY-CONFLICT"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">26.5.2. Handling Query Conflicts</h3></div></div></div><p>
The primary and standby servers are in many ways loosely connected. Actions
on the primary will have an effect on the standby. As a result, there is
potential for negative interactions or conflicts between them. The easiest
conflict to understand is performance: if a huge data load is taking place
on the primary then this will generate a similar stream of WAL records on the
standby, so standby queries may contend for system resources, such as I/O.
</p><p>
There are also additional types of conflict that can occur with Hot Standby.
These conflicts are <span class="emphasis"><em>hard conflicts</em></span> in the sense that queries
might need to be canceled and, in some cases, sessions disconnected to resolve them.
The user is provided with several ways to handle these
conflicts. Conflict cases include:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>
Access Exclusive locks taken on the primary server, including both
explicit <code class="command">LOCK</code> commands and various <acronym class="acronym">DDL</acronym>
actions, conflict with table accesses in standby queries.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Dropping a tablespace on the primary conflicts with standby queries
using that tablespace for temporary work files.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Dropping a database on the primary conflicts with sessions connected
to that database on the standby.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Application of a vacuum cleanup record from WAL conflicts with
standby transactions whose snapshots can still <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">see</span>”</span> any of
the rows to be removed.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Application of a vacuum cleanup record from WAL conflicts with
queries accessing the target page on the standby, whether or not
the data to be removed is visible.
</p></li></ul></div><p>
</p><p>
On the primary server, these cases simply result in waiting; and the
user might choose to cancel either of the conflicting actions. However,
on the standby there is no choice: the WAL-logged action already occurred
on the primary so the standby must not fail to apply it. Furthermore,
allowing WAL application to wait indefinitely may be very undesirable,
because the standby's state will become increasingly far behind the
primary's. Therefore, a mechanism is provided to forcibly cancel standby
queries that conflict with to-be-applied WAL records.
</p><p>
An example of the problem situation is an administrator on the primary
server running <code class="command">DROP TABLE</code> on a table that is currently being
queried on the standby server. Clearly the standby query cannot continue
if the <code class="command">DROP TABLE</code> is applied on the standby. If this situation
occurred on the primary, the <code class="command">DROP TABLE</code> would wait until the
other query had finished. But when <code class="command">DROP TABLE</code> is run on the
primary, the primary doesn't have information about what queries are
running on the standby, so it will not wait for any such standby
queries. The WAL change records come through to the standby while the
standby query is still running, causing a conflict. The standby server
must either delay application of the WAL records (and everything after
them, too) or else cancel the conflicting query so that the <code class="command">DROP
TABLE</code> can be applied.
</p><p>
When a conflicting query is short, it's typically desirable to allow it to
complete by delaying WAL application for a little bit; but a long delay in
WAL application is usually not desirable. So the cancel mechanism has
parameters, <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-replication.html#GUC-MAX-STANDBY-ARCHIVE-DELAY">max_standby_archive_delay</a> and <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-replication.html#GUC-MAX-STANDBY-STREAMING-DELAY">max_standby_streaming_delay</a>, that define the maximum
allowed delay in WAL application. Conflicting queries will be canceled
once it has taken longer than the relevant delay setting to apply any
newly-received WAL data. There are two parameters so that different delay
values can be specified for the case of reading WAL data from an archive
(i.e., initial recovery from a base backup or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">catching up</span>”</span> a
standby server that has fallen far behind) versus reading WAL data via
streaming replication.
</p><p>
In a standby server that exists primarily for high availability, it's
best to set the delay parameters relatively short, so that the server
cannot fall far behind the primary due to delays caused by standby
queries. However, if the standby server is meant for executing
long-running queries, then a high or even infinite delay value may be
preferable. Keep in mind however that a long-running query could
cause other sessions on the standby server to not see recent changes
on the primary, if it delays application of WAL records.
</p><p>
Once the delay specified by <code class="varname">max_standby_archive_delay</code> or
<code class="varname">max_standby_streaming_delay</code> has been exceeded, conflicting
queries will be canceled. This usually results just in a cancellation
error, although in the case of replaying a <code class="command">DROP DATABASE</code>
the entire conflicting session will be terminated. Also, if the conflict
is over a lock held by an idle transaction, the conflicting session is
terminated (this behavior might change in the future).
</p><p>
Canceled queries may be retried immediately (after beginning a new
transaction, of course). Since query cancellation depends on
the nature of the WAL records being replayed, a query that was
canceled may well succeed if it is executed again.
</p><p>
Keep in mind that the delay parameters are compared to the elapsed time
since the WAL data was received by the standby server. Thus, the grace
period allowed to any one query on the standby is never more than the
delay parameter, and could be considerably less if the standby has already
fallen behind as a result of waiting for previous queries to complete, or
as a result of being unable to keep up with a heavy update load.
</p><p>
The most common reason for conflict between standby queries and WAL replay
is <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">early cleanup</span>”</span>. Normally, <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> allows
cleanup of old row versions when there are no transactions that need to
see them to ensure correct visibility of data according to MVCC rules.
However, this rule can only be applied for transactions executing on the
master. So it is possible that cleanup on the master will remove row
versions that are still visible to a transaction on the standby.
</p><p>
Experienced users should note that both row version cleanup and row version
freezing will potentially conflict with standby queries. Running a manual
<code class="command">VACUUM FREEZE</code> is likely to cause conflicts even on tables with
no updated or deleted rows.
</p><p>
Users should be clear that tables that are regularly and heavily updated
on the primary server will quickly cause cancellation of longer running
queries on the standby. In such cases the setting of a finite value for
<code class="varname">max_standby_archive_delay</code> or
<code class="varname">max_standby_streaming_delay</code> can be considered similar to
setting <code class="varname">statement_timeout</code>.
</p><p>
Remedial possibilities exist if the number of standby-query cancellations
is found to be unacceptable. The first option is to set the parameter
<code class="varname">hot_standby_feedback</code>, which prevents <code class="command">VACUUM</code> from
removing recently-dead rows and so cleanup conflicts do not occur.
If you do this, you
should note that this will delay cleanup of dead rows on the primary,
which may result in undesirable table bloat. However, the cleanup
situation will be no worse than if the standby queries were running
directly on the primary server, and you are still getting the benefit of
off-loading execution onto the standby.
If standby servers connect and disconnect frequently, you
might want to make adjustments to handle the period when
<code class="varname">hot_standby_feedback</code> feedback is not being provided.
For example, consider increasing <code class="varname">max_standby_archive_delay</code>
so that queries are not rapidly canceled by conflicts in WAL archive
files during disconnected periods. You should also consider increasing
<code class="varname">max_standby_streaming_delay</code> to avoid rapid cancellations
by newly-arrived streaming WAL entries after reconnection.
</p><p>
Another option is to increase <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-replication.html#GUC-VACUUM-DEFER-CLEANUP-AGE">vacuum_defer_cleanup_age</a>
on the primary server, so that dead rows will not be cleaned up as quickly
as they normally would be. This will allow more time for queries to
execute before they are canceled on the standby, without having to set
a high <code class="varname">max_standby_streaming_delay</code>. However it is
difficult to guarantee any specific execution-time window with this
approach, since <code class="varname">vacuum_defer_cleanup_age</code> is measured in
transactions executed on the primary server.
</p><p>
The number of query cancels and the reason for them can be viewed using
the <code class="structname">pg_stat_database_conflicts</code> system view on the standby
server. The <code class="structname">pg_stat_database</code> system view also contains
summary information.
</p></div><div class="sect2" id="HOT-STANDBY-ADMIN"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">26.5.3. Administrator's Overview</h3></div></div></div><p>
If <code class="varname">hot_standby</code> is <code class="literal">on</code> in <code class="filename">postgresql.conf</code>
(the default value) and there is a
<a class="link" href="warm-standby.html#FILE-STANDBY-SIGNAL"><code class="filename">standby.signal</code></a><a id="id-1.6.13.19.7.2.5" class="indexterm"></a>
file present, the server will run in Hot Standby mode.
However, it may take some time for Hot Standby connections to be allowed,
because the server will not accept connections until it has completed
sufficient recovery to provide a consistent state against which queries
can run. During this period,
clients that attempt to connect will be refused with an error message.
To confirm the server has come up, either loop trying to connect from
the application, or look for these messages in the server logs:
</p><pre class="programlisting">
LOG: entering standby mode
... then some time later ...
LOG: consistent recovery state reached
LOG: database system is ready to accept read only connections
</pre><p>
Consistency information is recorded once per checkpoint on the primary.
It is not possible to enable hot standby when reading WAL
written during a period when <code class="varname">wal_level</code> was not set to
<code class="literal">replica</code> or <code class="literal">logical</code> on the primary. Reaching
a consistent state can also be delayed in the presence of both of these
conditions:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>
A write transaction has more than 64 subtransactions
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Very long-lived write transactions
</p></li></ul></div><p>
If you are running file-based log shipping ("warm standby"), you might need
to wait until the next WAL file arrives, which could be as long as the
<code class="varname">archive_timeout</code> setting on the primary.
</p><p>
The setting of some parameters on the standby will need reconfiguration
if they have been changed on the primary. For these parameters,
the value on the standby must
be equal to or greater than the value on the primary.
Therefore, if you want to increase these values, you should do so on all
standby servers first, before applying the changes to the primary server.
Conversely, if you want to decrease these values, you should do so on the
primary server first, before applying the changes to all standby servers.
If these parameters
are not set high enough then the standby will refuse to start.
Higher values can then be supplied and the server
restarted to begin recovery again. These parameters are:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>
<code class="varname">max_connections</code>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<code class="varname">max_prepared_transactions</code>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<code class="varname">max_locks_per_transaction</code>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<code class="varname">max_wal_senders</code>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<code class="varname">max_worker_processes</code>
</p></li></ul></div><p>
</p><p>
It is important that the administrator select appropriate settings for
<a class="xref" href="runtime-config-replication.html#GUC-MAX-STANDBY-ARCHIVE-DELAY">max_standby_archive_delay</a> and <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-replication.html#GUC-MAX-STANDBY-STREAMING-DELAY">max_standby_streaming_delay</a>. The best choices vary
depending on business priorities. For example if the server is primarily
tasked as a High Availability server, then you will want low delay
settings, perhaps even zero, though that is a very aggressive setting. If
the standby server is tasked as an additional server for decision support
queries then it might be acceptable to set the maximum delay values to
many hours, or even -1 which means wait forever for queries to complete.
</p><p>
Transaction status "hint bits" written on the primary are not WAL-logged,
so data on the standby will likely re-write the hints again on the standby.
Thus, the standby server will still perform disk writes even though
all users are read-only; no changes occur to the data values
themselves. Users will still write large sort temporary files and
re-generate relcache info files, so no part of the database
is truly read-only during hot standby mode.
Note also that writes to remote databases using
<span class="application">dblink</span> module, and other operations outside the
database using PL functions will still be possible, even though the
transaction is read-only locally.
</p><p>
The following types of administration commands are not accepted
during recovery mode:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>
Data Definition Language (DDL): e.g., <code class="command">CREATE INDEX</code>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Privilege and Ownership: <code class="command">GRANT</code>, <code class="command">REVOKE</code>,
<code class="command">REASSIGN</code>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Maintenance commands: <code class="command">ANALYZE</code>, <code class="command">VACUUM</code>,
<code class="command">CLUSTER</code>, <code class="command">REINDEX</code>
</p></li></ul></div><p>
</p><p>
Again, note that some of these commands are actually allowed during
"read only" mode transactions on the primary.
</p><p>
As a result, you cannot create additional indexes that exist solely
on the standby, nor statistics that exist solely on the standby.
If these administration commands are needed, they should be executed
on the primary, and eventually those changes will propagate to the
standby.
</p><p>
<code class="function">pg_cancel_backend()</code>
and <code class="function">pg_terminate_backend()</code> will work on user backends,
but not the Startup process, which performs
recovery. <code class="structname">pg_stat_activity</code> does not show
recovering transactions as active. As a result,
<code class="structname">pg_prepared_xacts</code> is always empty during
recovery. If you wish to resolve in-doubt prepared transactions, view
<code class="literal">pg_prepared_xacts</code> on the primary and issue commands to
resolve transactions there or resolve them after the end of recovery.
</p><p>
<code class="structname">pg_locks</code> will show locks held by backends,
as normal. <code class="structname">pg_locks</code> also shows
a virtual transaction managed by the Startup process that owns all
<code class="literal">AccessExclusiveLocks</code> held by transactions being replayed by recovery.
Note that the Startup process does not acquire locks to
make database changes, and thus locks other than <code class="literal">AccessExclusiveLocks</code>
do not show in <code class="structname">pg_locks</code> for the Startup
process; they are just presumed to exist.
</p><p>
The <span class="productname">Nagios</span> plugin <span class="productname">check_pgsql</span> will
work, because the simple information it checks for exists.
The <span class="productname">check_postgres</span> monitoring script will also work,
though some reported values could give different or confusing results.
For example, last vacuum time will not be maintained, since no
vacuum occurs on the standby. Vacuums running on the primary
do still send their changes to the standby.
</p><p>
WAL file control commands will not work during recovery,
e.g., <code class="function">pg_start_backup</code>, <code class="function">pg_switch_wal</code> etc.
</p><p>
Dynamically loadable modules work, including <code class="structname">pg_stat_statements</code>.
</p><p>
Advisory locks work normally in recovery, including deadlock detection.
Note that advisory locks are never WAL logged, so it is impossible for
an advisory lock on either the primary or the standby to conflict with WAL
replay. Nor is it possible to acquire an advisory lock on the primary
and have it initiate a similar advisory lock on the standby. Advisory
locks relate only to the server on which they are acquired.
</p><p>
Trigger-based replication systems such as <span class="productname">Slony</span>,
<span class="productname">Londiste</span> and <span class="productname">Bucardo</span> won't run on the
standby at all, though they will run happily on the primary server as
long as the changes are not sent to standby servers to be applied.
WAL replay is not trigger-based so you cannot relay from the
standby to any system that requires additional database writes or
relies on the use of triggers.
</p><p>
New OIDs cannot be assigned, though some <acronym class="acronym">UUID</acronym> generators may still
work as long as they do not rely on writing new status to the database.
</p><p>
Currently, temporary table creation is not allowed during read only
transactions, so in some cases existing scripts will not run correctly.
This restriction might be relaxed in a later release. This is
both a SQL Standard compliance issue and a technical issue.
</p><p>
<code class="command">DROP TABLESPACE</code> can only succeed if the tablespace is empty.
Some standby users may be actively using the tablespace via their
<code class="varname">temp_tablespaces</code> parameter. If there are temporary files in the
tablespace, all active queries are canceled to ensure that temporary
files are removed, so the tablespace can be removed and WAL replay
can continue.
</p><p>
Running <code class="command">DROP DATABASE</code> or <code class="command">ALTER DATABASE ... SET
TABLESPACE</code> on the primary
will generate a WAL entry that will cause all users connected to that
database on the standby to be forcibly disconnected. This action occurs
immediately, whatever the setting of
<code class="varname">max_standby_streaming_delay</code>. Note that
<code class="command">ALTER DATABASE ... RENAME</code> does not disconnect users, which
in most cases will go unnoticed, though might in some cases cause a
program confusion if it depends in some way upon database name.
</p><p>
In normal (non-recovery) mode, if you issue <code class="command">DROP USER</code> or <code class="command">DROP ROLE</code>
for a role with login capability while that user is still connected then
nothing happens to the connected user — they remain connected. The user cannot
reconnect however. This behavior applies in recovery also, so a
<code class="command">DROP USER</code> on the primary does not disconnect that user on the standby.
</p><p>
The statistics collector is active during recovery. All scans, reads, blocks,
index usage, etc., will be recorded normally on the standby. Replayed
actions will not duplicate their effects on primary, so replaying an
insert will not increment the Inserts column of pg_stat_user_tables.
The stats file is deleted at the start of recovery, so stats from primary
and standby will differ; this is considered a feature, not a bug.
</p><p>
Autovacuum is not active during recovery. It will start normally at the
end of recovery.
</p><p>
The checkpointer process and the background writer process are active during
recovery. The checkpointer process will perform restartpoints (similar to
checkpoints on the primary) and the background writer process will perform
normal block cleaning activities. This can include updates of the hint bit
information stored on the standby server.
The <code class="command">CHECKPOINT</code> command is accepted during recovery,
though it performs a restartpoint rather than a new checkpoint.
</p></div><div class="sect2" id="HOT-STANDBY-PARAMETERS"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">26.5.4. Hot Standby Parameter Reference</h3></div></div></div><p>
Various parameters have been mentioned above in
<a class="xref" href="hot-standby.html#HOT-STANDBY-CONFLICT" title="26.5.2. Handling Query Conflicts">Section 26.5.2</a> and
<a class="xref" href="hot-standby.html#HOT-STANDBY-ADMIN" title="26.5.3. Administrator's Overview">Section 26.5.3</a>.
</p><p>
On the primary, parameters <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-WAL-LEVEL">wal_level</a> and
<a class="xref" href="runtime-config-replication.html#GUC-VACUUM-DEFER-CLEANUP-AGE">vacuum_defer_cleanup_age</a> can be used.
<a class="xref" href="runtime-config-replication.html#GUC-MAX-STANDBY-ARCHIVE-DELAY">max_standby_archive_delay</a> and
<a class="xref" href="runtime-config-replication.html#GUC-MAX-STANDBY-STREAMING-DELAY">max_standby_streaming_delay</a> have no effect if set on
the primary.
</p><p>
On the standby, parameters <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-replication.html#GUC-HOT-STANDBY">hot_standby</a>,
<a class="xref" href="runtime-config-replication.html#GUC-MAX-STANDBY-ARCHIVE-DELAY">max_standby_archive_delay</a> and
<a class="xref" href="runtime-config-replication.html#GUC-MAX-STANDBY-STREAMING-DELAY">max_standby_streaming_delay</a> can be used.
<a class="xref" href="runtime-config-replication.html#GUC-VACUUM-DEFER-CLEANUP-AGE">vacuum_defer_cleanup_age</a> has no effect
as long as the server remains in standby mode, though it will
become relevant if the standby becomes primary.
</p></div><div class="sect2" id="HOT-STANDBY-CAVEATS"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">26.5.5. Caveats</h3></div></div></div><p>
There are several limitations of Hot Standby.
These can and probably will be fixed in future releases:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>
Full knowledge of running transactions is required before snapshots
can be taken. Transactions that use large numbers of subtransactions
(currently greater than 64) will delay the start of read only
connections until the completion of the longest running write transaction.
If this situation occurs, explanatory messages will be sent to the server log.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Valid starting points for standby queries are generated at each
checkpoint on the master. If the standby is shut down while the master
is in a shutdown state, it might not be possible to re-enter Hot Standby
until the primary is started up, so that it generates further starting
points in the WAL logs. This situation isn't a problem in the most
common situations where it might happen. Generally, if the primary is
shut down and not available anymore, that's likely due to a serious
failure that requires the standby being converted to operate as
the new primary anyway. And in situations where the primary is
being intentionally taken down, coordinating to make sure the standby
becomes the new primary smoothly is also standard procedure.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
At the end of recovery, <code class="literal">AccessExclusiveLocks</code> held by prepared transactions
will require twice the normal number of lock table entries. If you plan
on running either a large number of concurrent prepared transactions
that normally take <code class="literal">AccessExclusiveLocks</code>, or you plan on having one
large transaction that takes many <code class="literal">AccessExclusiveLocks</code>, you are
advised to select a larger value of <code class="varname">max_locks_per_transaction</code>,
perhaps as much as twice the value of the parameter on
the primary server. You need not consider this at all if
your setting of <code class="varname">max_prepared_transactions</code> is 0.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
The Serializable transaction isolation level is not yet available in hot
standby. (See <a class="xref" href="transaction-iso.html#XACT-SERIALIZABLE" title="13.2.3. Serializable Isolation Level">Section 13.2.3</a> and
<a class="xref" href="applevel-consistency.html#SERIALIZABLE-CONSISTENCY" title="13.4.1. Enforcing Consistency with Serializable Transactions">Section 13.4.1</a> for details.)
An attempt to set a transaction to the serializable isolation level in
hot standby mode will generate an error.
</p></li></ul></div><p>
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