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+<!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>27.4. 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 Vsnapshot" /><link rel="prev" href="warm-standby-failover.html" title="27.3. Failover" /><link rel="next" href="monitoring.html" title="Chapter 28. 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">27.4. Hot Standby</th></tr><tr><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="warm-standby-failover.html" title="27.3. Failover">Prev</a> </td><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="u" href="high-availability.html" title="Chapter 27. High Availability, Load Balancing, and Replication">Up</a></td><th width="60%" align="center">Chapter 27. High Availability, Load Balancing, and Replication</th><td width="10%" align="right"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html" title="PostgreSQL 14.5 Documentation">Home</a></td><td width="10%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="monitoring.html" title="Chapter 28. 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">27.4. Hot Standby</h2></div></div></div><div class="toc"><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="hot-standby.html#HOT-STANDBY-USERS">27.4.1. User's Overview</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="hot-standby.html#HOT-STANDBY-CONFLICT">27.4.2. Handling Query Conflicts</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="hot-standby.html#HOT-STANDBY-ADMIN">27.4.3. Administrator's Overview</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="hot-standby.html#HOT-STANDBY-PARAMETERS">27.4.4. Hot Standby Parameter Reference</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="hot-standby.html#HOT-STANDBY-CAVEATS">27.4.5. Caveats</a></span></dt></dl></div><a id="id-1.6.14.18.2" 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">27.4.1. 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 can determine whether hot standby is currently active for their
+ session by issuing <code class="command">SHOW in_hot_standby</code>.
+ (In server versions before 14, the <code class="varname">in_hot_standby</code>
+ parameter did not exist; a workable substitute method for older servers
+ is <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 9.88. Recovery Information Functions">Table 9.88</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">27.4.2. 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
+ primary. So it is possible that cleanup on the primary 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><p>
+ Users can control whether a log message is produced when WAL replay is waiting
+ longer than <code class="varname">deadlock_timeout</code> for conflicts. This
+ is controlled by the <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-logging.html#GUC-LOG-RECOVERY-CONFLICT-WAITS">log_recovery_conflict_waits</a> parameter.
+ </p></div><div class="sect2" id="HOT-STANDBY-ADMIN"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">27.4.3. 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-1.6.14.18.7.2.5" 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 settings of some parameters determine the size of shared memory for
+ tracking transaction IDs, locks, and prepared transactions. These shared
+ memory structures must be no smaller on a standby than on the primary in
+ order to ensure that the standby does not run out of shared memory during
+ recovery. For example, if the primary had used a prepared transaction but
+ the standby had not allocated any shared memory for tracking prepared
+ transactions, then recovery could not continue until the standby's
+ configuration is changed. The parameters affected 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>
+
+ The easiest way to ensure this does not become a problem is to have these
+ parameters set on the standbys to values equal to or greater than 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. Keep in mind that when a standby is promoted, it
+ becomes the new reference for the required parameter settings for the
+ standbys that follow it. Therefore, to avoid this becoming a problem
+ during a switchover or failover, it is recommended to keep these settings
+ the same on all standby servers.
+ </p><p>
+ The WAL tracks changes to these parameters on the
+ primary. If a hot standby processes WAL that indicates that the current
+ value on the primary is higher than its own value, it will log a warning
+ and pause recovery, for example:
+</p><pre class="screen">
+WARNING: hot standby is not possible because of insufficient parameter settings
+DETAIL: max_connections = 80 is a lower setting than on the primary server, where its value was 100.
+LOG: recovery has paused
+DETAIL: If recovery is unpaused, the server will shut down.
+HINT: You can then restart the server after making the necessary configuration changes.
+</pre><p>
+ At that point, the settings on the standby need to be updated and the
+ instance restarted before recovery can continue. If the standby is not a
+ hot standby, then when it encounters the incompatible parameter change, it
+ will shut down immediately without pausing, since there is then no value
+ in keeping it up.
+ </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 an 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">27.4.4. 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="27.4.2. Handling Query Conflicts">Section 27.4.2</a> and
+ <a class="xref" href="hot-standby.html#HOT-STANDBY-ADMIN" title="27.4.3. Administrator's Overview">Section 27.4.3</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">27.4.5. 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 primary. If the standby is shut down while the primary
+ 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>
+
+ </p></div></div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/transitional" class="navfooter"><hr></hr><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="warm-standby-failover.html" title="27.3. Failover">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="high-availability.html" title="Chapter 27. High Availability, Load Balancing, and Replication">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="monitoring.html" title="Chapter 28. Monitoring Database Activity">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">27.3. Failover </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html" title="PostgreSQL 14.5 Documentation">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> Chapter 28. Monitoring Database Activity</td></tr></table></div></body></html> \ No newline at end of file