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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>20.5. Write Ahead Log</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="runtime-config-resource.html" title="20.4. Resource Consumption" /><link rel="next" href="runtime-config-replication.html" title="20.6. Replication" /></head><body id="docContent" class="container-fluid col-10"><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="5" align="center">20.5. Write Ahead Log</th></tr><tr><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="runtime-config-resource.html" title="20.4. Resource Consumption">Prev</a> </td><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="u" href="runtime-config.html" title="Chapter 20. Server Configuration">Up</a></td><th width="60%" align="center">Chapter 20. Server Configuration</th><td width="10%" align="right"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html" title="PostgreSQL 15.5 Documentation">Home</a></td><td width="10%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="runtime-config-replication.html" title="20.6. Replication">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr /></div><div class="sect1" id="RUNTIME-CONFIG-WAL"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both">20.5. Write Ahead Log</h2></div></div></div><div class="toc"><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="runtime-config-wal.html#RUNTIME-CONFIG-WAL-SETTINGS">20.5.1. Settings</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="runtime-config-wal.html#RUNTIME-CONFIG-WAL-CHECKPOINTS">20.5.2. Checkpoints</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="runtime-config-wal.html#RUNTIME-CONFIG-WAL-ARCHIVING">20.5.3. Archiving</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="runtime-config-wal.html#RUNTIME-CONFIG-WAL-RECOVERY">20.5.4. Recovery</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="runtime-config-wal.html#RUNTIME-CONFIG-WAL-ARCHIVE-RECOVERY">20.5.5. Archive Recovery</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="runtime-config-wal.html#RUNTIME-CONFIG-WAL-RECOVERY-TARGET">20.5.6. Recovery Target</a></span></dt></dl></div><p>
+ For additional information on tuning these settings,
+ see <a class="xref" href="wal-configuration.html" title="30.5. WAL Configuration">Section 30.5</a>.
+ </p><div class="sect2" id="RUNTIME-CONFIG-WAL-SETTINGS"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">20.5.1. Settings</h3></div></div></div><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt id="GUC-WAL-LEVEL"><span class="term"><code class="varname">wal_level</code> (<code class="type">enum</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.3.2.1.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ <code class="varname">wal_level</code> determines how much information is written to
+ the WAL. The default value is <code class="literal">replica</code>, which writes enough
+ data to support WAL archiving and replication, including running
+ read-only queries on a standby server. <code class="literal">minimal</code> removes all
+ logging except the information required to recover from a crash or
+ immediate shutdown. Finally,
+ <code class="literal">logical</code> adds information necessary to support logical
+ decoding. Each level includes the information logged at all lower
+ levels. This parameter can only be set at server start.
+ </p><p>
+ The <code class="literal">minimal</code> level generates the least WAL
+ volume. It logs no row information for permanent relations
+ in transactions that create or
+ rewrite them. This can make operations much faster (see
+ <a class="xref" href="populate.html#POPULATE-PITR" title="14.4.7. Disable WAL Archival and Streaming Replication">Section 14.4.7</a>). Operations that initiate this
+ optimization include:
+ </p><table border="0" summary="Simple list" class="simplelist"><tr><td><code class="command">ALTER ... SET TABLESPACE</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="command">CLUSTER</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="command">CREATE TABLE</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="command">REFRESH MATERIALIZED VIEW</code>
+ (without <code class="option">CONCURRENTLY</code>)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="command">REINDEX</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="command">TRUNCATE</code></td></tr></table><p>
+ However, minimal WAL does not contain sufficient information for
+ point-in-time recovery, so <code class="literal">replica</code> or
+ higher must be used to enable continuous archiving
+ (<a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-ARCHIVE-MODE">archive_mode</a>) and streaming binary replication.
+ In fact, the server will not even start in this mode if
+ <code class="varname">max_wal_senders</code> is non-zero.
+ Note that changing <code class="varname">wal_level</code> to
+ <code class="literal">minimal</code> makes previous base backups unusable
+ for point-in-time recovery and standby servers.
+ </p><p>
+ In <code class="literal">logical</code> level, the same information is logged as
+ with <code class="literal">replica</code>, plus information needed to
+ extract logical change sets from the WAL. Using a level of
+ <code class="literal">logical</code> will increase the WAL volume, particularly if many
+ tables are configured for <code class="literal">REPLICA IDENTITY FULL</code> and
+ many <code class="command">UPDATE</code> and <code class="command">DELETE</code> statements are
+ executed.
+ </p><p>
+ In releases prior to 9.6, this parameter also allowed the
+ values <code class="literal">archive</code> and <code class="literal">hot_standby</code>.
+ These are still accepted but mapped to <code class="literal">replica</code>.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-FSYNC"><span class="term"><code class="varname">fsync</code> (<code class="type">boolean</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.3.2.2.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ If this parameter is on, the <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> server
+ will try to make sure that updates are physically written to
+ disk, by issuing <code class="function">fsync()</code> system calls or various
+ equivalent methods (see <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-WAL-SYNC-METHOD">wal_sync_method</a>).
+ This ensures that the database cluster can recover to a
+ consistent state after an operating system or hardware crash.
+ </p><p>
+ While turning off <code class="varname">fsync</code> is often a performance
+ benefit, this can result in unrecoverable data corruption in
+ the event of a power failure or system crash. Thus it
+ is only advisable to turn off <code class="varname">fsync</code> if
+ you can easily recreate your entire database from external
+ data.
+ </p><p>
+ Examples of safe circumstances for turning off
+ <code class="varname">fsync</code> include the initial loading of a new
+ database cluster from a backup file, using a database cluster
+ for processing a batch of data after which the database
+ will be thrown away and recreated,
+ or for a read-only database clone which
+ gets recreated frequently and is not used for failover. High
+ quality hardware alone is not a sufficient justification for
+ turning off <code class="varname">fsync</code>.
+ </p><p>
+ For reliable recovery when changing <code class="varname">fsync</code>
+ off to on, it is necessary to force all modified buffers in the
+ kernel to durable storage. This can be done while the cluster
+ is shutdown or while <code class="varname">fsync</code> is on by running <code class="command">initdb
+ --sync-only</code>, running <code class="command">sync</code>, unmounting the
+ file system, or rebooting the server.
+ </p><p>
+ In many situations, turning off <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-SYNCHRONOUS-COMMIT">synchronous_commit</a>
+ for noncritical transactions can provide much of the potential
+ performance benefit of turning off <code class="varname">fsync</code>, without
+ the attendant risks of data corruption.
+ </p><p>
+ <code class="varname">fsync</code> can only be set in the <code class="filename">postgresql.conf</code>
+ file or on the server command line.
+ If you turn this parameter off, also consider turning off
+ <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-FULL-PAGE-WRITES">full_page_writes</a>.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-SYNCHRONOUS-COMMIT"><span class="term"><code class="varname">synchronous_commit</code> (<code class="type">enum</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.3.2.3.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ Specifies how much WAL processing must complete before
+ the database server returns a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">success</span>”</span>
+ indication to the client. Valid values are
+ <code class="literal">remote_apply</code>, <code class="literal">on</code>
+ (the default), <code class="literal">remote_write</code>,
+ <code class="literal">local</code>, and <code class="literal">off</code>.
+ </p><p>
+ If <code class="varname">synchronous_standby_names</code> is empty,
+ the only meaningful settings are <code class="literal">on</code> and
+ <code class="literal">off</code>; <code class="literal">remote_apply</code>,
+ <code class="literal">remote_write</code> and <code class="literal">local</code>
+ all provide the same local synchronization level
+ as <code class="literal">on</code>. The local behavior of all
+ non-<code class="literal">off</code> modes is to wait for local flush of WAL
+ to disk. In <code class="literal">off</code> mode, there is no waiting,
+ so there can be a delay between when success is reported to the
+ client and when the transaction is later guaranteed to be safe
+ against a server crash. (The maximum
+ delay is three times <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-WAL-WRITER-DELAY">wal_writer_delay</a>.) Unlike
+ <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-FSYNC">fsync</a>, setting this parameter to <code class="literal">off</code>
+ does not create any risk of database inconsistency: an operating
+ system or database crash might
+ result in some recent allegedly-committed transactions being lost, but
+ the database state will be just the same as if those transactions had
+ been aborted cleanly. So, turning <code class="varname">synchronous_commit</code> off
+ can be a useful alternative when performance is more important than
+ exact certainty about the durability of a transaction. For more
+ discussion see <a class="xref" href="wal-async-commit.html" title="30.4. Asynchronous Commit">Section 30.4</a>.
+ </p><p>
+ If <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-replication.html#GUC-SYNCHRONOUS-STANDBY-NAMES">synchronous_standby_names</a> is non-empty,
+ <code class="varname">synchronous_commit</code> also controls whether
+ transaction commits will wait for their WAL records to be
+ processed on the standby server(s).
+ </p><p>
+ When set to <code class="literal">remote_apply</code>, commits will wait
+ until replies from the current synchronous standby(s) indicate they
+ have received the commit record of the transaction and applied
+ it, so that it has become visible to queries on the standby(s),
+ and also written to durable storage on the standbys. This will
+ cause much larger commit delays than previous settings since
+ it waits for WAL replay. When set to <code class="literal">on</code>,
+ commits wait until replies
+ from the current synchronous standby(s) indicate they have received
+ the commit record of the transaction and flushed it to durable storage. This
+ ensures the transaction will not be lost unless both the primary and
+ all synchronous standbys suffer corruption of their database storage.
+ When set to <code class="literal">remote_write</code>, commits will wait until replies
+ from the current synchronous standby(s) indicate they have
+ received the commit record of the transaction and written it to
+ their file systems. This setting ensures data preservation if a standby instance of
+ <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> crashes, but not if the standby
+ suffers an operating-system-level crash because the data has not
+ necessarily reached durable storage on the standby.
+ The setting <code class="literal">local</code> causes commits to wait for
+ local flush to disk, but not for replication. This is usually not
+ desirable when synchronous replication is in use, but is provided for
+ completeness.
+ </p><p>
+ This parameter can be changed at any time; the behavior for any
+ one transaction is determined by the setting in effect when it
+ commits. It is therefore possible, and useful, to have some
+ transactions commit synchronously and others asynchronously.
+ For example, to make a single multistatement transaction commit
+ asynchronously when the default is the opposite, issue <code class="command">SET
+ LOCAL synchronous_commit TO OFF</code> within the transaction.
+ </p><p>
+ <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#SYNCHRONOUS-COMMIT-MATRIX" title="Table 20.1. synchronous_commit Modes">Table 20.1</a> summarizes the
+ capabilities of the <code class="varname">synchronous_commit</code> settings.
+ </p><div class="table" id="SYNCHRONOUS-COMMIT-MATRIX"><p class="title"><strong>Table 20.1. synchronous_commit Modes</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table class="table" summary="synchronous_commit Modes" border="1"><colgroup><col class="col1" /><col class="col2" /><col class="col3" /><col class="col4" /><col class="col5" /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>synchronous_commit setting</th><th>local durable commit</th><th>standby durable commit after PG crash</th><th>standby durable commit after OS crash</th><th>standby query consistency</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>remote_apply</td><td align="center">•</td><td align="center">•</td><td align="center">•</td><td align="center">•</td></tr><tr><td>on</td><td align="center">•</td><td align="center">•</td><td align="center">•</td><td align="center"> </td></tr><tr><td>remote_write</td><td align="center">•</td><td align="center">•</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="center"> </td></tr><tr><td>local</td><td align="center">•</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="center"> </td><td align="center"> </td></tr><tr><td>off</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="center"> </td><td align="center"> </td><td align="center"> </td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /></dd><dt id="GUC-WAL-SYNC-METHOD"><span class="term"><code class="varname">wal_sync_method</code> (<code class="type">enum</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.3.2.4.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ Method used for forcing WAL updates out to disk.
+ If <code class="varname">fsync</code> is off then this setting is irrelevant,
+ since WAL file updates will not be forced out at all.
+ Possible values are:
+ </p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>
+ <code class="literal">open_datasync</code> (write WAL files with <code class="function">open()</code> option <code class="symbol">O_DSYNC</code>)
+ </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
+ <code class="literal">fdatasync</code> (call <code class="function">fdatasync()</code> at each commit)
+ </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
+ <code class="literal">fsync</code> (call <code class="function">fsync()</code> at each commit)
+ </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
+ <code class="literal">fsync_writethrough</code> (call <code class="function">fsync()</code> at each commit, forcing write-through of any disk write cache)
+ </p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
+ <code class="literal">open_sync</code> (write WAL files with <code class="function">open()</code> option <code class="symbol">O_SYNC</code>)
+ </p></li></ul></div><p>
+ The <code class="literal">open_</code>* options also use <code class="literal">O_DIRECT</code> if available.
+ Not all of these choices are available on all platforms.
+ The default is the first method in the above list that is supported
+ by the platform, except that <code class="literal">fdatasync</code> is the default on
+ Linux and FreeBSD. The default is not necessarily ideal; it might be
+ necessary to change this setting or other aspects of your system
+ configuration in order to create a crash-safe configuration or
+ achieve optimal performance.
+ These aspects are discussed in <a class="xref" href="wal-reliability.html" title="30.1. Reliability">Section 30.1</a>.
+ This parameter can only be set in the <code class="filename">postgresql.conf</code>
+ file or on the server command line.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-FULL-PAGE-WRITES"><span class="term"><code class="varname">full_page_writes</code> (<code class="type">boolean</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.3.2.5.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ When this parameter is on, the <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> server
+ writes the entire content of each disk page to WAL during the
+ first modification of that page after a checkpoint.
+ This is needed because
+ a page write that is in process during an operating system crash might
+ be only partially completed, leading to an on-disk page
+ that contains a mix of old and new data. The row-level change data
+ normally stored in WAL will not be enough to completely restore
+ such a page during post-crash recovery. Storing the full page image
+ guarantees that the page can be correctly restored, but at the price
+ of increasing the amount of data that must be written to WAL.
+ (Because WAL replay always starts from a checkpoint, it is sufficient
+ to do this during the first change of each page after a checkpoint.
+ Therefore, one way to reduce the cost of full-page writes is to
+ increase the checkpoint interval parameters.)
+ </p><p>
+ Turning this parameter off speeds normal operation, but
+ might lead to either unrecoverable data corruption, or silent
+ data corruption, after a system failure. The risks are similar to turning off
+ <code class="varname">fsync</code>, though smaller, and it should be turned off
+ only based on the same circumstances recommended for that parameter.
+ </p><p>
+ Turning off this parameter does not affect use of
+ WAL archiving for point-in-time recovery (PITR)
+ (see <a class="xref" href="continuous-archiving.html" title="26.3. Continuous Archiving and Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR)">Section 26.3</a>).
+ </p><p>
+ This parameter can only be set in the <code class="filename">postgresql.conf</code>
+ file or on the server command line.
+ The default is <code class="literal">on</code>.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-WAL-LOG-HINTS"><span class="term"><code class="varname">wal_log_hints</code> (<code class="type">boolean</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.3.2.6.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ When this parameter is <code class="literal">on</code>, the <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span>
+ server writes the entire content of each disk page to WAL during the
+ first modification of that page after a checkpoint, even for
+ non-critical modifications of so-called hint bits.
+ </p><p>
+ If data checksums are enabled, hint bit updates are always WAL-logged
+ and this setting is ignored. You can use this setting to test how much
+ extra WAL-logging would occur if your database had data checksums
+ enabled.
+ </p><p>
+ This parameter can only be set at server start. The default value is <code class="literal">off</code>.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-WAL-COMPRESSION"><span class="term"><code class="varname">wal_compression</code> (<code class="type">enum</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.3.2.7.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ This parameter enables compression of WAL using the specified
+ compression method.
+ When enabled, the <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span>
+ server compresses full page images written to WAL when
+ <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-FULL-PAGE-WRITES">full_page_writes</a> is on or during a base backup.
+ A compressed page image will be decompressed during WAL replay.
+ The supported methods are <code class="literal">pglz</code>,
+ <code class="literal">lz4</code> (if <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span>
+ was compiled with <code class="option">--with-lz4</code>) and
+ <code class="literal">zstd</code> (if <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span>
+ was compiled with <code class="option">--with-zstd</code>).
+ The default value is <code class="literal">off</code>.
+ Only superusers and users with the appropriate <code class="literal">SET</code>
+ privilege can change this setting.
+ </p><p>
+ Enabling compression can reduce the WAL volume without
+ increasing the risk of unrecoverable data corruption,
+ but at the cost of some extra CPU spent on the compression during
+ WAL logging and on the decompression during WAL replay.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-WAL-INIT-ZERO"><span class="term"><code class="varname">wal_init_zero</code> (<code class="type">boolean</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.3.2.8.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ If set to <code class="literal">on</code> (the default), this option causes new
+ WAL files to be filled with zeroes. On some file systems, this ensures
+ that space is allocated before we need to write WAL records. However,
+ <em class="firstterm">Copy-On-Write</em> (COW) file systems may not benefit
+ from this technique, so the option is given to skip the unnecessary
+ work. If set to <code class="literal">off</code>, only the final byte is written
+ when the file is created so that it has the expected size.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-WAL-RECYCLE"><span class="term"><code class="varname">wal_recycle</code> (<code class="type">boolean</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.3.2.9.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ If set to <code class="literal">on</code> (the default), this option causes WAL
+ files to be recycled by renaming them, avoiding the need to create new
+ ones. On COW file systems, it may be faster to create new ones, so the
+ option is given to disable this behavior.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-WAL-BUFFERS"><span class="term"><code class="varname">wal_buffers</code> (<code class="type">integer</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.3.2.10.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ The amount of shared memory used for WAL data that has not yet been
+ written to disk. The default setting of -1 selects a size equal to
+ 1/32nd (about 3%) of <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-resource.html#GUC-SHARED-BUFFERS">shared_buffers</a>, but not less
+ than <code class="literal">64kB</code> nor more than the size of one WAL
+ segment, typically <code class="literal">16MB</code>. This value can be set
+ manually if the automatic choice is too large or too small,
+ but any positive value less than <code class="literal">32kB</code> will be
+ treated as <code class="literal">32kB</code>.
+ If this value is specified without units, it is taken as WAL blocks,
+ that is <code class="symbol">XLOG_BLCKSZ</code> bytes, typically 8kB.
+ This parameter can only be set at server start.
+ </p><p>
+ The contents of the WAL buffers are written out to disk at every
+ transaction commit, so extremely large values are unlikely to
+ provide a significant benefit. However, setting this value to at
+ least a few megabytes can improve write performance on a busy
+ server where many clients are committing at once. The auto-tuning
+ selected by the default setting of -1 should give reasonable
+ results in most cases.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-WAL-WRITER-DELAY"><span class="term"><code class="varname">wal_writer_delay</code> (<code class="type">integer</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.3.2.11.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ Specifies how often the WAL writer flushes WAL, in time terms.
+ After flushing WAL the writer sleeps for the length of time given
+ by <code class="varname">wal_writer_delay</code>, unless woken up sooner
+ by an asynchronously committing transaction. If the last flush
+ happened less than <code class="varname">wal_writer_delay</code> ago and less
+ than <code class="varname">wal_writer_flush_after</code> worth of WAL has been
+ produced since, then WAL is only written to the operating system, not
+ flushed to disk.
+ If this value is specified without units, it is taken as milliseconds.
+ The default value is 200 milliseconds (<code class="literal">200ms</code>). Note that
+ on many systems, the effective resolution of sleep delays is 10
+ milliseconds; setting <code class="varname">wal_writer_delay</code> to a value that is
+ not a multiple of 10 might have the same results as setting it to the
+ next higher multiple of 10. This parameter can only be set in the
+ <code class="filename">postgresql.conf</code> file or on the server command line.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-WAL-WRITER-FLUSH-AFTER"><span class="term"><code class="varname">wal_writer_flush_after</code> (<code class="type">integer</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.3.2.12.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ Specifies how often the WAL writer flushes WAL, in volume terms.
+ If the last flush happened less
+ than <code class="varname">wal_writer_delay</code> ago and less
+ than <code class="varname">wal_writer_flush_after</code> worth of WAL has been
+ produced since, then WAL is only written to the operating system, not
+ flushed to disk. If <code class="varname">wal_writer_flush_after</code> is set
+ to <code class="literal">0</code> then WAL data is always flushed immediately.
+ If this value is specified without units, it is taken as WAL blocks,
+ that is <code class="symbol">XLOG_BLCKSZ</code> bytes, typically 8kB.
+ The default is <code class="literal">1MB</code>.
+ This parameter can only be set in the
+ <code class="filename">postgresql.conf</code> file or on the server command line.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-WAL-SKIP-THRESHOLD"><span class="term"><code class="varname">wal_skip_threshold</code> (<code class="type">integer</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.3.2.13.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ When <code class="varname">wal_level</code> is <code class="literal">minimal</code> and a
+ transaction commits after creating or rewriting a permanent relation,
+ this setting determines how to persist the new data. If the data is
+ smaller than this setting, write it to the WAL log; otherwise, use an
+ fsync of affected files. Depending on the properties of your storage,
+ raising or lowering this value might help if such commits are slowing
+ concurrent transactions. If this value is specified without units, it
+ is taken as kilobytes. The default is two megabytes
+ (<code class="literal">2MB</code>).
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-COMMIT-DELAY"><span class="term"><code class="varname">commit_delay</code> (<code class="type">integer</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.3.2.14.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ Setting <code class="varname">commit_delay</code> adds a time delay
+ before a WAL flush is initiated. This can improve
+ group commit throughput by allowing a larger number of transactions
+ to commit via a single WAL flush, if system load is high enough
+ that additional transactions become ready to commit within the
+ given interval. However, it also increases latency by up to the
+ <code class="varname">commit_delay</code> for each WAL
+ flush. Because the delay is just wasted if no other transactions
+ become ready to commit, a delay is only performed if at least
+ <code class="varname">commit_siblings</code> other transactions are active
+ when a flush is about to be initiated. Also, no delays are
+ performed if <code class="varname">fsync</code> is disabled.
+ If this value is specified without units, it is taken as microseconds.
+ The default <code class="varname">commit_delay</code> is zero (no delay).
+ Only superusers and users with the appropriate <code class="literal">SET</code>
+ privilege can change this setting.
+ </p><p>
+ In <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> releases prior to 9.3,
+ <code class="varname">commit_delay</code> behaved differently and was much
+ less effective: it affected only commits, rather than all WAL flushes,
+ and waited for the entire configured delay even if the WAL flush
+ was completed sooner. Beginning in <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> 9.3,
+ the first process that becomes ready to flush waits for the configured
+ interval, while subsequent processes wait only until the leader
+ completes the flush operation.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-COMMIT-SIBLINGS"><span class="term"><code class="varname">commit_siblings</code> (<code class="type">integer</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.3.2.15.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ Minimum number of concurrent open transactions to require
+ before performing the <code class="varname">commit_delay</code> delay. A larger
+ value makes it more probable that at least one other
+ transaction will become ready to commit during the delay
+ interval. The default is five transactions.
+ </p></dd></dl></div></div><div class="sect2" id="RUNTIME-CONFIG-WAL-CHECKPOINTS"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">20.5.2. Checkpoints</h3></div></div></div><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt id="GUC-CHECKPOINT-TIMEOUT"><span class="term"><code class="varname">checkpoint_timeout</code> (<code class="type">integer</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.4.2.1.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ Maximum time between automatic WAL checkpoints.
+ If this value is specified without units, it is taken as seconds.
+ The valid range is between 30 seconds and one day.
+ The default is five minutes (<code class="literal">5min</code>).
+ Increasing this parameter can increase the amount of time needed
+ for crash recovery.
+ This parameter can only be set in the <code class="filename">postgresql.conf</code>
+ file or on the server command line.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-CHECKPOINT-COMPLETION-TARGET"><span class="term"><code class="varname">checkpoint_completion_target</code> (<code class="type">floating point</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.4.2.2.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ Specifies the target of checkpoint completion, as a fraction of
+ total time between checkpoints. The default is 0.9, which spreads the
+ checkpoint across almost all of the available interval, providing fairly
+ consistent I/O load while also leaving some time for checkpoint
+ completion overhead. Reducing this parameter is not recommended because
+ it causes the checkpoint to complete faster. This results in a higher
+ rate of I/O during the checkpoint followed by a period of less I/O between
+ the checkpoint completion and the next scheduled checkpoint. This
+ parameter can only be set in the <code class="filename">postgresql.conf</code> file
+ or on the server command line.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-CHECKPOINT-FLUSH-AFTER"><span class="term"><code class="varname">checkpoint_flush_after</code> (<code class="type">integer</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.4.2.3.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ Whenever more than this amount of data has been
+ written while performing a checkpoint, attempt to force the
+ OS to issue these writes to the underlying storage. Doing so will
+ limit the amount of dirty data in the kernel's page cache, reducing
+ the likelihood of stalls when an <code class="function">fsync</code> is issued at the end of the
+ checkpoint, or when the OS writes data back in larger batches in the
+ background. Often that will result in greatly reduced transaction
+ latency, but there also are some cases, especially with workloads
+ that are bigger than <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-resource.html#GUC-SHARED-BUFFERS">shared_buffers</a>, but smaller
+ than the OS's page cache, where performance might degrade. This
+ setting may have no effect on some platforms.
+ If this value is specified without units, it is taken as blocks,
+ that is <code class="symbol">BLCKSZ</code> bytes, typically 8kB.
+ The valid range is
+ between <code class="literal">0</code>, which disables forced writeback,
+ and <code class="literal">2MB</code>. The default is <code class="literal">256kB</code> on
+ Linux, <code class="literal">0</code> elsewhere. (If <code class="symbol">BLCKSZ</code> is not
+ 8kB, the default and maximum values scale proportionally to it.)
+ This parameter can only be set in the <code class="filename">postgresql.conf</code>
+ file or on the server command line.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-CHECKPOINT-WARNING"><span class="term"><code class="varname">checkpoint_warning</code> (<code class="type">integer</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.4.2.4.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ Write a message to the server log if checkpoints caused by
+ the filling of WAL segment files happen closer together
+ than this amount of time (which suggests that
+ <code class="varname">max_wal_size</code> ought to be raised).
+ If this value is specified without units, it is taken as seconds.
+ The default is 30 seconds (<code class="literal">30s</code>).
+ Zero disables the warning.
+ No warnings will be generated if <code class="varname">checkpoint_timeout</code>
+ is less than <code class="varname">checkpoint_warning</code>.
+ This parameter can only be set in the <code class="filename">postgresql.conf</code>
+ file or on the server command line.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-MAX-WAL-SIZE"><span class="term"><code class="varname">max_wal_size</code> (<code class="type">integer</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.4.2.5.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ Maximum size to let the WAL grow during automatic
+ checkpoints. This is a soft limit; WAL size can exceed
+ <code class="varname">max_wal_size</code> under special circumstances, such as
+ heavy load, a failing <code class="varname">archive_command</code> or <code class="varname">archive_library</code>, or a high
+ <code class="varname">wal_keep_size</code> setting.
+ If this value is specified without units, it is taken as megabytes.
+ The default is 1 GB.
+ Increasing this parameter can increase the amount of time needed for
+ crash recovery.
+ This parameter can only be set in the <code class="filename">postgresql.conf</code>
+ file or on the server command line.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-MIN-WAL-SIZE"><span class="term"><code class="varname">min_wal_size</code> (<code class="type">integer</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.4.2.6.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ As long as WAL disk usage stays below this setting, old WAL files are
+ always recycled for future use at a checkpoint, rather than removed.
+ This can be used to ensure that enough WAL space is reserved to
+ handle spikes in WAL usage, for example when running large batch
+ jobs.
+ If this value is specified without units, it is taken as megabytes.
+ The default is 80 MB.
+ This parameter can only be set in the <code class="filename">postgresql.conf</code>
+ file or on the server command line.
+ </p></dd></dl></div></div><div class="sect2" id="RUNTIME-CONFIG-WAL-ARCHIVING"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">20.5.3. Archiving</h3></div></div></div><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt id="GUC-ARCHIVE-MODE"><span class="term"><code class="varname">archive_mode</code> (<code class="type">enum</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.5.2.1.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ When <code class="varname">archive_mode</code> is enabled, completed WAL segments
+ are sent to archive storage by setting
+ <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-ARCHIVE-COMMAND">archive_command</a> or
+ <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-ARCHIVE-LIBRARY">archive_library</a>. In addition to <code class="literal">off</code>,
+ to disable, there are two modes: <code class="literal">on</code>, and
+ <code class="literal">always</code>. During normal operation, there is no
+ difference between the two modes, but when set to <code class="literal">always</code>
+ the WAL archiver is enabled also during archive recovery or standby
+ mode. In <code class="literal">always</code> mode, all files restored from the archive
+ or streamed with streaming replication will be archived (again). See
+ <a class="xref" href="warm-standby.html#CONTINUOUS-ARCHIVING-IN-STANDBY" title="27.2.9. Continuous Archiving in Standby">Section 27.2.9</a> for details.
+ </p><p>
+ <code class="varname">archive_mode</code> is a separate setting from
+ <code class="varname">archive_command</code> and
+ <code class="varname">archive_library</code> so that
+ <code class="varname">archive_command</code> and
+ <code class="varname">archive_library</code> can be changed without leaving
+ archiving mode.
+ This parameter can only be set at server start.
+ <code class="varname">archive_mode</code> cannot be enabled when
+ <code class="varname">wal_level</code> is set to <code class="literal">minimal</code>.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-ARCHIVE-COMMAND"><span class="term"><code class="varname">archive_command</code> (<code class="type">string</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.5.2.2.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ The local shell command to execute to archive a completed WAL file
+ segment. Any <code class="literal">%p</code> in the string is
+ replaced by the path name of the file to archive, and any
+ <code class="literal">%f</code> is replaced by only the file name.
+ (The path name is relative to the working directory of the server,
+ i.e., the cluster's data directory.)
+ Use <code class="literal">%%</code> to embed an actual <code class="literal">%</code> character in the
+ command. It is important for the command to return a zero
+ exit status only if it succeeds. For more information see
+ <a class="xref" href="continuous-archiving.html#BACKUP-ARCHIVING-WAL" title="26.3.1. Setting Up WAL Archiving">Section 26.3.1</a>.
+ </p><p>
+ This parameter can only be set in the <code class="filename">postgresql.conf</code>
+ file or on the server command line. It is ignored unless
+ <code class="varname">archive_mode</code> was enabled at server start and
+ <code class="varname">archive_library</code> is set to an empty string.
+ If <code class="varname">archive_command</code> is an empty string (the default) while
+ <code class="varname">archive_mode</code> is enabled (and <code class="varname">archive_library</code>
+ is set to an empty string), WAL archiving is temporarily
+ disabled, but the server continues to accumulate WAL segment files in
+ the expectation that a command will soon be provided. Setting
+ <code class="varname">archive_command</code> to a command that does nothing but
+ return true, e.g., <code class="literal">/bin/true</code> (<code class="literal">REM</code> on
+ Windows), effectively disables
+ archiving, but also breaks the chain of WAL files needed for
+ archive recovery, so it should only be used in unusual circumstances.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-ARCHIVE-LIBRARY"><span class="term"><code class="varname">archive_library</code> (<code class="type">string</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.5.2.3.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ The library to use for archiving completed WAL file segments. If set to
+ an empty string (the default), archiving via shell is enabled, and
+ <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-ARCHIVE-COMMAND">archive_command</a> is used. Otherwise, the specified
+ shared library is used for archiving. The WAL archiver process is
+ restarted by the postmaster when this parameter changes. For more
+ information, see <a class="xref" href="continuous-archiving.html#BACKUP-ARCHIVING-WAL" title="26.3.1. Setting Up WAL Archiving">Section 26.3.1</a> and
+ <a class="xref" href="archive-modules.html" title="Chapter 51. Archive Modules">Chapter 51</a>.
+ </p><p>
+ This parameter can only be set in the
+ <code class="filename">postgresql.conf</code> file or on the server command line.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-ARCHIVE-TIMEOUT"><span class="term"><code class="varname">archive_timeout</code> (<code class="type">integer</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.5.2.4.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ The <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-ARCHIVE-COMMAND">archive_command</a> or <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-ARCHIVE-LIBRARY">archive_library</a> is only invoked for
+ completed WAL segments. Hence, if your server generates little WAL
+ traffic (or has slack periods where it does so), there could be a
+ long delay between the completion of a transaction and its safe
+ recording in archive storage. To limit how old unarchived
+ data can be, you can set <code class="varname">archive_timeout</code> to force the
+ server to switch to a new WAL segment file periodically. When this
+ parameter is greater than zero, the server will switch to a new
+ segment file whenever this amount of time has elapsed since the last
+ segment file switch, and there has been any database activity,
+ including a single checkpoint (checkpoints are skipped if there is
+ no database activity). Note that archived files that are closed
+ early due to a forced switch are still the same length as completely
+ full files. Therefore, it is unwise to use a very short
+ <code class="varname">archive_timeout</code> — it will bloat your archive
+ storage. <code class="varname">archive_timeout</code> settings of a minute or so are
+ usually reasonable. You should consider using streaming replication,
+ instead of archiving, if you want data to be copied off the primary
+ server more quickly than that.
+ If this value is specified without units, it is taken as seconds.
+ This parameter can only be set in the
+ <code class="filename">postgresql.conf</code> file or on the server command line.
+ </p></dd></dl></div></div><div class="sect2" id="RUNTIME-CONFIG-WAL-RECOVERY"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">20.5.4. Recovery</h3></div></div></div><a id="id-1.6.7.8.6.2" class="indexterm"></a><p>
+ This section describes the settings that apply to recovery in general,
+ affecting crash recovery, streaming replication and archive-based
+ replication.
+ </p><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt id="GUC-RECOVERY-PREFETCH"><span class="term"><code class="varname">recovery_prefetch</code> (<code class="type">enum</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.6.4.1.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ Whether to try to prefetch blocks that are referenced in the WAL that
+ are not yet in the buffer pool, during recovery. Valid values are
+ <code class="literal">off</code>, <code class="literal">on</code> and
+ <code class="literal">try</code> (the default). The setting
+ <code class="literal">try</code> enables
+ prefetching only if the operating system provides the
+ <code class="function">posix_fadvise</code> function, which is currently used
+ to implement prefetching. Note that some operating systems provide the
+ function, but it doesn't do anything.
+ </p><p>
+ Prefetching blocks that will soon be needed can reduce I/O wait times
+ during recovery with some workloads.
+ See also the <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-WAL-DECODE-BUFFER-SIZE">wal_decode_buffer_size</a> and
+ <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-resource.html#GUC-MAINTENANCE-IO-CONCURRENCY">maintenance_io_concurrency</a> settings, which limit
+ prefetching activity.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-WAL-DECODE-BUFFER-SIZE"><span class="term"><code class="varname">wal_decode_buffer_size</code> (<code class="type">integer</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.6.4.2.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ A limit on how far ahead the server can look in the WAL, to find
+ blocks to prefetch. If this value is specified without units, it is
+ taken as bytes.
+ The default is 512kB.
+ </p></dd></dl></div></div><div class="sect2" id="RUNTIME-CONFIG-WAL-ARCHIVE-RECOVERY"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">20.5.5. Archive Recovery</h3></div></div></div><a id="id-1.6.7.8.7.2" class="indexterm"></a><p>
+ This section describes the settings that apply only for the duration of
+ the recovery. They must be reset for any subsequent recovery you wish to
+ perform.
+ </p><p>
+ <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Recovery</span>”</span> covers using the server as a standby or for
+ executing a targeted recovery. Typically, standby mode would be used to
+ provide high availability and/or read scalability, whereas a targeted
+ recovery is used to recover from data loss.
+ </p><p>
+ To start the server in standby mode, create a file called
+ <code class="filename">standby.signal</code><a id="id-1.6.7.8.7.5.2" class="indexterm"></a>
+ in the data directory. The server will enter recovery and will not stop
+ recovery when the end of archived WAL is reached, but will keep trying to
+ continue recovery by connecting to the sending server as specified by the
+ <code class="varname">primary_conninfo</code> setting and/or by fetching new WAL
+ segments using <code class="varname">restore_command</code>. For this mode, the
+ parameters from this section and <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-replication.html#RUNTIME-CONFIG-REPLICATION-STANDBY" title="20.6.3. Standby Servers">Section 20.6.3</a> are of interest.
+ Parameters from <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#RUNTIME-CONFIG-WAL-RECOVERY-TARGET" title="20.5.6. Recovery Target">Section 20.5.6</a> will
+ also be applied but are typically not useful in this mode.
+ </p><p>
+ To start the server in targeted recovery mode, create a file called
+ <code class="filename">recovery.signal</code><a id="id-1.6.7.8.7.6.2" class="indexterm"></a>
+ in the data directory. If both <code class="filename">standby.signal</code> and
+ <code class="filename">recovery.signal</code> files are created, standby mode
+ takes precedence. Targeted recovery mode ends when the archived WAL is
+ fully replayed, or when <code class="varname">recovery_target</code> is reached.
+ In this mode, the parameters from both this section and <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#RUNTIME-CONFIG-WAL-RECOVERY-TARGET" title="20.5.6. Recovery Target">Section 20.5.6</a> will be used.
+ </p><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt id="GUC-RESTORE-COMMAND"><span class="term"><code class="varname">restore_command</code> (<code class="type">string</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.7.7.1.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ The local shell command to execute to retrieve an archived segment of
+ the WAL file series. This parameter is required for archive recovery,
+ but optional for streaming replication.
+ Any <code class="literal">%f</code> in the string is
+ replaced by the name of the file to retrieve from the archive,
+ and any <code class="literal">%p</code> is replaced by the copy destination path name
+ on the server.
+ (The path name is relative to the current working directory,
+ i.e., the cluster's data directory.)
+ Any <code class="literal">%r</code> is replaced by the name of the file containing the
+ last valid restart point. That is the earliest file that must be kept
+ to allow a restore to be restartable, so this information can be used
+ to truncate the archive to just the minimum required to support
+ restarting from the current restore. <code class="literal">%r</code> is typically only
+ used by warm-standby configurations
+ (see <a class="xref" href="warm-standby.html" title="27.2. Log-Shipping Standby Servers">Section 27.2</a>).
+ Write <code class="literal">%%</code> to embed an actual <code class="literal">%</code> character.
+ </p><p>
+ It is important for the command to return a zero exit status
+ only if it succeeds. The command <span class="emphasis"><em>will</em></span> be asked for file
+ names that are not present in the archive; it must return nonzero
+ when so asked. Examples:
+</p><pre class="programlisting">
+restore_command = 'cp /mnt/server/archivedir/%f "%p"'
+restore_command = 'copy "C:\\server\\archivedir\\%f" "%p"' # Windows
+</pre><p>
+ An exception is that if the command was terminated by a signal (other
+ than <span class="systemitem">SIGTERM</span>, which is used as part of a
+ database server shutdown) or an error by the shell (such as command
+ not found), then recovery will abort and the server will not start up.
+ </p><p>
+ This parameter can only be set in the <code class="filename">postgresql.conf</code>
+ file or on the server command line.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-ARCHIVE-CLEANUP-COMMAND"><span class="term"><code class="varname">archive_cleanup_command</code> (<code class="type">string</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.7.7.2.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ This optional parameter specifies a shell command that will be executed
+ at every restartpoint. The purpose of
+ <code class="varname">archive_cleanup_command</code> is to provide a mechanism for
+ cleaning up old archived WAL files that are no longer needed by the
+ standby server.
+ Any <code class="literal">%r</code> is replaced by the name of the file containing the
+ last valid restart point.
+ That is the earliest file that must be <span class="emphasis"><em>kept</em></span> to allow a
+ restore to be restartable, and so all files earlier than <code class="literal">%r</code>
+ may be safely removed.
+ This information can be used to truncate the archive to just the
+ minimum required to support restart from the current restore.
+ The <a class="xref" href="pgarchivecleanup.html" title="pg_archivecleanup"><span class="refentrytitle"><span class="application">pg_archivecleanup</span></span></a> module
+ is often used in <code class="varname">archive_cleanup_command</code> for
+ single-standby configurations, for example:
+</p><pre class="programlisting">archive_cleanup_command = 'pg_archivecleanup /mnt/server/archivedir %r'</pre><p>
+ Note however that if multiple standby servers are restoring from the
+ same archive directory, you will need to ensure that you do not delete
+ WAL files until they are no longer needed by any of the servers.
+ <code class="varname">archive_cleanup_command</code> would typically be used in a
+ warm-standby configuration (see <a class="xref" href="warm-standby.html" title="27.2. Log-Shipping Standby Servers">Section 27.2</a>).
+ Write <code class="literal">%%</code> to embed an actual <code class="literal">%</code> character in the
+ command.
+ </p><p>
+ If the command returns a nonzero exit status then a warning log
+ message will be written. An exception is that if the command was
+ terminated by a signal or an error by the shell (such as command not
+ found), a fatal error will be raised.
+ </p><p>
+ This parameter can only be set in the <code class="filename">postgresql.conf</code>
+ file or on the server command line.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-RECOVERY-END-COMMAND"><span class="term"><code class="varname">recovery_end_command</code> (<code class="type">string</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.7.7.3.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ This parameter specifies a shell command that will be executed once only
+ at the end of recovery. This parameter is optional. The purpose of the
+ <code class="varname">recovery_end_command</code> is to provide a mechanism for cleanup
+ following replication or recovery.
+ Any <code class="literal">%r</code> is replaced by the name of the file containing the
+ last valid restart point, like in <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-ARCHIVE-CLEANUP-COMMAND">archive_cleanup_command</a>.
+ </p><p>
+ If the command returns a nonzero exit status then a warning log
+ message will be written and the database will proceed to start up
+ anyway. An exception is that if the command was terminated by a
+ signal or an error by the shell (such as command not found), the
+ database will not proceed with startup.
+ </p><p>
+ This parameter can only be set in the <code class="filename">postgresql.conf</code>
+ file or on the server command line.
+ </p></dd></dl></div></div><div class="sect2" id="RUNTIME-CONFIG-WAL-RECOVERY-TARGET"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">20.5.6. Recovery Target</h3></div></div></div><p>
+ By default, recovery will recover to the end of the WAL log. The
+ following parameters can be used to specify an earlier stopping point.
+ At most one of <code class="varname">recovery_target</code>,
+ <code class="varname">recovery_target_lsn</code>, <code class="varname">recovery_target_name</code>,
+ <code class="varname">recovery_target_time</code>, or <code class="varname">recovery_target_xid</code>
+ can be used; if more than one of these is specified in the configuration
+ file, an error will be raised.
+ These parameters can only be set at server start.
+ </p><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt id="GUC-RECOVERY-TARGET"><span class="term"><code class="varname">recovery_target</code><code class="literal"> = 'immediate'</code>
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.8.3.1.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ This parameter specifies that recovery should end as soon as a
+ consistent state is reached, i.e., as early as possible. When restoring
+ from an online backup, this means the point where taking the backup
+ ended.
+ </p><p>
+ Technically, this is a string parameter, but <code class="literal">'immediate'</code>
+ is currently the only allowed value.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-RECOVERY-TARGET-NAME"><span class="term"><code class="varname">recovery_target_name</code> (<code class="type">string</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.8.3.2.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ This parameter specifies the named restore point (created with
+ <code class="function">pg_create_restore_point()</code>) to which recovery will proceed.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-RECOVERY-TARGET-TIME"><span class="term"><code class="varname">recovery_target_time</code> (<code class="type">timestamp</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.8.3.3.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ This parameter specifies the time stamp up to which recovery
+ will proceed.
+ The precise stopping point is also influenced by
+ <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-RECOVERY-TARGET-INCLUSIVE">recovery_target_inclusive</a>.
+ </p><p>
+ The value of this parameter is a time stamp in the same format
+ accepted by the <code class="type">timestamp with time zone</code> data type,
+ except that you cannot use a time zone abbreviation (unless the
+ <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-client.html#GUC-TIMEZONE-ABBREVIATIONS">timezone_abbreviations</a> variable has been set
+ earlier in the configuration file). Preferred style is to use a
+ numeric offset from UTC, or you can write a full time zone name,
+ e.g., <code class="literal">Europe/Helsinki</code> not <code class="literal">EEST</code>.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-RECOVERY-TARGET-XID"><span class="term"><code class="varname">recovery_target_xid</code> (<code class="type">string</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.8.3.4.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ This parameter specifies the transaction ID up to which recovery
+ will proceed. Keep in mind
+ that while transaction IDs are assigned sequentially at transaction
+ start, transactions can complete in a different numeric order.
+ The transactions that will be recovered are those that committed
+ before (and optionally including) the specified one.
+ The precise stopping point is also influenced by
+ <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-RECOVERY-TARGET-INCLUSIVE">recovery_target_inclusive</a>.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-RECOVERY-TARGET-LSN"><span class="term"><code class="varname">recovery_target_lsn</code> (<code class="type">pg_lsn</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.8.3.5.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ This parameter specifies the LSN of the write-ahead log location up
+ to which recovery will proceed. The precise stopping point is also
+ influenced by <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-RECOVERY-TARGET-INCLUSIVE">recovery_target_inclusive</a>. This
+ parameter is parsed using the system data type
+ <a class="link" href="datatype-pg-lsn.html" title="8.20. pg_lsn Type"><code class="type">pg_lsn</code></a>.
+ </p></dd></dl></div><p>
+ The following options further specify the recovery target, and affect
+ what happens when the target is reached:
+ </p><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt id="GUC-RECOVERY-TARGET-INCLUSIVE"><span class="term"><code class="varname">recovery_target_inclusive</code> (<code class="type">boolean</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.8.5.1.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ Specifies whether to stop just after the specified recovery target
+ (<code class="literal">on</code>), or just before the recovery target
+ (<code class="literal">off</code>).
+ Applies when <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-RECOVERY-TARGET-LSN">recovery_target_lsn</a>,
+ <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-RECOVERY-TARGET-TIME">recovery_target_time</a>, or
+ <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-wal.html#GUC-RECOVERY-TARGET-XID">recovery_target_xid</a> is specified.
+ This setting controls whether transactions
+ having exactly the target WAL location (LSN), commit time, or transaction ID, respectively, will
+ be included in the recovery. Default is <code class="literal">on</code>.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-RECOVERY-TARGET-TIMELINE"><span class="term"><code class="varname">recovery_target_timeline</code> (<code class="type">string</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.8.5.2.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ Specifies recovering into a particular timeline. The value can be a
+ numeric timeline ID or a special value. The value
+ <code class="literal">current</code> recovers along the same timeline that was
+ current when the base backup was taken. The
+ value <code class="literal">latest</code> recovers
+ to the latest timeline found in the archive, which is useful in
+ a standby server. <code class="literal">latest</code> is the default.
+ </p><p>
+ You usually only need to set this parameter
+ in complex re-recovery situations, where you need to return to
+ a state that itself was reached after a point-in-time recovery.
+ See <a class="xref" href="continuous-archiving.html#BACKUP-TIMELINES" title="26.3.5. Timelines">Section 26.3.5</a> for discussion.
+ </p></dd><dt id="GUC-RECOVERY-TARGET-ACTION"><span class="term"><code class="varname">recovery_target_action</code> (<code class="type">enum</code>)
+ <a id="id-1.6.7.8.8.5.3.1.3" class="indexterm"></a>
+ </span></dt><dd><p>
+ Specifies what action the server should take once the recovery target is
+ reached. The default is <code class="literal">pause</code>, which means recovery will
+ be paused. <code class="literal">promote</code> means the recovery process will finish
+ and the server will start to accept connections.
+ Finally <code class="literal">shutdown</code> will stop the server after reaching the
+ recovery target.
+ </p><p>
+ The intended use of the <code class="literal">pause</code> setting is to allow queries
+ to be executed against the database to check if this recovery target
+ is the most desirable point for recovery.
+ The paused state can be resumed by
+ using <code class="function">pg_wal_replay_resume()</code> (see
+ <a class="xref" href="functions-admin.html#FUNCTIONS-RECOVERY-CONTROL-TABLE" title="Table 9.91. Recovery Control Functions">Table 9.91</a>), which then
+ causes recovery to end. If this recovery target is not the
+ desired stopping point, then shut down the server, change the
+ recovery target settings to a later target and restart to
+ continue recovery.
+ </p><p>
+ The <code class="literal">shutdown</code> setting is useful to have the instance ready
+ at the exact replay point desired. The instance will still be able to
+ replay more WAL records (and in fact will have to replay WAL records
+ since the last checkpoint next time it is started).
+ </p><p>
+ Note that because <code class="filename">recovery.signal</code> will not be
+ removed when <code class="varname">recovery_target_action</code> is set to <code class="literal">shutdown</code>,
+ any subsequent start will end with immediate shutdown unless the
+ configuration is changed or the <code class="filename">recovery.signal</code>
+ file is removed manually.
+ </p><p>
+ This setting has no effect if no recovery target is set.
+ If <a class="xref" href="runtime-config-replication.html#GUC-HOT-STANDBY">hot_standby</a> is not enabled, a setting of
+ <code class="literal">pause</code> will act the same as <code class="literal">shutdown</code>.
+ If the recovery target is reached while a promotion is ongoing,
+ a setting of <code class="literal">pause</code> will act the same as
+ <code class="literal">promote</code>.
+ </p><p>
+ In any case, if a recovery target is configured but the archive
+ recovery ends before the target is reached, the server will shut down
+ with a fatal error.
+ </p></dd></dl></div></div></div><div class="navfooter"><hr /><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="runtime-config-resource.html" title="20.4. Resource Consumption">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="runtime-config.html" title="Chapter 20. Server Configuration">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="runtime-config-replication.html" title="20.6. Replication">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">20.4. Resource Consumption </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html" title="PostgreSQL 15.5 Documentation">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> 20.6. Replication</td></tr></table></div></body></html> \ No newline at end of file