Thread

1. pg_standby supported versions

   Mark Kirkwood <markir@paradise.net.nz> — 2008-08-13T09:59:26Z

   I noticed in the docs for pg_standby (docs/src/sgml/pgstandby.sgml) that 
   we have supported version >= 8.2. However it does seem to work ok with 
   earlier versions (e.g 8.1) - or am I missing something?
   
   cheers
   
   Mark
   
   

2. Re: pg_standby supported versions

   Decibel! <decibel@decibel.org> — 2008-08-22T05:50:00Z

   On Aug 13, 2008, at 4:59 AM, Mark Kirkwood wrote:
   > I noticed in the docs for pg_standby (docs/src/sgml/pgstandby.sgml)  
   > that we have supported version >= 8.2. However it does seem to work  
   > ok with earlier versions (e.g 8.1) - or am I missing something?
   
   Hrm, AFAIK it works... Simon?
   -- 
   Decibel!, aka Jim C. Nasby, Database Architect  decibel@decibel.org
   Give your computer some brain candy! www.distributed.net Team #1828
   
   
   

3. Re: pg_standby supported versions

   Simon Riggs <simon@2ndquadrant.com> — 2008-08-26T09:30:30Z

   On Fri, 2008-08-22 at 00:50 -0500, Decibel! wrote:
   > On Aug 13, 2008, at 4:59 AM, Mark Kirkwood wrote:
   > > I noticed in the docs for pg_standby (docs/src/sgml/pgstandby.sgml)  
   > > that we have supported version >= 8.2. However it does seem to work  
   > > ok with earlier versions (e.g 8.1) - or am I missing something?
   > 
   > Hrm, AFAIK it works... Simon?
   
   It works, yes. But in basic form only.
   
   You'll have problems stopping and starting standby, but the most
   important change is that the process is not restartable. So if you run
   it for a month and then crash, you'll need to re-run the whole month's
   WAL data.
   
   -- 
    Simon Riggs           www.2ndQuadrant.com
    PostgreSQL Training, Services and Support
   
   
   

4. Re: pg_standby supported versions

   Mark Kirkwood <markir@paradise.net.nz> — 2008-11-26T09:14:58Z

   Simon Riggs wrote:
   > On Fri, 2008-08-22 at 00:50 -0500, Decibel! wrote:
   >   
   >> On Aug 13, 2008, at 4:59 AM, Mark Kirkwood wrote:
   >>     
   >>> I noticed in the docs for pg_standby (docs/src/sgml/pgstandby.sgml)  
   >>> that we have supported version >= 8.2. However it does seem to work  
   >>> ok with earlier versions (e.g 8.1) - or am I missing something?
   >>>       
   >> Hrm, AFAIK it works... Simon?
   >>     
   >
   > It works, yes. But in basic form only.
   >
   > You'll have problems stopping and starting standby, but the most
   > important change is that the process is not restartable. So if you run
   > it for a month and then crash, you'll need to re-run the whole month's
   > WAL data.
   >
   >   
   Exactly, after posting this I discovered the relevant CVS logs for 
   changes to support restartable recovery. It seems to me that perhaps a 
   little more detail in the docs would be good here.
   
   At work some folks are using pg_standby with 8.1 and while it does work 
   quite well, it took me a wee while to figure out that some of the issues 
   they are having are tied up with inability to continue recovery after 
   restarting the database or the os!
   
   Best wishes
   
   Mark
   
   

5. Re: pg_standby supported versions

   Simon Riggs <simon@2ndquadrant.com> — 2008-11-27T17:11:42Z

   On Wed, 2008-11-26 at 22:14 +1300, Mark Kirkwood wrote:
   > Simon Riggs wrote:
   > >
   > > You'll have problems stopping and starting standby, but the most
   > > important change is that the process is not restartable. So if you
   > run
   > > it for a month and then crash, you'll need to re-run the whole
   > month's
   > > WAL data.
   > >
   > >   
   > Exactly, after posting this I discovered the relevant CVS logs for 
   > changes to support restartable recovery. It seems to me that perhaps a 
   > little more detail in the docs would be good here.
   
   I would hope that the complete absence of anything would be all that is
   required to dissuade people. We don't ever update the docs to say "BTW
   feature X is not supported until next release". Not sure we should start
   now.
   
   -- 
    Simon Riggs           www.2ndQuadrant.com
    PostgreSQL Training, Services and Support
   
   
   

6. Re: pg_standby supported versions

   Mark Kirkwood <markir@paradise.net.nz> — 2008-11-27T18:56:09Z

   Simon Riggs wrote:
   > On Wed, 2008-11-26 at 22:14 +1300, Mark Kirkwood wrote:
   >   
   >>
   >> Exactly, after posting this I discovered the relevant CVS logs for 
   >> changes to support restartable recovery. It seems to me that perhaps a 
   >> little more detail in the docs would be good here.
   >>     
   >
   > I would hope that the complete absence of anything would be all that is
   > required to dissuade people. We don't ever update the docs to say "BTW
   > feature X is not supported until next release". Not sure we should start
   > now.
   >
   >   
   
   While I understand, I also think it is perfectly reasonable to clarify 
   why a specific minimum version is being recommended. To me this conforms 
   to the open source spirit of telling folk why something is true, as 
   opposed to stating that it is.
   
   I'm thinking of something like:
   
   <para>
   
   pg_standby is designed to work with PostgreSQL 8.2 and later, as it 
   requires the ability to interrupt and restart recovery (absent in 
   earlier server versions).
   
   </para>