Horton

Re: Adding REPACK [concurrently]

Mikhail Nikalayeu <mihailnikalayeu@gmail.com>

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From: Mihail Nikalayeu <mihailnikalayeu@gmail.com>
To: Antonin Houska <ah@cybertec.at>
Cc: Alvaro Herrera <alvherre@alvh.no-ip.org>, Fujii Masao <masao.fujii@gmail.com>, Robert Treat <rob@xzilla.net>, Pg Hackers <pgsql-hackers@lists.postgresql.org>
Date: 2025-08-27T10:55:12Z
Lists: pgsql-hackers

Commits

Same data as JSON: GET /api/v1/messages/:b64id/commits the thread's linked commits as JSON, with link sources. API reference →

  1. Improve REPACK (CONCURRENTLY) error messages some more

  2. Add CONCURRENTLY option to REPACK

  3. Make index_concurrently_create_copy more general

  4. Document the 'command' column of pg_stat_progress_repack

  5. Introduce the REPACK command

  6. Split vacuumdb to create vacuuming.c/h

  7. Revert changes to CONCURRENTLY that "sped up" Xmin advance

Antonin Houska <ah@cybertec.at>:

> Do you mean the race related to TransactionIdIsInProgress()? Not sure I
> understand, as you suggested above that you no longer need the function.

The "lightweight" approaches I see so far:
* XactLockTableWait before replay + SnapshotSelf(GetLatestSnapshot?)
* SnapshotDirty + retry logic
* SnapshotBelieveEverythingCommitted + modification of
HeapTupleSatisfiesUpdate (because it called by heap_update and looks
into TransactionIdIsInProgress)

> It does not really worry me. The pg_squeeze extension is not MVCC-safe and I
> remember there were only 1 or 2 related complaints throughout its
> existence. (pg_repack isn't MVCC-safe as well, but I don't keep track of its
> issues.)

But pg_squeeze and pg_repack are extensions. If we are moving that
mechanics into core I'd expect some improvements over pg_squeeze.
MVCC-safety of REINDEX CONCURRENTLY makes it possible to run it on a
regular basis as some kind of background job. It would be nice to have
something like this for the heap.

I agree the initial approach is too invasive, complex and
performance-heavy to push it forward now.
But, any of "lightweight" feels like a good candidate to be shipped
with the feature itself - relatively easy and non-invasive.

Best regards,
Mikhail.