PostgreSQL 14 Beta 2 Released!

The PostgreSQL Global Development Group announces that the second beta release
of PostgreSQL 14 is now [available for download](https://www.postgresql.org/download/).
This release contains previews of all features that will be available in the
final release of PostgreSQL 14, though some details of the release could change
before then.

You can find information about all of the features and changes found in
PostgreSQL 14 in the [release notes](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/14/release-14.html):

[https://www.postgresql.org/docs/14/release-14.html](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/14/release-14.html)

In the spirit of the open source PostgreSQL community, we strongly encourage you
to test the new features of PostgreSQL 14 in your systems to help us eliminate
any bugs or other issues that may exist. While we do not advise you to run
PostgreSQL 14 Beta 2 in your production environments, we encourage you to find
ways to run your typical application workloads against this beta release.

You can read more about our [beta testing process](https://www.postgresql.org/developer/beta/)
and how you can contribute here:

[https://www.postgresql.org/developer/beta/](https://www.postgresql.org/developer/beta/)

Upgrading to PostgreSQL 14 Beta 2
---------------------------------

To upgrade to PostgreSQL 14 Beta 2 from Beta 1 or an earlier version of
PostgreSQL, you will need to use a strategy similar to upgrading between
major versions of PostgreSQL (e.g. `pg_upgrade` or `pg_dump` / `pg_restore`).
For more information, please visit the documentation section on
[upgrading](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/14/static/upgrading.html).

Changes Since Beta 1
--------------------

There have been many bug fixes for PostgreSQL 14 reported during the Beta 1
period and applied to the Beta 2 release. This includes:

- Redesign the handling of OUT parameters for procedures.
- Various improvements and fixes to LZ4 support for toast columns.
- Support disabling index bypassing by `VACUUM`.
- Addition of `--no-toast-compression` to `pg_dumpall`
- Fix a crash in `libpq` with SSL SNI when specifying hostaddr in connection
string.
- Fix assertion failure when streaming multi-INSERT data in logical
replication.
- Fix portability issue with the function `permute` in pgbench.
- Fix `postgres_fdw` failures with whole-row Vars.
- Fix several issues with `pg_stat_wal`.

Please see the [release notes](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/14/release-14.html)
for a complete list of new and changed features:

[https://www.postgresql.org/docs/14/release-14.html](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/14/release-14.html)

Testing for Bugs & Compatibility
--------------------------------

The stability of each PostgreSQL release greatly depends on you, the community,
to test the upcoming version with your workloads and testing tools in order to
find bugs and regressions before the general availability of PostgreSQL 14. As
this is a Beta, changes to database behaviors, feature details, and APIs are
still possible. Your feedback and testing will help determine the final tweaks
on the new features, so please test in the near future. The quality of user
testing helps determine when we can make a final release.

A list of [open issues](https://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/PostgreSQL_14_Open_Items)
is publicly available in the PostgreSQL wiki. You can
[report bugs](https://www.postgresql.org/account/submitbug/) using this form on
the PostgreSQL website:

[https://www.postgresql.org/account/submitbug/](https://www.postgresql.org/account/submitbug/)

Beta Schedule
-------------

This is the second beta release of version 14. The PostgreSQL Project will
release additional betas as required for testing, followed by one or more
release candidates, until the final release in late 2021. For further
information please see the [Beta Testing](https://www.postgresql.org/developer/beta/) page.

Links
-----

* [Download](https://www.postgresql.org/download/)
* [Beta Testing Information](https://www.postgresql.org/developer/beta/)
* [PostgreSQL 14 Beta Release Notes](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/14/release-14.html)
* [PostgreSQL 14 Open Issues](https://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/PostgreSQL_14_Open_Items)
* [Submit a Bug](https://www.postgresql.org/account/submitbug/)
* [Follow @postgresql on Twitter](https://twitter.com/postgresql)