Re: archive modules

On Tue, Aug 23, 2022 at 04:18:52PM +0200, talk to ben wrote:
> --- a/doc/src/sgml/basic-archive.sgml
> +++ b/doc/src/sgml/basic-archive.sgml
> @@ -68,6 +68,19 @@ basic_archive.archive_directory = '/path/to/archive/directory'
> to any archiving still in progress, but users should use extra caution when
> doing so.
> </para>
> +
> + <para>
> + The archive module is loaded by the archiver process. Therefore, the
> + parameters defined in the module are not set outside this process and cannot
> + be seen from the <structname>pg_settings</structname> view or the
> + \dconfig meta-command.
> + These parameters values can be shown from the server's configuration
> + file(s) through the <structname>pg_file_settings</structname> view.
> + If you want to check the actual values applied by the archiver, you can
> + <command>LOAD</command> the module before reading
> + <structname>pg_settings</structname>. It's also possible to search
> + for the options directly with the <command>SHOW</command> command.
> + </para>

I don't know if it makes sense to document this in basic_archive. On one
hand, it seems like folks will commonly encounter this behavior with this
module, so this feels like a natural place for such a note. But on the
other hand, this is generic behavior for any library that is dynamically
loaded in a separate process.

Overall, I think I'm +1 for this patch. I haven't thought too much about
the exact wording, but provided others support it as well, I will try to
take a deeper look soon.

--
Nathan Bossart
Amazon Web Services: https://aws.amazon.com