Re: min_safe_lsn column in pg_replication_slots view

On 2020/06/24 8:39, Alvaro Herrera wrote:
> On 2020-Jun-23, Kyotaro Horiguchi wrote:
>
>> At Tue, 23 Jun 2020 11:50:34 +0530, Amit Kapila <amit(dot)kapila16(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote in
>>> On Mon, Jun 22, 2020 at 6:32 PM Fujii Masao <masao(dot)fujii(at)oss(dot)nttdata(dot)com> wrote:
>
>>>> We should expose the LSN calculated from
>>>> "the current WAL LSN - max(wal_keep_segments * 16MB, max_slot_wal_keep_size)"?
>>>> This indicates the minimum LSN of WAL files that are guaraneed to be
>>>> currently retained by wal_keep_segments and max_slot_wal_keep_size.
>>>> That is, if checkpoint occurs when restart_lsn of replication slot is
>>>> smaller than that minimum LSN, some required WAL files may be removed.
>>>>
>>>> So DBAs can periodically monitor and compare restart_lsn and that minimum
>>>> LSN. If they see frequently that difference of those LSN is very small,
>>>> they can decide to increase wal_keep_segments or max_slot_wal_keep_size,
>>>> to prevent required WAL files from being removed. Thought?
>>>
>>> +1. This sounds like a good and useful stat for users.
>>
>> +1 for showing a number that is not involving lastRemovedSegNo. It is
>> like returning to the initial version of this patch. It showed a
>> number like ((the suggested above) minus restart_lsn). The number is
>> different for each slot so they fit in the view.
>>
>> The number is usable for the same purpose so I'm ok with it.
>
> I think we should publish the value from wal_keep_segments separately
> from max_slot_wal_keep_size. ISTM that the user might decide to change
> or remove wal_keep_segments and be suddenly at risk of losing slots
> because of overlooking that it was wal_keep_segments, not
> max_slot_wal_keep_size, that was protecting them.

You mean to have two functions that returns

1. "current WAL LSN - wal_keep_segments * 16MB"
2. "current WAL LSN - max_slot_wal_keep_size"

Right?

Regards,

--
Fujii Masao
Advanced Computing Technology Center
Research and Development Headquarters
NTT DATA CORPORATION