Re: cleanup of pgsql_tmp directory

You are correct. I later found two other processes excuting the same query.
Once I killed them all the temp files automatically were deleted.

-----Original Message-----
From: pgsql-general-owner(at)postgresql(dot)org
[mailto:pgsql-general-owner(at)postgresql(dot)org] On Behalf Of Tom Lane
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2013 12:07 PM
To: Robert Klaus
Cc: pgsql-general(at)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: Re: [GENERAL] cleanup of pgsql_tmp directory

"Robert Klaus" <rklaus(at)nexgenwireless(dot)com> writes:
> This morning we found out that our filesystem was at 98% and filling
> quickly. We immediately found one query running for a long time and
> saw
> 1500+ files in the pgsql_tmp directory we could attribute to it.

> I killed using pg_terminate_backend and some space was reclaimed, but
> the temporary files from the process are still in the pgsql_tmp directory.

Temp files should be deleted during proc_exit processing. You're sure you
used pg_terminate_backend() and not something more aggressive? Are you sure
these files actually belong to the process you killed?

> We're on postgres 8.4.9 on centos. Which process should be deleting
these
> files and what is normally the delay? I'm assuming the postmaster
> process will eventually delete them, but does the server have to be
bounced in order
> for this to happen? It's been 30 minutes since the process was killed.

If a process failed to remove its own temp files for some reason, there's no
other mechanism for getting rid of them, except that a postmaster restart
will run around and clean out all the temp directories.

regards, tom lane

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