Crunchy PostgreSQL Operator 4.5: Enhanced Monitoring, Custom Annotations, PostgreSQL 13

[Crunchy Data](https://www.crunchydata.com) is pleased to announce the release of the Crunchy [PostgreSQL Operator](https://www.github.com/CrunchyData/postgres-operator) 4.5, which automates and simplifies deploying and managing open source [PostgreSQL](https://www.postgresql.org) clusters on Kubernetes and other Kubernetes-enabled Platforms. Instructions for [getting started with the PostgreSQL Operator](https://access.crunchydata.com/documentation/postgres-operator/latest/quickstart/) can be found here:

[https://access.crunchydata.com/documentation/postgres-operator/latest/quickstart/](https://access.crunchydata.com/documentation/postgres-operator/latest/quickstart/)

This release makes several changes to the [PostgreSQL Operator Monitoring](https://access.crunchydata.com/documentation/postgres-operator/latest/architecture/monitoring/) solution, notably making it much easier to set up a turnkey PostgreSQL monitoring with the PostgreSQL Operator using the open source [pgMonitor](https://github.com/CrunchyData/pgmonitor) project.

pgMonitor combines insightful queries for PostgreSQL with several proven tools for statistics collection, data visualization, and alerting to allow one to deploy a turnkey monitoring solution for PostgreSQL. Now with support for Kubernetes environments, pgMonitor uses open source [pgnodemx](https://github.com/CrunchyData/pgnodemx) that allows one to get host-like information from the Kubernetes Pod a PostgreSQL instance is deployed within.

Major features of the 4.5 release include:

- [Enhanced PostgreSQL Operator Monitoring](https://access.crunchydata.com/documentation/postgres-operator/latest/architecture/monitoring/)
- [Apply Custom Annotations to Managed Deployments](https://access.crunchydata.com/documentation/postgres-operator/latest/pgo-client/common-tasks/#custom-annotations), which helps with integrations with additional Kubernetes applications
- [Customize pgBackRest and pgBouncer via ConfigMaps](https://access.crunchydata.com/documentation/postgres-operator/latest/releases/4.5.0/#customizing-pgbackrest-via-configmap)
- Support for the Kubernetes default storage class
- Support for [PostgreSQL 13](https://www.postgresql.org/about/news/postgresql-13-released-2077/)

For a full list of features, including detailed descriptions of these changes, please see the [release notes](https://access.crunchydata.com/documentation/postgres-operator/latest/releases/4.5.0/).

### Links

- [Project Repo](https://www.github.com/CrunchyData/postgres-operator)
- [Download](https://www.crunchydata.com/developers/download-postgres/containers/postgres-operator)
- [Documentation](https://access.crunchydata.com/documentation/postgres-operator/)
- [Tutorial](https://access.crunchydata.com/documentation/postgres-operator/latest/tutorial/)
- [Release Notes](https://access.crunchydata.com/documentation/postgres-operator/latest/releases/4.5.0/)

[Crunchy Data](https://www.crunchydata.com) is proud to support the development and maintenance of the [PostgreSQL Operator](https://www.crunchydata.com/products/crunchy-postgresql-operator/).