Re: Blank archive_command

On Mon, Jan 17, 2022 at 10:53 AM Bharath Rupireddy
<bharath(dot)rupireddyforpostgres(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
> This parameter can only be set in the postgresql.conf file or on the
> server command line. It is ignored unless archive_mode was enabled at
> server start. If archive_command is an empty string (the default)
> while archive_mode is enabled, WAL archiving is temporarily disabled,
> but the server continues to accumulate WAL segment files in the
> expectation that a command will soon be provided. Setting
> archive_command to a command that does nothing but return true, e.g.,
> /bin/true (REM on Windows), effectively disables archiving, but also
> breaks the chain of WAL files needed for archive recovery, so it
> should only be used in unusual circumstances.

Yeah, the fact that this has been documented behavior for a long time
is a good reason not to get too excited about the possibility of
changing it. People are likely using it intentionally.

It might be nice to do something about the fact that you can't change
archive_mode without a server restart, though. I suspect we had a good
reason for that limitation from an engineering perspective, but from a
user perspective, it sucks pretty hard.

--
Robert Haas
EDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com