Re: Set log_lock_waits=on by default

On Thu, Dec 21, 2023 at 8:29 AM Laurenz Albe <laurenz(dot)albe(at)cybertec(dot)at> wrote:
> Here is a patch to implement this.
> Being stuck behind a lock for more than a second is almost
> always a problem, so it is reasonable to turn this on by default.

I think it depends somewhat on the lock type, and also on your
threshold for what constitutes a problem. For example, you can wait
for 1 second for a relation extension lock pretty easily, I think,
just because the I/O system is busy. Or I think also a VXID lock held
by some transaction that has a tuple locked could be not particularly
exciting. A conflict on a relation lock seems more likely to represent
a real issue, but I guess it's all kind of a judgement call. A second
isn't really all that long on an overloaded system, and I see an awful
lot of overloaded systems (because those are the people who call me).

Just a random idea but what if we separated log_lock_waits from
deadlock_timeout? Say, it becomes time-valued rather than
Boolean-valued, but it has to be >= deadlock_timeout? Because I'd
probably be more interested in hearing about a lock wait that was more
than say 10 seconds, but I don't necessarily want to wait 10 seconds
for the deadlock detector to trigger.

In general, I do kind of like the idea of trying to log more problem
situations by default, so that when someone has a major issue, you
don't have to start by having them change all the logging settings and
then wait until they get hosed a second time before you can
troubleshoot anything. I'm just concerned that 1s might be too
sensitive for a lot of users who aren't as, let's say, diligent about
keeping the system healthy as you probably are.

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