Book Image

Learn PostgreSQL - Second Edition

By : Luca Ferrari, Enrico Pirozzi
1 (2)
Book Image

Learn PostgreSQL - Second Edition

1 (2)
By: Luca Ferrari, Enrico Pirozzi

Overview of this book

The latest edition of this PostgreSQL book will help you to start using PostgreSQL from absolute scratch, helping you to quickly understand the internal workings of the database. With a structured approach and practical examples, go on a journey that covers the basics, from SQL statements and how to run server-side programs, to configuring, managing, securing, and optimizing database performance. This new edition will not only help you get to grips with all the recent changes within the PostgreSQL ecosystem but will also dig deeper into concepts like partitioning and replication with a fresh set of examples. The book is also equipped with Docker images for each chapter which makes the learning experience faster and easier. Starting with the absolute basics of databases, the book sails through to advanced concepts like window functions, logging, auditing, extending the database, configuration, partitioning, and replication. It will also help you seamlessly migrate your existing database system to PostgreSQL and contains a dedicated chapter on disaster recovery. Each chapter ends with practice questions to test your learning at regular intervals. By the end of this book, you will be able to install, configure, manage, and develop applications against a PostgreSQL database.
Table of Contents (22 chapters)
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Index

Cluster configuration

PostgreSQL is configured by means of a bunch of text files that contain directives and values used to bootstrap the cluster and get it running. We have seen how configuration files are handled throughout the book, but in this chapter, we will go into detail explaining how configuration is managed.

There are three main configuration files that present the starting point for any configuration:

  • postgresql.conf is the main cluster configuration file and contains all the data required to start the cluster, set up processes (as WAL senders) and logging, and configure how the cluster will accept connections (for example, on which TCP/IP address).
  • postgresql.auto.conf is a file automatically generated and edited by the cluster itself and contains parameters changed by the superuser from within the cluster. You should never edit this file manually, but you can inspect it with your text editor to read its contents.
  • pg_hba.conf is the file that...