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You're reading from  Mastering PostgreSQL 15 - Fifth Edition

Product typeBook
Published inJan 2023
PublisherPackt
ISBN-139781803248349
Edition5th Edition
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Hans-Jürgen Schönig
Hans-Jürgen Schönig
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Hans-Jürgen Schönig

Hans-Jürgen Schönig has 20 years' experience with PostgreSQL. He is the CEO of a PostgreSQL consulting and support company called CYBERTEC PostgreSQL International GmbH. It has successfully served countless customers around the globe. Before founding CYBERTEC PostgreSQL International GmbH in 2000, he worked as a database developer at a private research company that focused on the Austrian labor market, where he primarily worked on data mining and forecast models. He has also written several books about PostgreSQL.
Read more about Hans-Jürgen Schönig

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Inspecting pg_stat_activity

Firstly, let’s check the content of pg_stat_statements, and answer the following questions:

  • How many concurrent queries are currently being executed on your system?
  • Do you see similar types of queries showing up in the query column all the time?
  • Do you see queries that have been running for a long time?
  • Are there any locks that have not been granted?
  • Do you see connections from suspicious hosts?

The pg_stat_activity view should always be checked first because it will give us an idea of what is happening in the system. Of course, graphical monitoring is supposed to give you a first impression of the system. However, at the end of the day, it really boils down to the queries that actually run on the server. Therefore, a good overview of the system, as provided by pg_stat_activity, is more than vital for tracking down issues.

To make it easier for you, I have compiled a couple of queries that I find useful for spotting...

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Mastering PostgreSQL 15 - Fifth Edition
Published in: Jan 2023Publisher: PacktISBN-13: 9781803248349

Author (1)

author image
Hans-Jürgen Schönig

Hans-Jürgen Schönig has 20 years' experience with PostgreSQL. He is the CEO of a PostgreSQL consulting and support company called CYBERTEC PostgreSQL International GmbH. It has successfully served countless customers around the globe. Before founding CYBERTEC PostgreSQL International GmbH in 2000, he worked as a database developer at a private research company that focused on the Austrian labor market, where he primarily worked on data mining and forecast models. He has also written several books about PostgreSQL.
Read more about Hans-Jürgen Schönig