Tutorial: Monitor and tune Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Single Server

APPLIES TO: Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Single Server

Important

Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Single Server is on the retirement path. We strongly recommend for you to upgrade to Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server. For more information about migrating to Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server, see What's happening to Azure Database for PostgreSQL Single Server?

Azure Database for PostgreSQL has features that help you understand and improve your server performance. In this tutorial you will learn how to:

  • Enable query and wait statistics collection
  • Access and utilize the data collected
  • View query performance and wait statistics over time
  • Analyze a database to get performance recommendations
  • Apply performance recommendations

Prerequisites

You need an Azure Database for PostgreSQL server with PostgreSQL version 9.6 or 10. You can follow the steps in the Create tutorial to create a server.

Important

Query Store, Query Performance Insight, and Performance Recommendation are in Public Preview.

Enabling data collection

The Query Store captures a history of queries and wait statistics on your server and stores it in the azure_sys database on your server. It is an opt-in feature. To enable it:

  1. Open the Azure portal.

  2. Select your Azure Database for PostgreSQL server.

  3. Select Server parameters which is in the Settings section of the menu on the left.

  4. Set pg_qs.query_capture_mode to TOP to start collecting query performance data. Set pgms_wait_sampling.query_capture_mode to ALL to start collecting wait statistics. Save.

    Query Store server parameters

  5. Allow up to 20 minutes for the first batch of data to persist in the azure_sys database.

Performance insights

The Query Performance Insight view in the Azure portal will surface visualizations on key information from Query Store.

  1. In the portal page of your Azure Database for PostgreSQL server, select Query performance Insight under the Support + troubleshooting section of the menu on the left.

  2. The Long running queries tab shows the top 5 queries by average duration per execution, aggregated in 15 minute intervals.

    Query Performance Insight landing page

    You can view more queries by selecting from the Number of Queries drop down. The chart colors may change for a specific Query ID when you do this.

  3. You can select and drag in the chart to narrow down to a specific time window.

  4. Use the zoom in and out icons to view a smaller or larger period of time respectively.

  5. View the table below the chart to learn more details about the long-running queries in that time window.

  6. Select the Wait Statistics tab to view the corresponding visualizations on waits in the server.

    Query Performance Insight wait statistics

Performance recommendations

The Performance Recommendations feature analyzes workloads across your server to identify indexes with the potential to improve performance.

  1. Open Performance Recommendations from the Support + troubleshooting section of the menu bar on the Azure portal page for your PostgreSQL server.

    Performance Recommendations landing page

  2. Select Analyze and choose a database. This will begin the analysis.

  3. Depending on your workload, this may take several minutes to complete. Once the analysis is done, there will be a notification in the portal.

  4. The Performance Recommendations window will show a list of recommendations if any were found.

  5. A recommendation will show information about the relevant Database, Table, Column, and Index Size.

    Performance Recommendations result

  6. To implement the recommendation, copy the query text and run it from your client of choice.

Permissions

Owner or Contributor permissions required to run analysis using the Performance Recommendations feature.

Clean up resources

In the preceding steps, you created Azure resources in a server group. If you don't expect to need these resources in the future, delete the server group. Press the Delete button in the Overview page for your server group. When prompted on a pop-up page, confirm the name of the server group and select the final Delete button.

Next steps

Learn more about monitoring and tuning in Azure Database for PostgreSQL.