PostgreSQL extensions in Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server
APPLIES TO: 
Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server
PostgreSQL provides the ability to extend the functionality of your database using extensions. Extensions bundle multiple related SQL objects together in a single package that can be loaded or removed from your database with a command. After being loaded in the database, extensions function like built-in features.
How to use PostgreSQL extensions
Before you can install extensions in Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server, you will need to allow-list these extensions for use.
Using the Azure portal:
- Select your Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server.
- On the sidebar, select Server Parameters.
- Search for the
azure.extensionsparameter. - Select extensions you wish to allow-list.
Using Azure CLI:
You can allow-list extensions via CLI parameter set command.
az postgres flexible-server parameter set --resource-group <your resource group> --server-name <your server name> --subscription <your subscription id> --name azure.extensions --value <extension name>,<extension name>
Using ARM Template: Example shown below allow-lists extensions dblink, dict_xsyn, pg_buffercache on server mypostgreserver
{
"$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
"contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
"parameters": {
"flexibleServers_name": {
"defaultValue": "mypostgreserver",
"type": "String"
},
"azure_extensions_set_value": {
"defaultValue": " dblink,dict_xsyn,pg_buffercache",
"type": "String"
}
},
"variables": {},
"resources": [
{
"type": "Microsoft.DBforPostgreSQL/flexibleServers/configurations",
"apiVersion": "2021-06-01",
"name": "[concat(parameters('flexibleServers_name'), '/azure.extensions')]",
"properties": {
"value": "[parameters('azure_extensions_set_value')]",
"source": "user-override"
}
}
]
}
Shared_Preload_Libraries is a server configuration parameter determining which libraries are to be loaded when PostgreSQL starts. Any libraries which use shared memory must be loaded via this parameter. If your extension needs to be added to shared preload libraries this action can be done:
Using the Azure portal:
- Select your Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server.
- On the sidebar, select Server Parameters.
- Search for the
shared_preload_librariesparameter. - Select extensions you wish to add.
Using Azure CLI:
You can set shared_preload_libraries via CLI parameter set command.
az postgres flexible-server parameter set --resource-group <your resource group> --server-name <your server name> --subscription <your subscription id> --name shared_preload_libraries --value <extension name>,<extension name>
After extensions are allow-listed and loaded, these must be installed in your database before you can use them. To install a particular extension, you should run the CREATE EXTENSION command. This command loads the packaged objects into your database.
Note
Third party extensions offered in Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server are open source licensed code. Currently, we don't offer any third party extensions or extension versions with premium or proprietary licensing models.
Azure Database for PostgreSQL supports a subset of key PostgreSQL extensions as listed below. This information is also available by running SHOW azure.extensions;. Extensions not listed in this document aren't supported on Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server. You can't create or load your own extension in Azure Database for PostgreSQL.
Postgres 14 extensions
The following extensions are available in Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Servers, which have Postgres version 14.
| Extension | Extension version | Description |
|---|---|---|
| address_standardizer | 3.1.1 | Used to parse an address into constituent elements. |
| address_standardizer_data_us | 3.1.1 | Address Standardizer US dataset example |
| amcheck | 1.2 | functions for verifying relation integrity |
| bloom | 1.0 | bloom access method - signature file based index |
| btree_gin | 1.3 | support for indexing common datatypes in GIN |
| btree_gist | 1.5 | support for indexing common datatypes in GiST |
| citext | 1.6 | data type for case-insensitive character strings |
| cube | 1.4 | data type for multidimensional cubes |
| dblink | 1.2 | connect to other PostgreSQL databases from within a database |
| dict_int | 1.0 | text search dictionary template for integers |
| dict_xsyn | 1.0 | text search dictionary template for extended synonym processing |
| earthdistance | 1.1 | calculate great-circle distances on the surface of the Earth |
| fuzzystrmatch | 1.1 | determine similarities and distance between strings |
| hypopg | 1.3.1 | extension adding support for hypothetical indexes |
| hstore | 1.7 | data type for storing sets of (key, value) pairs |
| intagg | 1.1 | integer aggregator and enumerator. (Obsolete) |
| intarray | 1.3 | functions, operators, and index support for 1-D arrays of integers |
| isn | 1.2 | data types for international product numbering standards |
| lo | 1.1 | large object maintenance |
| ltree | 1.2 | data type for hierarchical tree-like structures |
| orafce | 3.18 | implements in Postgres some of the functions from the Oracle database that are missing |
| pageinspect | 1.8 | inspect the contents of database pages at a low level |
| pg_buffercache | 1.3 | examine the shared buffer cache |
| pg_cron | 1.4 | Job scheduler for PostgreSQL |
| pg_freespacemap | 1.2 | examine the free space map (FSM) |
| pg_partman | 4.6.1 | Extension to manage partitioned tables by time or ID |
| pg_prewarm | 1.2 | prewarm relation data |
| pg_repack | 1.4.7 | lets you remove bloat from tables and indexes |
| pg_stat_statements | 1.8 | track execution statistics of all SQL statements executed |
| pg_trgm | 1.5 | text similarity measurement and index searching based on trigrams |
| pg_hint_plan | 1.4 | makes it possible to tweak PostgreSQL execution plans using so-called "hints" in SQL comments |
| pg_visibility | 1.2 | examine the visibility map (VM) and page-level visibility info |
| pgaudit | 1.6.2 | provides auditing functionality |
| pgcrypto | 1.3 | cryptographic functions |
| pglogical | 2.3.2 | Logical streaming replication |
| pgrouting | 3.3.0 | geospatial database to provide geospatial routing |
| pgrowlocks | 1.2 | show row-level locking information |
| pgstattuple | 1.5 | show tuple-level statistics |
| pgvector | 0.4.0 | Open-source vector similarity search for Postgres |
| plpgsql | 1.0 | PL/pgSQL procedural language |
| plv8 | 3.0.0 | Trusted JavaScript language extension |
| postgis | 3.2.0 | PostGIS geometry, geography |
| postgis_raster | 3.2.0 | PostGIS raster types and functions |
| postgis_sfcgal | 3.2.0 | PostGIS SFCGAL functions |
| postgis_tiger_geocoder | 3.2.0 | PostGIS tiger geocoder and reverse geocoder |
| postgis_topology | 3.2.0 | PostGIS topology spatial types and functions |
| postgres_fdw | 1.0 | foreign-data wrapper for remote PostgreSQL servers |
| sslinfo | 1.2 | information about SSL certificates |
| semver | 0.32.0 | semantic version data type |
| tablefunc | 1.0 | functions that manipulate whole tables, including crosstab |
| timescaledb | 2.5.1 | Open-source relational database for time-series and analytics |
| tsm_system_rows | 1.0 | TABLESAMPLE method which accepts number of rows as a limit |
| tsm_system_time | 1.0 | TABLESAMPLE method which accepts time in milliseconds as a limit |
| unaccent | 1.1 | text search dictionary that removes accents |
| uuid-ossp | 1.1 | generate universally unique identifiers (UUIDs) |
Postgres 13 extensions
The following extensions are available in Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Servers that have Postgres version 13.
| Extension | Extension version | Description |
|---|---|---|
| address_standardizer | 3.1.1 | Used to parse an address into constituent elements. |
| address_standardizer_data_us | 3.1.1 | Address Standardizer US dataset example |
| amcheck | 1.2 | functions for verifying relation integrity |
| bloom | 1.0 | bloom access method - signature file based index |
| btree_gin | 1.3 | support for indexing common datatypes in GIN |
| btree_gist | 1.5 | support for indexing common datatypes in GiST |
| citext | 1.6 | data type for case-insensitive character strings |
| cube | 1.4 | data type for multidimensional cubes |
| dblink | 1.2 | connect to other PostgreSQL databases from within a database |
| dict_int | 1.0 | text search dictionary template for integers |
| dict_xsyn | 1.0 | text search dictionary template for extended synonym processing |
| earthdistance | 1.1 | calculate great-circle distances on the surface of the Earth |
| fuzzystrmatch | 1.1 | determine similarities and distance between strings |
| hypopg | 1.3.1 | extension adding support for hypothetical indexes |
| hstore | 1.7 | data type for storing sets of (key, value) pairs |
| intagg | 1.1 | integer aggregator and enumerator. (Obsolete) |
| intarray | 1.3 | functions, operators, and index support for 1-D arrays of integers |
| isn | 1.2 | data types for international product numbering standards |
| lo | 1.1 | large object maintenance |
| ltree | 1.2 | data type for hierarchical tree-like structures |
| orafce | 3.18 | implements in Postgres some of the functions from the Oracle database that are missing |
| pageinspect | 1.8 | inspect the contents of database pages at a low level |
| pg_buffercache | 1.3 | examine the shared buffer cache |
| pg_cron | 1.4 | Job scheduler for PostgreSQL |
| pg_freespacemap | 1.2 | examine the free space map (FSM) |
| pg_partman | 4.5.0 | Extension to manage partitioned tables by time or ID |
| pg_prewarm | 1.2 | prewarm relation data |
| pg_repack | 1.4.7 | lets you remove bloat from tables and indexes |
| pg_stat_statements | 1.8 | track execution statistics of all SQL statements executed |
| pg_trgm | 1.5 | text similarity measurement and index searching based on trigrams |
| pg_hint_plan | 1.4 | makes it possible to tweak PostgreSQL execution plans using so-called "hints" in SQL comments |
| pg_visibility | 1.2 | examine the visibility map (VM) and page-level visibility info |
| pgaudit | 1.5 | provides auditing functionality |
| pgcrypto | 1.3 | cryptographic functions |
| pglogical | 2.3.2 | Logical streaming replication |
| pgrouting | 3.3.0 | geospatial database to provide geospatial routing |
| pgrowlocks | 1.2 | show row-level locking information |
| pgstattuple | 1.5 | show tuple-level statistics |
| pgvector | 0.4.0 | Open-source vector similarity search for Postgres |
| plpgsql | 1.0 | PL/pgSQL procedural language |
| plv8 | 3.0.0 | Trusted JavaScript language extension |
| postgis | 3.2.0 | PostGIS geometry, geography |
| postgis_raster | 3.2.0 | PostGIS raster types and functions |
| postgis_sfcgal | 3.2.0 | PostGIS SFCGAL functions |
| postgis_tiger_geocoder | 3.2.0 | PostGIS tiger geocoder and reverse geocoder |
| postgis_topology | 3.2.0 | PostGIS topology spatial types and functions |
| postgres_fdw | 1.0 | foreign-data wrapper for remote PostgreSQL servers |
| sslinfo | 1.2 | information about SSL certificates |
| semver | 0.32.0 | semantic version data type |
| tablefunc | 1.0 | functions that manipulate whole tables, including crosstab |
| timescaledb | 2.5.1 | Open-source relational database for time-series and analytics |
| tsm_system_rows | 1.0 | TABLESAMPLE method which accepts number of rows as a limit |
| tsm_system_time | 1.0 | TABLESAMPLE method which accepts time in milliseconds as a limit |
| unaccent | 1.1 | text search dictionary that removes accents |
| uuid-ossp | 1.1 | generate universally unique identifiers (UUIDs) |
Postgres 12 extensions
The following extensions are available in Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Servers that have Postgres version 12.
| Extension | Extension version | Description |
|---|---|---|
| address_standardizer | 3.0.0 | Used to parse an address into constituent elements. |
| address_standardizer_data_us | 3.0.0 | Address Standardizer US dataset example |
| amcheck | 1.2 | functions for verifying relation integrity |
| bloom | 1.0 | bloom access method - signature file based index |
| btree_gin | 1.3 | support for indexing common datatypes in GIN |
| btree_gist | 1.5 | support for indexing common datatypes in GiST |
| citext | 1.6 | data type for case-insensitive character strings |
| cube | 1.4 | data type for multidimensional cubes |
| dblink | 1.2 | connect to other PostgreSQL databases from within a database |
| dict_int | 1.0 | text search dictionary template for integers |
| dict_xsyn | 1.0 | text search dictionary template for extended synonym processing |
| earthdistance | 1.1 | calculate great-circle distances on the surface of the Earth |
| fuzzystrmatch | 1.1 | determine similarities and distance between strings |
| hstore | 1.6 | data type for storing sets of (key, value) pairs |
| hypopg | 1.2 | extension adding support for hypothetical indexes |
| intagg | 1.1 | integer aggregator and enumerator. (Obsolete) |
| intarray | 1.2 | functions, operators, and index support for 1-D arrays of integers |
| isn | 1.2 | data types for international product numbering standards |
| lo | 1.1 | large object maintenance |
| ltree | 1.1 | data type for hierarchical tree-like structures |
| orafce | 3.18 | implements in Postgres some of the functions from the Oracle database that are missing |
| pageinspect | 1.7 | inspect the contents of database pages at a low level |
| pg_buffercache | 1.3 | examine the shared buffer cache |
| pg_cron | 1.4 | Job scheduler for PostgreSQL |
| pg_freespacemap | 1.2 | examine the free space map (FSM) |
| pg_partman | 4.5.0 | Extension to manage partitioned tables by time or ID |
| pg_prewarm | 1.2 | prewarm relation data |
| pg_repack | 1.4.7 | lets you remove bloat from tables and indexes |
| pg_stat_statements | 1.7 | track execution statistics of all SQL statements executed |
| pg_trgm | 1.4 | text similarity measurement and index searching based on trigrams |
| pg_hint_plan | 1.4 | makes it possible to tweak PostgreSQL execution plans using so-called "hints" in SQL comments |
| pg_visibility | 1.2 | examine the visibility map (VM) and page-level visibility info |
| pgaudit | 1.4 | provides auditing functionality |
| pgcrypto | 1.3 | cryptographic functions |
| pglogical | 2.3.2 | Logical streaming replication |
| pgrouting | 3.3.0 | geospatial database to provide geospatial routing |
| pgrowlocks | 1.2 | show row-level locking information |
| pgstattuple | 1.5 | show tuple-level statistics |
| pgvector | 0.4.0 | Open-source vector similarity search for Postgres |
| plpgsql | 1.0 | PL/pgSQL procedural language |
| plv8 | 3.2.0 | Trusted JavaScript language extension |
| postgis | 3.2.0 | PostGIS geometry, geography |
| postgis_raster | 3.2.0 | PostGIS raster types and functions |
| postgis_sfcgal | 3.2.0 | PostGIS SFCGAL functions |
| postgis_tiger_geocoder | 3.2.0 | PostGIS tiger geocoder and reverse geocoder |
| postgis_topology | 3.2.0 | PostGIS topology spatial types and functions |
| postgres_fdw | 1.0 | foreign-data wrapper for remote PostgreSQL servers |
| sslinfo | 1.2 | information about SSL certificates |
| semver | 0.32.0 | semantic version data type |
| tablefunc | 1.0 | functions that manipulate whole tables, including crosstab |
| timescaledb | 2.5.1 | Open-source relational database for time-series and analytics |
| tsm_system_rows | 1.0 | TABLESAMPLE method which accepts number of rows as a limit |
| tsm_system_time | 1.0 | TABLESAMPLE method which accepts time in milliseconds as a limit |
| unaccent | 1.1 | text search dictionary that removes accents |
| uuid-ossp | 1.1 | generate universally unique identifiers (UUIDs) |
Postgres 11 extensions
The following extensions are available in Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Servers that have Postgres version 11.
| Extension | Extension version | Description |
|---|---|---|
| address_standardizer | 2.5.1 | Used to parse an address into constituent elements. |
| address_standardizer_data_us | 2.5.1 | Address Standardizer US dataset example |
| amcheck | 1.1 | functions for verifying relation integrity |
| bloom | 1.0 | bloom access method - signature file based index |
| btree_gin | 1.3 | support for indexing common datatypes in GIN |
| btree_gist | 1.5 | support for indexing common datatypes in GiST |
| citext | 1.5 | data type for case-insensitive character strings |
| cube | 1.4 | data type for multidimensional cubes |
| dblink | 1.2 | connect to other PostgreSQL databases from within a database |
| dict_int | 1.0 | text search dictionary template for integers |
| dict_xsyn | 1.0 | text search dictionary template for extended synonym processing |
| earthdistance | 1.1 | calculate great-circle distances on the surface of the Earth |
| fuzzystrmatch | 1.1 | determine similarities and distance between strings |
| hstore | 1.5 | data type for storing sets of (key, value) pairs |
| hypopg | 1.1.2 | extension adding support for hypothetical indexes |
| intagg | 1.1 | integer aggregator and enumerator. (Obsolete) |
| intarray | 1.2 | functions, operators, and index support for 1-D arrays of integers |
| isn | 1.2 | data types for international product numbering standards |
| lo | 1.1 | large object maintenance |
| ltree | 1.1 | data type for hierarchical tree-like structures |
| orafce | 3.18 | implements in Postgres some of the functions from the Oracle database that are missing |
| pageinspect | 1.7 | inspect the contents of database pages at a low level |
| pg_buffercache | 1.3 | examine the shared buffer cache |
| pg_cron | 1.4 | Job scheduler for PostgreSQL |
| pg_freespacemap | 1.2 | examine the free space map (FSM) |
| pg_partman | 4.5.0 | Extension to manage partitioned tables by time or ID |
| pg_prewarm | 1.2 | prewarm relation data |
| pg_repack | 1.4.7 | lets you remove bloat from tables and indexes |
| pg_stat_statements | 1.6 | track execution statistics of all SQL statements executed |
| pg_trgm | 1.4 | text similarity measurement and index searching based on trigrams |
| pg_hint_plan | 1.4 | makes it possible to tweak PostgreSQL execution plans using so-called "hints" in SQL comments |
| pg_visibility | 1.2 | examine the visibility map (VM) and page-level visibility info |
| pgaudit | 1.3.1 | provides auditing functionality |
| pgcrypto | 1.3 | cryptographic functions |
| pglogical | 2.3.2 | Logical streaming replication |
| pgrouting | 3.3.0 | geospatial database to provide geospatial routing |
| pgrowlocks | 1.2 | show row-level locking information |
| pgstattuple | 1.5 | show tuple-level statistics |
| pgvector | 0.4.0 | Open-source vector similarity search for Postgres |
| plpgsql | 1.0 | PL/pgSQL procedural language |
| plv8 | 3.0.0 | Trusted JavaScript language extension |
| postgis | 2.5.5 | PostGIS geometry, geography, and raster spatial types and functions |
| postgis_sfcgal | 2.5.5 | PostGIS SFCGAL functions |
| postgis_tiger_geocoder | 2.5.5 | PostGIS tiger geocoder and reverse geocoder |
| postgis_topology | 2.5.5 | PostGIS topology spatial types and functions |
| postgres_fdw | 1.0 | foreign-data wrapper for remote PostgreSQL servers |
| sslinfo | 1.2 | information about SSL certificates |
| semver | 0.32.0 | semantic version data type |
| tablefunc | 1.0 | functions that manipulate whole tables, including crosstab |
| timescaledb | 1.7.4 | Open-source relational database for time-series and analytics |
| tsm_system_rows | 1.0 | TABLESAMPLE method which accepts number of rows as a limit |
| tsm_system_time | 1.0 | TABLESAMPLE method which accepts time in milliseconds as a limit |
| unaccent | 1.1 | text search dictionary that removes accents |
| uuid-ossp | 1.1 | generate universally unique identifiers (UUIDs) |
dblink and postgres_fdw
dblink and postgres_fdw allow you to connect from one PostgreSQL server to another, or to another database in the same server. Flexible server supports both incoming and outgoing connections to any PostgreSQL server. The sending server needs to allow outbound connections to the receiving server. Similarly, the receiving server needs to allow connections from the sending server.
We recommend deploying your servers with VNet integration if you plan to use these two extensions. By default VNet integration allows connections between servers in the VNET. You can also choose to use VNet network security groups to customize access.
pg_prewarm
The pg_prewarm extension loads relational data into cache. Prewarming your caches means that your queries have better response times on their first run after a restart. The auto-prewarm functionality is not currently available in Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server.
pg_cron
pg_cron is a simple, cron-based job scheduler for PostgreSQL that runs inside the database as an extension. The pg_cron extension can be used to run scheduled maintenance tasks within a PostgreSQL database. For example, you can run periodic vacuum of a table or removing old data jobs.
pg_cron can run multiple jobs in parallel, but it runs at most one instance of a job at a time. If a second run is supposed to start before the first one finishes, then the second run is queued and started as soon as the first run completes. This ensures that jobs run exactly as many times as scheduled and don’t run concurrently with themselves.
Some examples:
To delete old data on Saturday at 3:30am (GMT)
SELECT cron.schedule('30 3 * * 6', $$DELETE FROM events WHERE event_time < now() - interval '1 week'$$);
To run vacuum every day at 10:00am (GMT) in default database 'postgres'
SELECT cron.schedule('0 10 * * *', 'VACUUM');
To unschedule all tasks from pg_cron
SELECT cron.unschedule(jobid) FROM cron.job;
To see all jobs currently scheduled with pg_cron
SELECT * FROM cron.job;
To run vacuum every day at 10:00 am (GMT) in database 'testcron' under azure_pg_admin role account
SELECT cron.schedule_in_database('VACUUM','0 10 * * * ','VACUUM','testcron',null,TRUE)
Note
pg_cron extension is preloaded in shared_preload_libraries for every Azure Database for PostgreSQL -Flexible Server inside postgres database to provide you with ability to schedule jobs to run in other databases within your PostgreSQL DB instance without compromising security. However, for security reasons, you still have to allow list pg_cron extension and install it using CREATE EXTENSION command.
Starting with pg_cron version 1.4, you can use the cron.schedule_in_database and cron.alter_job functions to schedule your job in a specific database and update an existing schedule respectively.
Some examples:
To delete old data on Saturday at 3:30am (GMT) on database DBName
SELECT cron.schedule_in_database('JobName', '30 3 * * 6', $$DELETE FROM events WHERE event_time < now() - interval '1 week'$$,'DBName');
Note
cron_schedule_in_database function allows for user name as optional parameter. Setting the username to a non-null value requires PostgreSQL superuser privilege and is not supported in Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server. Above examples show running this function with optional user name parameter ommitted or set to null, which runs the job in context of user scheduling the job, which should have azure_pg_admin role priviledges.
To update or change the database name for the existing schedule
select cron.alter_job(job_id:=MyJobID,database:='NewDBName');
pg_stat_statements
The pg_stat_statements extension gives you a view of all the queries that have run on your database. That is very useful to get an understanding of what your query workload performance looks like on a production system.
The pg_stat_statements extension is preloaded in shared_preload_libraries on every Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server to provide you a means of tracking execution statistics of SQL statements.
However, for security reasons, you still have to allow list pg_stat_statements extension and install it using CREATE EXTENSION command.
The setting pg_stat_statements.track, which controls what statements are counted by the extension, defaults to top, meaning all statements issued directly by clients are tracked. The two other tracking levels are none and all. This setting is configurable as a server parameter.
There is a tradeoff between the query execution information pg_stat_statements provides and the impact on server performance as it logs each SQL statement. If you are not actively using the pg_stat_statements extension, we recommend that you set pg_stat_statements.track to none. Note that some third party monitoring services may rely on pg_stat_statements to deliver query performance insights, so confirm whether this is the case for you or not.
TimescaleDB
TimescaleDB is a time-series database that is packaged as an extension for PostgreSQL. TimescaleDB provides time-oriented analytical functions, optimizations, and scales Postgres for time-series workloads. Learn more about TimescaleDB, a registered trademark of Timescale, Inc.. Azure Database for PostgreSQL provides the TimescaleDB Apache-2 edition.
Installing TimescaleDB
To install TimescaleDB, in addition to allow listing it, as shown above, you need to include it in the server's shared preload libraries. A change to Postgres's shared_preload_libraries parameter requires a server restart to take effect. You can change parameters using the Azure portal or the Azure CLI.
Using the Azure portal:
Select your Azure Database for PostgreSQL server.
On the sidebar, select Server Parameters.
Search for the
shared_preload_librariesparameter.Select TimescaleDB.
Select Save to preserve your changes. You get a notification once the change is saved.
After the notification, restart the server to apply these changes.
You can now enable TimescaleDB in your Postgres database. Connect to the database and issue the following command:
CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS timescaledb CASCADE;
Tip
If you see an error, confirm that you restarted your server after saving shared_preload_libraries.
You can now create a TimescaleDB hypertable from scratch or migrate existing time-series data in PostgreSQL.
Restoring a Timescale database using pg_dump and pg_restore
To restore a Timescale database using pg_dump and pg_restore, you need to run two helper procedures in the destination database: timescaledb_pre_restore() and timescaledb_post restore().
First prepare the destination database:
--create the new database where you'll perform the restore
CREATE DATABASE tutorial;
\c tutorial --connect to the database
CREATE EXTENSION timescaledb;
SELECT timescaledb_pre_restore();
Now you can run pg_dump on the original database and then do pg_restore. After the restore, be sure to run the following command in the restored database:
SELECT timescaledb_post_restore();
For more details on restore method with Timescale enabled database see Timescale documentation
Restoring a Timescale database using timescaledb-backup
While running SELECT timescaledb_post_restore() procedure listed above you may get permissions denied error updating timescaledb.restoring flag. This is due to limited ALTER DATABASE permission in Cloud PaaS database services. In this case you can perform alternative method using timescaledb-backup tool to backup and restore Timescale database. Timescaledb-backup is a program for making dumping and restoring a TimescaleDB database simpler, less error-prone, and more performant.
To do so you should do following
- Install tools as detailed here
- Create target Azure Database for PostgreSQL server and database
- Enable Timescale extension as shown above
- Grant azure_pg_admin role to user that will be used by ts-restore
- Run ts-restore to restore database
More details on these utilities can be found here.
Note
When using timescale-backup utilities to restore to Azure is that since database user names for non-flexible Azure Database for PostgresQL must use the <user@db-name> format, you need to replace @ with %40 character encoding.
pg_hint_plan
pg_hint_plan makes it possible to tweak PostgreSQL execution plans using so-called "hints" in SQL comments, like
/*+ SeqScan(a) */
pg_hint_plan reads hinting phrases in a comment of special form given with the target SQL statement. The special form is beginning by the character sequence "/*+" and ends with "*/". Hint phrases consists of hint name and following parameters enclosed by parentheses and delimited by spaces. Each hinting phrase can be delimited by new lines for readability.
Example:
/*+
HashJoin(a b)
SeqScan(a)
*/
SELECT *
FROM pgbench_branches b
JOIN pgbench_accounts a ON b.bid = a.bid
ORDER BY a.aid;
The above example will cause the planner to use the results of a seq scan on table a to be combined with table b as a hash join.
To install pg_hint_plan, in addition to allow listing it, as shown above, you need to include it in the server's shared preload libraries. A change to Postgres's shared_preload_libraries parameter requires a server restart to take effect. You can change parameters using the Azure portal or the Azure CLI.
Using the Azure portal:
Select your Azure Database for PostgreSQL server.
On the sidebar, select Server Parameters.
Search for the
shared_preload_librariesparameter.Select pg_hint_plan.
Select Save to preserve your changes. You get a notification once the change is saved.
After the notification, restart the server to apply these changes.
You can now enable pg_hint_plan your Postgres database. Connect to the database and issue the following command:
CREATE EXTENSION pg_hint_plan ;
pg_buffercache
Pg_buffercache can be used to study the contents of shared_buffers. Using this extension you can tell if a particular relation is cached or not(in shared_buffers). This extension can help you in troubleshooting performance issues (caching related performance issues)
This is part of contrib and it is very easy to install this extension.
CREATE EXTENSION pg_buffercache;
Next steps
If you don't see an extension that you'd like to use, let us know. Vote for existing requests or create new feedback requests in our feedback forum.
Feedback
Submit and view feedback for