Allow walreceiver configuration to change on reload

The parameters primary_conninfo, primary_slot_name and
wal_receiver_create_temp_slot can now be changed with a simple "reload"
signal, no longer requiring a server restart.  This is achieved by
signalling the walreceiver process to terminate and having it start
again with the new values.

Thanks to Andres Freund, Kyotaro Horiguchi, Fujii Masao for discussion.

Author: Sergei Kornilov <sk@zsrv.org>
Reviewed-by: Michael Paquier <michael@paquier.xyz>
Reviewed-by: Álvaro Herrera <alvherre@alvh.no-ip.org>
Discussion: https://postgr.es/m/19513901543181143@sas1-19a94364928d.qloud-c.yandex.net

Author: alvherre

doc/src/sgml/config.sgml

@@ -4028,7 +4028,12 @@ ANY <replaceable class="parameter">num_sync</replaceable> ( <replaceable class="
           <varname>primary_conninfo</varname> string.
          </para>
          <para>
-          This parameter can only be set at server start.
+          This parameter can only be set in the <filename>postgresql.conf</filename>
+          file or on the server command line.
+          If this parameter is changed while the WAL receiver process is
+          running, that process is signalled to shut down and expected to
+          restart with the new setting (except if <varname>primary_conninfo</varname>
+          is an empty string).
           This setting has no effect if the server is not in standby mode.
          </para>
         </listitem>
@@ -4045,9 +4050,13 @@ ANY <replaceable class="parameter">num_sync</replaceable> ( <replaceable class="
           connecting to the sending server via streaming replication to control
           resource removal on the upstream node
           (see <xref linkend="streaming-replication-slots"/>).
-          This parameter can only be set at server start.
+          This parameter can only be set in the <filename>postgresql.conf</filename>
+          file or on the server command line.
+          If this parameter is changed while the WAL receiver process is running,
+          that process is signalled to shut down and expected to restart with the
+          new setting.
           This setting has no effect if <varname>primary_conninfo</varname> is not
-          set.
+          set or the server is not in standby mode.
          </para>
         </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
@@ -4160,10 +4169,14 @@ ANY <replaceable class="parameter">num_sync</replaceable> ( <replaceable class="
       </term>
       <listitem>
        <para>
-        Specifies whether a WAL receiver should create a temporary replication
+        Specifies whether the WAL receiver process should create a temporary replication
         slot on the remote instance when no permanent replication slot to use
         has been configured (using <xref linkend="guc-primary-slot-name"/>).
-        The default is off.  This parameter can only be set at server start.
+        The default is off.  This parameter can only be set in the 
+        <filename>postgresql.conf</filename> file or on the server command line.
+        If this parameter is changed while the WAL receiver process is running,
+        that process is signalled to shut down and expected to restart with
+        the new setting.
        </para>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

doc/src/sgml/high-availability.sgml

@@ -816,8 +816,8 @@ archive_cleanup_command = 'pg_archivecleanup /path/to/archive %r'
     When the standby is started and <varname>primary_conninfo</varname> is set
     correctly, the standby will connect to the primary after replaying all
     WAL files available in the archive. If the connection is established
-    successfully, you will see a walreceiver process in the standby, and
-    a corresponding walsender process in the primary.
+    successfully, you will see a <literal>walreceiver</literal> in the standby, and
+    a corresponding <literal>walsender</literal> process in the primary.
    </para>
 
    <sect3 id="streaming-replication-authentication">

src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c

@@ -816,9 +816,13 @@ static XLogSource readSource = XLOG_FROM_ANY;
  * currently have a WAL file open. If lastSourceFailed is set, our last
  * attempt to read from currentSource failed, and we should try another source
  * next.
+ *
+ * pendingWalRcvRestart is set when a config change occurs that requires a
+ * walreceiver restart.  This is only valid in XLOG_FROM_STREAM state.
  */
 static XLogSource currentSource = XLOG_FROM_ANY;
 static bool lastSourceFailed = false;
+static bool pendingWalRcvRestart = false;
 
 typedef struct XLogPageReadPrivate
 {
@@ -11905,6 +11909,7 @@ WaitForWALToBecomeAvailable(XLogRecPtr RecPtr, bool randAccess,
 	for (;;)
 	{
 		XLogSource	oldSource = currentSource;
+		bool		startWalReceiver = false;
 
 		/*
 		 * First check if we failed to read from the current source, and
@@ -11939,54 +11944,11 @@ WaitForWALToBecomeAvailable(XLogRecPtr RecPtr, bool randAccess,
 						return false;
 
 					/*
-					 * If primary_conninfo is set, launch walreceiver to try
-					 * to stream the missing WAL.
-					 *
-					 * If fetching_ckpt is true, RecPtr points to the initial
-					 * checkpoint location. In that case, we use RedoStartLSN
-					 * as the streaming start position instead of RecPtr, so
-					 * that when we later jump backwards to start redo at
-					 * RedoStartLSN, we will have the logs streamed already.
-					 */
-					if (PrimaryConnInfo && strcmp(PrimaryConnInfo, "") != 0)
-					{
-						XLogRecPtr	ptr;
-						TimeLineID	tli;
-
-						if (fetching_ckpt)
-						{
-							ptr = RedoStartLSN;
-							tli = ControlFile->checkPointCopy.ThisTimeLineID;
-						}
-						else
-						{
-							ptr = RecPtr;
-
-							/*
-							 * Use the record begin position to determine the
-							 * TLI, rather than the position we're reading.
-							 */
-							tli = tliOfPointInHistory(tliRecPtr, expectedTLEs);
-
-							if (curFileTLI > 0 && tli < curFileTLI)
-								elog(ERROR, "according to history file, WAL location %X/%X belongs to timeline %u, but previous recovered WAL file came from timeline %u",
-									 (uint32) (tliRecPtr >> 32),
-									 (uint32) tliRecPtr,
-									 tli, curFileTLI);
-						}
-						curFileTLI = tli;
-						RequestXLogStreaming(tli, ptr, PrimaryConnInfo,
-											 PrimarySlotName,
-											 wal_receiver_create_temp_slot);
-						receivedUpto = 0;
-					}
-
-					/*
-					 * Move to XLOG_FROM_STREAM state in either case. We'll
-					 * get immediate failure if we didn't launch walreceiver,
-					 * and move on to the next state.
+					 * Move to XLOG_FROM_STREAM state, and set to start a
+					 * walreceiver if necessary.
 					 */
 					currentSource = XLOG_FROM_STREAM;
+					startWalReceiver = true;
 					break;
 
 				case XLOG_FROM_STREAM:
@@ -12138,7 +12100,71 @@ WaitForWALToBecomeAvailable(XLogRecPtr RecPtr, bool randAccess,
 					Assert(StandbyMode);
 
 					/*
-					 * Check if WAL receiver is still active.
+					 * First, shutdown walreceiver if its restart has been
+					 * requested -- but no point if we're already slated for
+					 * starting it.
+					 */
+					if (pendingWalRcvRestart && !startWalReceiver)
+					{
+						ShutdownWalRcv();
+
+						/*
+						 * Re-scan for possible new timelines if we were
+						 * requested to recover to the latest timeline.
+						 */
+						if (recoveryTargetTimeLineGoal ==
+							RECOVERY_TARGET_TIMELINE_LATEST)
+							rescanLatestTimeLine();
+
+						startWalReceiver = true;
+					}
+					pendingWalRcvRestart = false;
+
+					/*
+					 * Launch walreceiver if needed.
+					 *
+					 * If fetching_ckpt is true, RecPtr points to the initial
+					 * checkpoint location. In that case, we use RedoStartLSN
+					 * as the streaming start position instead of RecPtr, so
+					 * that when we later jump backwards to start redo at
+					 * RedoStartLSN, we will have the logs streamed already.
+					 */
+					if (startWalReceiver &&
+						PrimaryConnInfo && strcmp(PrimaryConnInfo, "") != 0)
+					{
+						XLogRecPtr	ptr;
+						TimeLineID	tli;
+
+						if (fetching_ckpt)
+						{
+							ptr = RedoStartLSN;
+							tli = ControlFile->checkPointCopy.ThisTimeLineID;
+						}
+						else
+						{
+							ptr = RecPtr;
+
+							/*
+							 * Use the record begin position to determine the
+							 * TLI, rather than the position we're reading.
+							 */
+							tli = tliOfPointInHistory(tliRecPtr, expectedTLEs);
+
+							if (curFileTLI > 0 && tli < curFileTLI)
+								elog(ERROR, "according to history file, WAL location %X/%X belongs to timeline %u, but previous recovered WAL file came from timeline %u",
+									 (uint32) (tliRecPtr >> 32),
+									 (uint32) tliRecPtr,
+									 tli, curFileTLI);
+						}
+						curFileTLI = tli;
+						RequestXLogStreaming(tli, ptr, PrimaryConnInfo,
+											 PrimarySlotName,
+											 wal_receiver_create_temp_slot);
+						receivedUpto = 0;
+					}
+
+					/*
+					 * Check if WAL receiver is active or wait to start up.
 					 */
 					if (!WalRcvStreaming())
 					{
@@ -12266,6 +12292,22 @@ WaitForWALToBecomeAvailable(XLogRecPtr RecPtr, bool randAccess,
 	return false;				/* not reached */
 }
 
+/*
+ * Set flag to signal the walreceiver to restart.  (The startup process calls
+ * this on noticing a relevant configuration change.)
+ */
+void
+StartupRequestWalReceiverRestart(void)
+{
+	if (currentSource == XLOG_FROM_STREAM && WalRcvRunning())
+	{
+		ereport(LOG,
+				(errmsg("wal receiver process shutdown requested")));
+
+		pendingWalRcvRestart = true;
+	}
+}
+
 /*
  * Determine what log level should be used to report a corrupt WAL record
  * in the current WAL page, previously read by XLogPageRead().

src/backend/access/transam/xlogreader.c

@@ -585,9 +585,9 @@ ReadPageInternal(XLogReaderState *state, XLogRecPtr pageptr, int reqLen)
 	/*
 	 * Data is not in our buffer.
 	 *
-	 * Every time we actually read the page, even if we looked at parts of it
-	 * before, we need to do verification as the read_page callback might now
-	 * be rereading data from a different source.
+	 * Every time we actually read the segment, even if we looked at parts of
+	 * it before, we need to do verification as the read_page callback might
+	 * now be rereading data from a different source.
 	 *
 	 * Whenever switching to a new WAL segment, we read the first page of the
 	 * file and validate its header, even if that's not where the target

src/backend/postmaster/startup.c

@@ -96,17 +96,51 @@ StartupProcShutdownHandler(SIGNAL_ARGS)
 	errno = save_errno;
 }
 
+/*
+ * Re-read the config file.
+ *
+ * If one of the critical walreceiver options has changed, flag xlog.c
+ * to restart it.
+ */
+static void
+StartupRereadConfig(void)
+{
+	char	   *conninfo = pstrdup(PrimaryConnInfo);
+	char	   *slotname = pstrdup(PrimarySlotName);
+	bool		tempSlot = wal_receiver_create_temp_slot;
+	bool		conninfoChanged;
+	bool		slotnameChanged;
+	bool		tempSlotChanged = false;
+
+	ProcessConfigFile(PGC_SIGHUP);
+
+	conninfoChanged = strcmp(conninfo, PrimaryConnInfo) != 0;
+	slotnameChanged = strcmp(slotname, PrimarySlotName) != 0;
+
+	/*
+	 * wal_receiver_create_temp_slot is used only when we have no slot
+	 * configured.  We do not need to track this change if it has no effect.
+	 */
+	if (!slotnameChanged && strcmp(PrimarySlotName, "") == 0)
+		tempSlotChanged = tempSlot != wal_receiver_create_temp_slot;
+	pfree(conninfo);
+	pfree(slotname);
+
+	if (conninfoChanged || slotnameChanged || tempSlotChanged)
+		StartupRequestWalReceiverRestart();
+}
+
 /* Handle various signals that might be sent to the startup process */
 void
 HandleStartupProcInterrupts(void)
 {
 	/*
-	 * Check if we were requested to re-read config file.
+	 * Process any requests or signals received recently.
 	 */
 	if (got_SIGHUP)
 	{
 		got_SIGHUP = false;
-		ProcessConfigFile(PGC_SIGHUP);
+		StartupRereadConfig();
 	}
 
 	/*

src/backend/replication/walreceiver.c

@@ -679,7 +679,11 @@ WalRcvWaitForStartPosition(XLogRecPtr *startpoint, TimeLineID *startpointTLI)
 			   walrcv->walRcvState == WALRCV_STOPPING);
 		if (walrcv->walRcvState == WALRCV_RESTARTING)
 		{
-			/* we don't expect primary_conninfo to change */
+			/*
+			 * No need to handle changes in primary_conninfo or
+			 * primary_slotname here. Startup process will signal us to
+			 * terminate in case those change.
+			 */
 			*startpoint = walrcv->receiveStart;
 			*startpointTLI = walrcv->receiveStartTLI;
 			walrcv->walRcvState = WALRCV_STREAMING;

src/backend/utils/misc/guc.c

@@ -2050,7 +2050,7 @@ static struct config_bool ConfigureNamesBool[] =
 	},
 
 	{
-		{"wal_receiver_create_temp_slot", PGC_POSTMASTER, REPLICATION_STANDBY,
+		{"wal_receiver_create_temp_slot", PGC_SIGHUP, REPLICATION_STANDBY,
 			gettext_noop("Sets whether a WAL receiver should create a temporary replication slot if no permanent slot is configured."),
 		},
 		&wal_receiver_create_temp_slot,
@@ -3717,7 +3717,7 @@ static struct config_string ConfigureNamesString[] =
 	},
 
 	{
-		{"primary_conninfo", PGC_POSTMASTER, REPLICATION_STANDBY,
+		{"primary_conninfo", PGC_SIGHUP, REPLICATION_STANDBY,
 			gettext_noop("Sets the connection string to be used to connect to the sending server."),
 			NULL,
 			GUC_SUPERUSER_ONLY
@@ -3728,7 +3728,7 @@ static struct config_string ConfigureNamesString[] =
 	},
 
 	{
-		{"primary_slot_name", PGC_POSTMASTER, REPLICATION_STANDBY,
+		{"primary_slot_name", PGC_SIGHUP, REPLICATION_STANDBY,
 			gettext_noop("Sets the name of the replication slot to use on the sending server."),
 			NULL
 		},

src/backend/utils/misc/postgresql.conf.sample

@@ -309,9 +309,7 @@
 # These settings are ignored on a master server.
 
 #primary_conninfo = ''			# connection string to sending server
-					# (change requires restart)
 #primary_slot_name = ''			# replication slot on sending server
-					# (change requires restart)
 #promote_trigger_file = ''		# file name whose presence ends recovery
 #hot_standby = on			# "off" disallows queries during recovery
 					# (change requires restart)
@@ -323,7 +321,6 @@
 					# -1 allows indefinite delay
 #wal_receiver_create_temp_slot = off	# Create temp slot if primary_slot_name
 					# is not set.
-					# (change requires restart)
 #wal_receiver_status_interval = 10s	# send replies at least this often
 					# 0 disables
 #hot_standby_feedback = off		# send info from standby to prevent

src/include/access/xlog.h

@@ -319,6 +319,7 @@ extern bool CheckPromoteSignal(void);
 extern void WakeupRecovery(void);
 extern void SetWalWriterSleeping(bool sleeping);
 
+extern void StartupRequestWalReceiverRestart(void);
 extern void XLogRequestWalReceiverReply(void);
 
 extern void assign_max_wal_size(int newval, void *extra);