Pg_jan on Percona Community

Open source doesn’t die. It gets unfunded.

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 11:00:00 +0000

If you are using PostgreSQL in any capacity very likely this week has started for you with a bang. pgBackRest, one of the most known tools for PostgreSQL, praised for the scalable and reliable way to do backups has announced that the project is currently archived.

Archived, you mean EOL?

No! Open source software rarely has a hard “end of life.” What it does have are maintainership gaps and those can be just as serious.

pgBackRest is archived, what now?

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 11:00:00 +0000

pgBackRest is an open source backup and restore tool for PostgreSQL. It’s fair to say it’s one of the most popular options, widely used across the PostgreSQL ecosystem.

On 27 April 2026, pgBackRest maintainer David Steele announced on LinkedIn and in the GitHub repository that the project is becoming ~~unmaintained~~ archived, starting with:

TL;DR: pgBackRest is no longer being maintained. If you fork pgBackRest, please select a new name for your project.

PostgreSQL coffee break: version upgrade related reindexing - reasons

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 11:00:00 +0000

During FOSDEM I had a chance to join a presentation by Alexander Sosna of GitLab on the backup procedure he has followed with his team to decrease the downtime during major upgrades. I highly recommend the talk, definitely worth watching!

I loved the presentation, especially since a similar procedure is what we recommend our users as well. Unfortunately it’s not for everyone: it’s applicable ONLY when you can stop DDL operations on your database cluster for some time. As you can imagine that’s not a case for every deployment.

PostgreSQL minor release postponed in Q1’ 2026

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 11:00:00 +0000

In case you are awaiting the February PostgreSQL Community minor update released on plan on February 12 we want to make sure that our users and customers are up to date and aware of what to expect.

This scheduled PostgreSQL release was delivered by the PostgreSQL Community on time and came carrying 5 CVE fixes and over 65 bugs bug fixes.

Unfortunately shortly after, the release team announced that an additional out of cycle release is planned for February 26. This follow up release addresses two regressions identified in the February 12 update.

Open source, PostgreSQL, and risk mitigation in an era of acquisitions

Fri, 19 Dec 2025 11:00:00 +0000

As the year comes to a close and many of us start slowing down before the winter holidays, I find myself reflecting on patterns I’ve seen repeat, both as a customer and as someone working closely with the PostgreSQL ecosystem.

Looking back at software acquisitions over the past year, one might assume they only change logos. In reality, they often change roadmaps, priorities, and unfortunately all too often also the promises customers originally bought into.

Enhancing PostgreSQL OIDC with pg_oidc_validator

Wed, 17 Dec 2025 11:00:00 +0000

With PostgreSQL 18 introducing built-in OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect (OIDC) authentication, tools like pg_oidc_validator have become an essential part of the ecosystem by enabling server-side verification of OIDC tokens directly inside PostgreSQL. If you’re new to the topic, make sure to read our earlier posts explaining the underlying concepts and the need for external validators:

This release builds on the initial version announced in October and continues our mission to make OIDC adoption in PostgreSQL reliable, fast, and accessible for all users.

TDE is now available for PostgreSQL 18

Fri, 28 Nov 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Back in October, before PGConf.EU, I explained the issues impacting the prolonged wait for TDE in PostgreSQL 18. Explanations were needed as users were buzzing with anticipation, and they deserved to understand what caused the delays and what the roadmap looked like. In that blog post I have shared that due to one of the features newly added in 18.0, the Asynchronous IO (AIO), we have decided to give ourselves time until 18.1 has been released to provide a build with TDE. We wanted to ensure best quality of the solution and that takes time.

Say Hello to OIDC in PostgreSQL 18!

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 11:00:00 +0000

If you’ve ever wondered how to set up OpenID Connect (OIDC) authentication in PostgreSQL, the wait is almost over.

We’ve spent some time exploring what it would take to make OIDC easier and more reliable to use with PostgreSQL. And now, we’re happy to share the first results of that work.

Why OIDC, and why now?

We’ve spoken to some of our customers and noticed a trend of moving away from LDAP to OIDC. Our MongoDB product is already providing OIDC integration and the team working on PostgreSQL products saw an opportunity coming with PostgreSQL 18.

Keep Calm - TDE for PostgreSQL 18 Is on Its Way!

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 11:00:00 +0000

If you’ve been following the buzz around PostgreSQL, you’ve probably already heard that database level open source data-at-rest encryption is now available thanks to the Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) extension available in the Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL. So naturally, the next question is:

Where’s Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL 18?

The short answer:

It’s coming.

The slightly longer one:

It’s taking a bit of time, for all the right reasons.

pg_tde can now encrypt your WAL on PROD!

Mon, 01 Sep 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Just recently, we announced the production-ready release of pg_tde, bringing open source Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) to PostgreSQL.
Now, I may have spoiled the fun a little with the title, but take a look at the word puzzle below—can you guess the announcement? Bear with me… and my sense of humor, which might be a bit too dry for some :)

pg_stat_monitor Needs You! Join the Feedback Phase

Wed, 13 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

At Percona, we believe that great open source software is built with the Community, not just for it. As we plan the next iteration of pg_stat_monitor, our advanced PostgreSQL monitoring extension, we’re taking a closer look at the current feature set and how it aligns with real-world usage.

In open source, the community isn’t just a user base, it’s the most important stakeholder. While we set the vision, your feedback is the compass that guides us. Your experiences, bug reports, and feature requests are what validate our direction and keep us focused on what matters most. Without your active involvement, it’s impossible to build a tool that truly solves the problems you face every day. Your input ensures pg_stat_monitor evolves in a way that is both innovative and genuinely useful.

Active-active replication - the hidden costs and complexities

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In Part 1 of this series, we discussed what active-active databases are and identified some “good” reasons for considering them, primarily centered around extreme high availability and critical write availability during regional outages. Now, let’s turn our attention to the less compelling justifications and the substantial challenges that come with implementing such a setup.

What are “bad” reasons?

1. Scaling write throughput

Trying to scale your write capacity by deploying active-active across regions may sound like a clean horizontal solution, but it is rarely that simple. Write coordination, conflict resolution, and replication overhead introduce latency that defeats the purpose. If you are thinking about low latency writes between regions like Australia and the US, keep in mind that you will still be paying the round-trip cost, typically 150-200ms+, to maintain consistency. Physics don’t do any favors. Even if you have multiple primaries, unless you accept weaker consistency or potential conflicts, your writes will not scale linearly. In many real-world cases, throughput actually suffers compared to a well tuned primary replica setup. If your real goal is better throughput, you are usually better served by:

PostgreSQL active-active replication, do you really need it?

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Before we start, what is active-active?

Active-active, also referred to as multi-primary, is a setup where multiple database nodes can accept writes at the same time and propagate those changes to the others. In comparison, regular streaming replication in PostgreSQL allows only one node (the primary) to accept writes. All other nodes (replicas) are read-only and follow changes.

In an active-active setup:

There is no single point of write.
Applications can write to any node.
The database needs a way to sort out conflicts when two nodes try to concurrently change the same data.

That last point is the hardest one. PostgreSQL was not designed for concurrent writes from multiple nodes; it’s not a distributed database and does not leverage proprietary dedicated storage capabilities. So, every multi-primary implementation has to solve the issue of conflicting concurrent writes somehow. Some resolve conflicts using timestamps or priorities. Some push conflict resolution to the application. Some avoid it altogether by writing to separate subsets of data.

PostgreSQL 18 - Top Enterprise Features (fast read)

Mon, 26 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

So the Beta1 is available for PostgreSQL 18 and while not all the features have to make it to GA, we can surely hope they do!

Taking a close look at what’s coming, here below is the selection of what excites me in particular:

1. OAuth 2.0 authentication support

→ Finally aligns with modern enterprise SSO and identity standards (e.g., Okta, Azure AD). A major win for security teams and regulatory compliance.

Progress report on pg_tde - GA extension is nearer every day!

Thu, 08 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Another week, another blogpost about the state of open source Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) for PostgreSQL.

First off, thank you for all the feedback shared so far!

Whether it’s reports about deployment issues with pg_tde, integration with KMS, missing features or gaps in our documentation, we truly appreciate it! Your input helps us build a better, more complete solution and to properly prioritize what’s next.

What’s the word?

Learn PostgreSQL and SQL Quickly and Free

Mon, 20 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Learn PostgreSQL and SQL Quickly and Free

Want to learn PostgreSQL? What if you could learn PostgreSQL without having to install the database, load data, find sample data, and it was free? PGExamples.com is what you are looking for.

First, let me state that I have no connection to the website or its author. I discovered PgExercises.com by accident and was impressed by its quality and completeness. I am so impressed that I am exploring a video series on it.