postgres.git / summary / log / commit / refs
commit 57980bdf62f4f6c4047a061acd2ce705dc69a4a0
Author: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
Date: Thu Aug 15 15:14:26 2019 +0000
First released in: 13.0, 9.4.25, 9.5.20, 9.6.16, 10.11, 11.6, 12.0
Doc: improve documentation about postgresql.auto.conf.
Clarify what external tools can do to this file, and add a bit
of detail about what ALTER SYSTEM itself does.
Discussion: https://postgr.es/m/aed6cc9f-98f3-2693-ac81-52bb0052307e@2ndquadrant.com
doc/src/sgml/config.sgml | 29 +++++++++++++++++++++--------
1 file changed, 21 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/config.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/config.sgml
index 1143dada0ab..b24589f5b75 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/config.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/config.sgml
@@ -136,6 +136,8 @@ shared_buffers = 128MB
identifiers or numbers must be single-quoted. To embed a single
quote in a parameter value, write either two quotes (preferred)
or backslash-quote.
+ If the file contains multiple entries for the same parameter,
+ all but the last one are ignored.
</para>
<para>
@@ -165,15 +167,26 @@ shared_buffers = 128MB
</para>
<para>
- In addition to <filename>postgresql.conf</>,
+ In addition to <filename>postgresql.conf</filename>,
a <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> data directory contains a file
- <filename>postgresql.auto.conf</><indexterm><primary>postgresql.auto.conf</></>,
- which has the same format as <filename>postgresql.conf</> but should
- never be edited manually. This file holds settings provided through
- the <xref linkend="SQL-ALTERSYSTEM"> command. This file is automatically
- read whenever <filename>postgresql.conf</> is, and its settings take
- effect in the same way. Settings in <filename>postgresql.auto.conf</>
- override those in <filename>postgresql.conf</>.
+ <filename>postgresql.auto.conf</filename><indexterm><primary>postgresql.auto.conf</primary></indexterm>,
+ which has the same format as <filename>postgresql.conf</filename> but
+ is intended to be edited automatically not manually. This file holds
+ settings provided through the <xref linkend="SQL-ALTERSYSTEM"> command.
+ This file is read whenever <filename>postgresql.conf</filename> is,
+ and its settings take effect in the same way. Settings
+ in <filename>postgresql.auto.conf</filename> override those
+ in <filename>postgresql.conf</filename>.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ External tools may also
+ modify <filename>postgresql.auto.conf</filename>. It is not
+ recommended to do this while the server is running, since a
+ concurrent <command>ALTER SYSTEM</command> command could overwrite
+ such changes. Such tools might simply append new settings to the end,
+ or they might choose to remove duplicate settings and/or comments
+ (as <command>ALTER SYSTEM</command> will).
</para>
</sect2>
[parent: a4b0d955bd23]