RightScale PostgreSQL Database Cookbook

DESCRIPTION:

This cookbook is available at https://github.com/rightscale/rightscale_cookbooks.

Provides the PostgreSQL implementation of the 'db' resource to install and manage PostgreSQL database stand-alone servers and clients.

DETAILS

The 'db' implementation is defined by a Lightweight Provider, which can be found in the providers/default.rb file.

REQUIREMENTS:

Requires a VM launched from a RightScale managed RightImage
Needs RightScale ServerTemplate tools gem installed on system.

COOKBOOKS DEPENDENCIES:

Please see metadata.rb file for the latest dependencies.

SETUP:

To setup only the database client, place db::default recipe into your runlist. This will pull in generic client inputs, provide provider selection input and install client. Set db/provider_type input in RightScale ServerTemplate to set provider and version for 'db' resource.
To setup a PostgreSQL database client and server, place the following recipes in order to your runlist:

db_postgres::setup_server_ loads the PostgreSQL provider, tuning parameters, as well as other PostgreSQL-specific attributes into the node as inputs. db::install_server sets up generic server and client inputs. This will also include db::default recipe which installs the client.

For example: To set up and install PostgreSQL 9.1 client and server

db_postgres::setup_server_9_1 db::install_server

USAGE:

Basic usage

Once setup, use the recipes in the 'db' cookbook to install and manage your PostgreSQL database servers and clients. See the db/README.md for usage details.

PostgreSQL Tuning and postgresql.conf and pg_hba.conf

Different tuning parameters can be applied by using a custom postgresql.conf.erb template or by setting the values in the attributes file. For more information on how to change the default configuration, please see: Customize a Chef-based ServerTemplate.

The tuning parameters are adjusted based on the database server usage. Shared servers are allocated %50 of the resources of a dedicated server.

The current implementation sets the following tuning parameters:

max_connections: Static setting with 400 for a dedicated server and 200 for a shared server
shared_buffers: Dynamically set to %25 of available memory.

PostgreSQL Replication

PostgreSQL streaming replication is asynchronous by default. If the primary server crashes then some transactions that were committed may not have been replicated to the standby server, causing data loss. The amount of data loss is proportional to the replication delay at the time of failover. Synchronous replication offers the ability to confirm that all changes made by a transaction have been transferred to one synchronous standby server. This extends the standard level of durability offered by a transaction commit. This level of protection is referred to as 2-safe replication in computer science theory. For more info refer: warm-standby

DETAILS:

The 'db' implementation is defined by a Lightweight Provider, which can be found in the providers/default.rb file.

LICENSE:

Copyright RightScale, Inc. All rights reserved. All access and use subject to the RightScale Terms of Service available at http://www.rightscale.com/terms.php and, if applicable, other agreements such as a RightScale Master Subscription Agreement.

iapilgrim / rs_db_postgres