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
This commit is contained in:
Tom Lane 2019-08-15 11:14:26 -04:00
parent f1bf619acd
commit 45aaaa42fe
1 changed files with 20 additions and 7 deletions

View File

@ -153,6 +153,8 @@ 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>
@ -185,18 +187,29 @@ shared_buffers = 128MB
In addition to <filename>postgresql.conf</filename>,
a <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> data directory contains a file
<filename>postgresql.auto.conf</filename><indexterm><primary>postgresql.auto.conf</primary></indexterm>,
which has the same format as <filename>postgresql.conf</filename> 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</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>.
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>
<para>
The system view
<link linkend="view-pg-file-settings"><structname>pg_file_settings</structname></link>
can be helpful for pre-testing changes to the configuration file, or for
can be helpful for pre-testing changes to the configuration files, or for
diagnosing problems if a <systemitem>SIGHUP</systemitem> signal did not have the
desired effects.
</para>