If "failover_validation_command" is set, and the command returns an error,
rerun the election.
There is a pause between reruns to avoid "churn"; the length of this pause
is controlled by the configuration parameter "election_rerun_interval".
This enable selection of the method repmgrd uses to check whether the upstream
node is available. Possible values are:
- "ping" (default): uses PQping() to check server availability
- "connection": executes a query on the connection to check server
availability (similar to repmgr3.x).
Previously, if PostgreSQL was not running on the node, repmgrd and
pause status were shown as "0", implying their status was known.
This brings the csv output in line with the human-readable output,
which displays "n/a" in this case.
With long-running copy operations, it's possible the connection(s) to
the primary/source server may go away for some reason, so recheck
their availability before attempting to reuse.
We only want to check the status of physical replication slots
to determine whether a streaming replication standby has become
detached and there is therefore a risk of uncontrolled WAL buildup
on the local node.
It's not feasible to second-guess the state of logical replication
slots.
If, for whatever reason, repmgrd is not running on a node, but that
node qualifies as promotion candidate, failover will not take place
as that node will never promote itself.
We therefore discount nodes where repmgrd is running as promotion
candidates, which will ensure one node is always promoted.
There is a slight risk here that the node(s) where repmgrd is not running
are further ahead, leading to a timeline fork. It might be possible
to mitigate that by having the "election" leader perform the promote
(or follow) operation.
If replay is paused, we can't be really sure that more WAL will be received
between the check and the promote operation, which would risk the promote
operation not taking place during the switchover (it would happen
as soon as WAL replay is resumed and pending WAL is replayed).
Therefore we simply quit with an informative slew of messages and
leave the user to sort it out.
GitHub #540.
If WAL replay is paused but WAL is still pending replay, PostgreSQL will ignore
the promote request until WAL replay is unpaused. This may lead to the standby
being promoted at an unpredictable point in time outside of repmgr's
control. Moreover it may not be obvious that this is happening, or why, and
it will appear that an apparently successful promotion attempt has not
actually worked.
To prevent this from happening, repmgr will now refuse to promote the
standy if WAL replay is paused *and* WAL is still pending replay.
GitHub #540.
John Naylor