repmgr/doc/repmgr-standby-promote.sgml

<refentry id="repmgr-standby-promote">
  <indexterm>
    <primary>repmgr standby promote</primary>
  </indexterm>

  <refmeta>
    <refentrytitle>repmgr standby promote</refentrytitle>
  </refmeta>

  <refnamediv>
    <refname>repmgr standby promote</refname>
    <refpurpose>promote a standby to a primary</refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Description</title>
    <para>
      Promotes a standby to a primary if the current primary has failed. This
      command requires a valid <filename>repmgr.conf</filename> file for the standby, either
      specified explicitly  with <literal>-f/--config-file</literal> or located in a
      default location; no additional arguments are required.
    </para>
    <para>
      If the standby promotion succeeds, the server will not need to be
      restarted. However any other standbys will need to follow the new server,
      by using <xref linkend="repmgr-standby-follow">; if <application>repmgrd</application>
        is active, it will handle this automatically.
    </para>
    <para>
      Note that &repmgr; will wait for up to <varname>promote_check_timeout</varname> seconds
      (default: 60 seconds) to verify that the standby has been promoted, and will
      check the promotion every <varname>promote_check_interval</varname> seconds (default: 1 second).
      Both values can be defined in <filename>repmgr.conf</filename>.
    </para>

    <note>
      <para>
        If WAL replay is paused on the standby, and not all WAL files on the standby have been
        replayed, &repmgr; will not attempt to promote it.
      </para>
      <para>
        This is because if WAL replay is paused, PostgreSQL itself will not react to a promote command
        until WAL replay is resumed and all pending WAL has been replayed. This means
        attempting to promote PostgreSQL in this state will leave PostgreSQL in a condition where the
        promotion may occur at a unpredictable point in the future.
      </para>
      <para>
        Note that if the standby is in archive recovery, &repmgr; will not be able to determine
        if more WAL is pending replay, and will abort the promotion attempt if WAL replay is paused.
      </para>
    </note>

  </refsect1>


  <refsect1>
    <title>Example</title>
    <para>
      <programlisting>
      $ repmgr -f /etc/repmgr.conf standby promote
      NOTICE: promoting standby to primary
      DETAIL: promoting server "node2" (ID: 2) using "pg_ctl -l /var/log/postgres/startup.log -w -D '/var/lib/postgres/data' promote"
      server promoting
      DEBUG: setting node 2 as primary and marking existing primary as failed
      NOTICE: STANDBY PROMOTE successful
      DETAIL: server "node2" (ID: 2) was successfully promoted to primary</programlisting>
    </para>
  </refsect1>


  <refsect1>
    <title>Options</title>
    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--dry-run</option></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Check if this node can be promoted, but don't carry out the promotion
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Configuration file settings</title>
   <para>
     The following parameters in <filename>repmgr.conf</filename> are relevant to the
     promote operation:
    </para>

    <para>
      <itemizedlist spacing="compact" mark="bullet">

       <listitem>
        <indexterm>
          <primary>promote_check_interval</primary>
          <secondary>with &quot;repmgr standby promote &quot;</secondary>
        </indexterm>
         <simpara>
           <literal>promote_check_interval</literal>:
           interval (in seconds, default: 1 second) to wait between each check
           to determine whether the standby has been promoted.
		 </simpara>
	   </listitem>

       <listitem>
        <indexterm>
          <primary>promote_check_timeout</primary>
          <secondary>with &quot;repmgr standby promote &quot;</secondary>
        </indexterm>
         <simpara>
           <literal>promote_check_timeout</literal>:
           time (in seconds, default: 60 seconds) to wait to verify that the standby has been promoted
           before exiting with <literal>ERR_PROMOTION_FAIL</literal>.
		 </simpara>
	   </listitem>

	  </itemizedlist>
	</para>

  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Exit codes</title>
    <para>
      Following exit codes can be emitted by <command>repmgr standby promote</command>:
    </para>
    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>SUCCESS (0)</option></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            The standby was successfully promoted to primary.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
        <term><option>ERR_DB_CONN (6)</option></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            &repmgr; was unable to connect to the local PostgreSQL node.
          </para>
          <para>
            PostgreSQL must be running before the node can be promoted.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
       <term><option>ERR_PROMOTION_FAIL (8)</option></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            The node could not be promoted to primary for one of the following
            reasons:
            <itemizedlist spacing="compact" mark="bullet">

              <listitem>
                <simpara>
                  there is an existing primary node in the replication cluster
                </simpara>
              </listitem>

              <listitem>
                <simpara>
                  the node is not a standby
                </simpara>
              </listitem>

              <listitem>
                <simpara>
                  WAL replay is paused on the node
                </simpara>
              </listitem>

              <listitem>
                <simpara>
                  execution of the PostgreSQL promote command failed
                </simpara>
              </listitem>

            </itemizedlist>
          </para>
        </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>


  <refsect1 id="repmgr-standby-promote-events">
    <title>Event notifications</title>
    <para>
      A <literal>standby_promote</literal> <link linkend="event-notifications">event notification</link> will be generated.
    </para>
  </refsect1>

</refentry>