PostgreSQL

The PostgreSQL integration collects database-usage metrics, such as the databasesize, the number of backends, or the number of operations. The integration alsocollects PostgreSQL logs and parses them into a JSON payload. This resultincludes fields for role, user, level, and message.

For more information about PostgreSQL, see thePostgreSQL documentation.

Prerequisites

To collect PostgreSQL telemetry, you mustinstall the Ops Agent:

  • For metrics, install version 2.21.0 or higher.
  • For logs, install version 2.9.0 or higher.

This integration supports PostgreSQL version 10.18+.

Configure your PostgreSQL instance

Thepostgresql receiver connects by default to a localpostgresqlserver using a Unix socket and Unix authentication as theroot user.

Configure the Ops Agent for PostgreSQL

Following the guide toConfigure the OpsAgent, add the required elementsto collect telemetry from PostgreSQL instances, andrestart the agent.

Example configuration

The following commands create the configuration to collect and ingest telemetryfor PostgreSQL:

#ConfiguresOpsAgenttocollecttelemetryfromtheapp.Youmustrestarttheagentfortheconfigurationtotakeeffect.set-e#Checkifthefileexistsif[!-f/etc/google-cloud-ops-agent/config.yaml];then#Createthefileifitdoesn't exist.  sudo mkdir -p /etc/google-cloud-ops-agent  sudo touch /etc/google-cloud-ops-agent/config.yamlfi# Create a back up of the existing file so existing configurations are not lost.sudo cp /etc/google-cloud-ops-agent/config.yaml /etc/google-cloud-ops-agent/config.yaml.bak# Configure the Ops Agent.sudo tee /etc/google-cloud-ops-agent/config.yaml > /dev/null << EOFmetrics:  receivers:    postgresql:      type: postgresql      username: postgres      password: abc123      # To use the googlesecretmanager provider to replace plaintext passwords, refer to the example below.      # password: ${googlesecretmanager:projects/<project-id>/secrets/<secret-id>/versions/<version-id>}      insecure: true      endpoint: localhost:5432  service:    pipelines:      postgresql:        receivers:        - postgresqllogging:  receivers:    postgresql_general:      type: postgresql_general  service:    pipelines:      postgresql:        receivers:          - postgresql_generalEOF

For these changes to take effect, you must restart the Ops Agent:

Linux

  1. To restart the agent, run the following command on your instance:
    sudo systemctl restart google-cloud-ops-agent
  2. To confirm that the agent restarted, run the following command and verify that the components "Metrics Agent" and "Logging Agent" started:
    sudo systemctl status "google-cloud-ops-agent*"

Windows

  1. Connect to your instance using RDP or a similar tool and login to Windows.
  2. Open a PowerShell terminal with administrator privileges by right-clicking the PowerShell icon and selectingRun as Administrator
  3. To restart the agent, run the following PowerShell command:
    Restart-Service google-cloud-ops-agent -Force
  4. To confirm that the agent restarted, run the following command and verify that the components "Metrics Agent" and "Logging Agent" started:
    Get-Service google-cloud-ops-agent*

Configure logs collection

To ingest logs from PostgreSQL, you must create a receiver for the logsthat PostgreSQL produces and then create a pipeline for the new receiver.

To configure a receiver for yourpostgresql_general logs, specify the followingfields:

FieldDefaultDescription
exclude_pathsA list of filesystem path patterns to exclude from the set matched byinclude_paths.
include_paths[/var/log/postgresql/postgresql*.log, /var/lib/pgsql/data/log/postgresql*.log, /var/lib/pgsql/*/data/log/postgresql*.log]A list of filesystem paths to read by tailing each file. A wild card (*) can be used in the paths.
record_log_file_pathfalseIf set totrue, then the path to the specific file from which the log record was obtained appears in the output log entry as the value of theagent.googleapis.com/log_file_path label. When using a wildcard, only the path of the file from which the record was obtained is recorded.
typeThis value must bepostgresql_general.
wildcard_refresh_interval60sThe interval at which wildcard file paths ininclude_paths are refreshed. Given as atime duration, for example30s or2m. This property might be useful under high logging throughputs where log files are rotated faster than the default interval.

What is logged

ThelogName is derived fromthe receiver IDs specified in the configuration. Detailed fields inside theLogEntryare as follows.

Thepostgresql_general logs contain the following fields in theLogEntry:

FieldTypeDescription
jsonPayload.databasestringDatabase name for the action being logged when relevant
jsonPayload.levelstringLog severity or type of database interaction type for some logs
jsonPayload.messagestringLog of the database action
jsonPayload.tidnumberThread ID where the log originated
jsonPayload.userstringAuthenticated user for the action being logged when relevant
severitystring (LogSeverity)Log entry level (translated).

Configure metrics collection

To ingest metrics from PostgreSQL, you must create a receiver for the metricsthat PostgreSQL produces and then create a pipeline for the new receiver.

This receiver does notsupport the use of multiple instances in the configuration, for example, tomonitor multiple endpoints. All such instances write to the same time series,and Cloud Monitoring has no way to distinguish among them.

To configure a receiver for yourpostgresql metrics, specify the followingfields:

FieldDefaultDescription
ca_filePath to the CA certificate. As a client, this verifies the server certificate. If empty, the receiver uses the system root CA.
cert_filePath to the TLS certificate to use for mTLS-required connections.
collection_interval60sAtime duration value, such as30s or5m.
endpoint/var/run/postgresql/.s.PGSQL.5432Thehostname:port or Unix socket path starting with/ used to connect to the PostgreSQL server.
insecuretrueSets whether or not to use a secure TLS connection. If set tofalse, then TLS is enabled.
insecure_skip_verifyfalseSets whether or not to skip verifying the certificate. Ifinsecure is set totrue, then theinsecure_skip_verify value is not used.
key_filePath to the TLS key to use for mTLS-required connections.
passwordThe password used to connect to the server.
typeThis value must bepostgresql.
usernameThe username used to connect to the server.

What is monitored

The following table provides the list of metrics that the Ops Agent collectsfrom the PostgreSQL instance.

Metric type 
Kind, Type
Monitored resources
Labels
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.backends
GAUGEINT64
gce_instance
database
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.bgwriter.buffers.allocated
CUMULATIVEINT64
gce_instance
 
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.bgwriter.buffers.writes
CUMULATIVEINT64
gce_instance
source
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.bgwriter.checkpoint.count
CUMULATIVEINT64
gce_instance
type
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.bgwriter.duration
CUMULATIVEINT64
gce_instance
type
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.bgwriter.maxwritten
CUMULATIVEINT64
gce_instance
 
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.blocks_read
CUMULATIVEINT64
gce_instance
database
source
table
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.commits
CUMULATIVEINT64
gce_instance
database
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.connection.max
GAUGEINT64
gce_instance
 
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.database.count
GAUGEINT64
gce_instance
 
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.db_size
GAUGEINT64
gce_instance
database
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.index.scans
CUMULATIVEINT64
gce_instance
database
index
table
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.index.size
GAUGEINT64
gce_instance
database
index
table
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.operations
CUMULATIVEINT64
gce_instance
database
operation
table
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.replication.data_delay
GAUGEINT64
gce_instance
replication_client
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.rollbacks
CUMULATIVEINT64
gce_instance
database
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.rows
GAUGEINT64
gce_instance
database
state
table
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.table.count
GAUGEINT64
gce_instance
database
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.table.size
GAUGEINT64
gce_instance
database
table
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.table.vacuum.count
CUMULATIVEINT64
gce_instance
database
table
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.wal.age
GAUGEINT64
gce_instance
 
workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.wal.lag
GAUGEINT64
gce_instance
operation
replication_client

Verify the configuration

This section describes how to verify that you correctly configured thePostgreSQL receiver. It might take one or twominutes for the Ops Agent to begin collecting telemetry.

To verify that PostgreSQL logs are being sent toCloud Logging, do the following:

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to theLogs Explorer page:

    Go toLogs Explorer

    If you use the search bar to find this page, then select the result whose subheading isLogging.

  2. Enter the following query in the editor, and then clickRun query:
    resource.type="gce_instance"log_id("postgresql_general")

To verify that PostgreSQL metrics are being sent toCloud Monitoring, do the following:

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Metrics explorer page:

    Go toMetrics explorer

    If you use the search bar to find this page, then select the result whose subheading isMonitoring.

  2. In the toolbar of thequery-builder pane, select the button whose name is either MQL or PromQL.
  3. Verify thatPromQL is selectedin theLanguage toggle. The language toggle is in the same toolbar thatlets you format your query.
  4. Enter the following query in the editor, and then clickRun query:
    {"workload.googleapis.com/postgresql.backends", monitored_resource="gce_instance"}

View dashboard

To view your PostgreSQL metrics, you must have a chart or dashboardconfigured.The PostgreSQL integration includes one or more dashboards for you.Any dashboards are automatically installed after you configure theintegration and the Ops Agent has begun collecting metric data.

You can also view static previews of dashboards withoutinstalling the integration.

To view an installed dashboard, do the following:

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Dashboards page:

    Go toDashboards

    If you use the search bar to find this page, then select the result whose subheading isMonitoring.

  2. Select theDashboard List tab, and then choose theIntegrations category.
  3. Click the name of the dashboard you want to view.

If you have configured an integration but the dashboard has not beeninstalled, then check that the Ops Agent is running. When there is nometric data for a chart in the dashboard, installation of the dashboard fails.After the Ops Agent begins collecting metrics, the dashboard is installedfor you.

To view a static preview of the dashboard, do the following:

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Integrations page:

    Go toIntegrations

    If you use the search bar to find this page, then select the result whose subheading isMonitoring.

  2. Click theCompute Engine deployment-platform filter.
  3. Locate the entry for PostgreSQL and clickView Details.
  4. Select theDashboards tab to see a static preview. If the dashboard is installed, then you can navigate to it by clickingView dashboard.

For more information about dashboards in Cloud Monitoring, seeDashboards and charts.

For more information about using theIntegrations page, seeManage integrations.

Install alerting policies

Alerting policies instruct Cloud Monitoring to notify you whenspecified conditions occur.The PostgreSQL integration includes one or more alerting policies foryou to use.You can view and installthese alerting policies from theIntegrations page inMonitoring.

To view the descriptions of available alerting policies and install them, do the following:

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Integrations page:

    Go toIntegrations

    If you use the search bar to find this page, then select the result whose subheading isMonitoring.

  2. Locate the entry for PostgreSQL and clickView Details.
  3. Select theAlerts tab. This tab provides descriptions of available alerting policies and provides an interface for installing them.
  4. Install alerting policies. Alerting policies need to know where to send notifications that the alert has been triggered, so they require information from you for installation. To install alerting policies, do the following:
    1. From the list of available alerting policies, select those that you want to install.
    2. In theConfigure notifications section, select one or more notification channels. You have the option to disable the use of notification channels, but if you do, then your alerting policies fire silently. You can check their status in Monitoring, but you receive no notifications.

      For more information about notification channels, seeManage notification channels.

    3. ClickCreate Policies.

For more information about alerting policies in Cloud Monitoring, seeIntroduction to alerting.

For more information about using theIntegrations page, seeManage integrations.

What's next

For a walkthrough on how to use Ansible to install the Ops Agent, configurea third-party application, and install a sample dashboard, see theInstall the Ops Agent to troubleshoot third-party applications video.

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Last updated 2025-11-05 UTC.