linkend="guc-checkpoint-segments"> log segments, or every <xref

linkend="guc-checkpoint-timeout"> seconds, whichever comes first.

The default settings are 3 segments and 300 seconds (5 minutes), respectively.

In cases where little or no WAL has been written, checkpoints will be

skipped even if checkpoint_timeout has passed. At least one new WAL segment

must have been created before an automatic checkpoint occurs. The time

between checkpoints and when new WAL segments are created are not related

in any other way. If file-based WAL shipping is being used and you want to

bound how often files are sent to standby server to reduce potential data

In cases where no WAL has been written since the previous checkpoint, new

checkpoints will be skipped even if checkpoint_timeout has passed.

If WAL archiving is being used and you want to put a lower limit on

how often files are archived in order to bound potential data

loss, you should adjust archive_timeout parameter rather than the checkpoint

parameters. It is also possible to force a checkpoint by using the SQL

command <command>CHECKPOINT</command>.