Re: pg_sorttemp files

Thus spake Tom Lane
> darcy@druid.net (D'Arcy J.M. Cain) writes:
> > I have tons of old files with names like base/db/pg_sorttemp####.##.  I
> >  assume that they are temporary sorting files but somehow they never got
> > cleared out.  Is it safe to delete these from a running system.  The files
> > are months old.
> 
> The first #### is the PID of the backend that made them.  If there is no
> such backend anymore according to ps, it's safe to zap 'em.  I'd rely on
> that much more than the mod date.

Thanks.  I wasn't sure about that PID thing but I have now run a script
that got rid of them all.

> BTW, if you are seeing unreclaimed sorttemp files in a recent release
> (7.0 or later), I'd like to know about it.  That shouldn't happen,
> short of a backend crash anyway...

Well, I had over 6,000 of these files.  This database is about a year old.
I haven't seen all that many backend crashes in that time.  I guess I better
keep a close eye on them.

-- 
D'Arcy J.M. Cain <darcy@{druid|vex}.net>   |  Democracy is three wolves
http://www.druid.net/darcy/                |  and a sheep voting on
+1 416 425 1212     (DoD#0082)    (eNTP)   |  what's for dinner.