Re: pg_upgrade project: high-level design proposal of

On Sat, 4 Jun 2005, Bruce Momjian wrote:

> Date: Sat, 4 Jun 2005 19:33:40 -0400 (EDT)
>
> I have added a link to this thread on the TODO list under TODO.detail.

Thanks Bruce (and Josh Berkus) for reminding me about this. I should be
able to follow this up in early July.

-s

> Serguei A. Mokhov wrote:
> > Hello dear all,
> >
> > [Please CC your replies to me as I am on the digest mode]
> >
> > Here's finally a very high-level design proposal of the pg_upgrade feature
> > I was handwaiving a couple of weeks ago. Since, I am almost done with the
> > moving, I can allocate some time for this for 8.1/8.2.
> >
> > If this topic is of interest to you, please read on until the very end
> > before flaming or bashing the ideas out.  I had designed that thing and
> > kept updating (the design) more or less regularly, and also reflected some
> > issues from the nearby threads [1] and [2].
> >
> > This design is very high-level at the moment and is not very detailed.  I
> > will need to figure out more stuff as I go and design some aspects in
> > finer detail.  I started to poke around asking for initdb-forcing code
> > paths in [3], but got no response so far.  But I guess if the general idea
> > or, rather, ideas accepted I will insist on more information more
> > aggressively :) if I can't figure something out for myself.
> >
> > [1] http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2004-09/msg00000.php
> > [2] http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2004-09/msg00382.php
> > [3] http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2004-08/msg01594.php
> >
> > Comments are very welcome, especially _*CONSTRUCTIVE*_...
> >
> > Thank you, and now sit back and read...
> >
> > CONTENTS:
> > =========
> >
> > 1. The Need
> > 1. Utilities and User's View of the pg_upgrade Feature
> > 2. Storage Management
> >    - Storage Managers and the smgr API
> > 3. Source Code Maintenance Aspects
> > 2. The Upgrade Sequence
> > 4. Proposed Implementation Plan
> >    - initdb() API
> >    - upgrade API
> >
> >
> > 1. The Need
> > -----------
> >
> > It's been a problem for PG for quite awhile now to have a less painful
> > upgrade procedure with every new revision of PostgreSQL, so the
> > dump/restore sequence is required.  That can take a while for a production
> > DB, while keeping it offline.  The new replication-related solutions, such
> > as Slony I, pg_pool, and others can remedy the problem somewhat, but
> > require to roughly double the storage requirements of a given database
> > while replicating from the older server to a newer one.
> >
> > The proposed implementation of an in-server pg_upgrade facility attempts
> > to address both issues at the same time -- a possibility to keep the
> > server running and upgrading lazily w/o doubling the storage requirements
> > (there will be some extra disk space taken, but far from doubling the
> > size).  The in-process upgrade will not take much of down time and won't
> > require that much memory/disk/network resources as replication solutions
> > do.
> >
> >
> > Prerequisites
> > -------------
> >
> > Ideally, the (maybe not so anymore) ambitious goal is to simply be able to
> > "drop in" the new binaries of the new server and kick off on the older
> > version of data files. I think is this feasible now a lot more than before
> > since we have those things available, which should ease up the
> > implementation:
> >
> >   - bgwriter
> >   - pg_autovacuum (the one to be integrated into the backend in 8.1)
> >   - smgr API for pluggable storage managers
> >   - initdb in C
> >   - ...
> >
> > initdb in C, bgwriter and pg_autovacuum, and pluggable storage manager
> > have made the possibility of creation of the Upgrade Subsystem for
> > PostgreSQL to be something more reasonable, complete, feasible, and sane
> > to a point.
> >
> >
> > Utilities and the User's (DBA) View of the Feature
> > --------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Two instances exist:
> >
> >    pg_upgrade (in C)
> >
> >        A standalone utility to upgrade the binary on-disk format from one
> >        version to another when the database is offline.
> >        We should always have this as an option.
> >        pg_upgrade will accept sub/super set of pg_dump(all)/pg_restore
> >        options that do not require a connection. I haven't
> >        thought through this in detail yet.
> >
> >    pg_autoupgrade
> >
> >        a postgres subprocess, modeled after bgwriter and pg_autovacuum
> >        daemons.  This will work when the database system is running
> >        on old data directory, and lazily converting relations to the new
> >        format.
> >
> > pg_autoupgrade daemon can be triggered by the following events in addition
> > to the lazy upgrade process:
> >
> >    "SQL" level: UPGRADE <ALL | relation_name [, relation_name]> [NOW | time]
> >
> > While the database won't be offline running over older database files,
> > SELECT/read-only queries would be allowed using older storage managers*.
> > Any write operation on old data will act using write-invalidate approach
> > that will force the upgrade the affected relations to the new format to be
> > scheduled after the relation-in-progress.
> >
> > (* See the "Storage Management" section.)
> >
> > Availability of the relations while upgrade is in progress is likely to be
> > the same as in VACUUM FULL for that relation, i.e. the entire relation is
> > locked until the upgrade is complete.  Maybe we could optimize that by
> > locking only particular pages of relations, I have to figure that out.
> >
> > The upgrade of indices can be done using REINDEX, which seems far less
> > complicated than trying to convert its on-disk representation.  This has
> > to be done after the relation is converted.  Alternatively, the index
> > upgrade can simply be done by "CREATE INDEX" after the upgrade of
> > relations.
> >
> > The relations to be upgraded are ordered according to some priority, e.g.
> > system relations being first, then user-owned relations.  System relations
> > upgrade is forced upon the postmaster startup, and then user relations are
> > processed lazily.
> >
> > So, in a sense, pg_autoupgrade will act like a proxy choosing appropriate
> > storage manager (like a driver) between the new server and the old data
> > file upgrading them on-demand.  For that purpose we might need to add a
> > pg_upgradeproxy to intercept backend requests and use appropriate storage
> > manager.  There will be one proxy process per backend.
> >
> >
> > Storage Management
> > ==================
> >
> > Somebody has made a possibility to plug a different storage manager in
> > postgres and we even had two of them at some point . for the magnetic disk
> > and the main memory.  The main memory one is gone, but the smgr API is
> > still there.  Some were dubious why we would ever need another third-party
> > storage manager, but here I propose to "plug in" storage managers from the
> > older Postgres versions itself!  Here is where the pluggable storage
> > manager API would be handy once fully resurrected.  Instead of trying to
> > plug some third party storage managers it will primarily be used by the
> > storage managers of different versions of Postgres.
> >
> > We can take the storage manager code from the past maintenance releases,
> > namely 6.5.3, 7.0.3, 7.1.3, 7.2.5, 7.3.7, 7.4.5, and 8.0, and arrange them
> > in appropriate fashion and have them implement the API properly.  Anyone
> > can contribute a storage manager as they see fit, there's no need to get
> > them all at once.  As a trial implementation I will try to do the last
> > three or four maybe.
> >
> >
> > Where to put relations being upgraded?
> > --------------------------------------
> >
> > At the beginning of the upgrade process if pg detects the old version of
> > data files, it moves them under $PGDATA/<ver>, and keeps the old relations
> > there until upgraded.  The relations to be upgraded will be kept in the
> > pg_upgrade_catalog.  Once all relations upgraded, the <ver> directory is
> > removed and the auto and proxy processes are shut down.  The contents of
> > the pg_upgrade_catalog emptied.  The only issue remains is how to deal
> > with tablespaces (or LOCATION in 7.* releases) elsewhere .- this can
> > probably be addressed in the similar fashion, but having a
> > /my/tablespace/<ver> directory.
> >
> > Source Code Maintenance
> > =======================
> >
> > Now, after the above some of you may get scared on the amount of similar
> > code to possibly maintain in all those storage managers, but in reality
> > they would require as much maintenance as the corresponding releases do
> > get back-patched in that code area, and some are not being maintained for
> > quite some time already.  Plus, I should be around to maintain it, should
> > this become realized.
> >
> > Release-time Maintenance
> > ------------------------
> >
> > For maintenance of pg_upgrade itself, one will have to fork out a new
> > storage manager from the previous stable release and "register" it within
> > the system.  Alternatively, the new storage manager can be forked when the
> > new release cycle begins.  Additionally, a pg_upgrade version has to be
> > added implementing the API steps outlined in the pg_upgrade API section.
> >
> >
> > Implementation Steps
> > ====================
> >
> > To materialize the above idea, I'd proceed as follows:
> >
> > *) Provide the initdb() API (quick)
> >
> > *) Resurrect the pluggable storage manager API to be usable for the
> >    purpose.
> >
> > *) Document it
> >
> > *) Implement pg_upgrade API for 8.0 and 7.4.5.
> >
> > *) Extract 8.0 and 7.4.5 storage managers and have them implement the API
> >    as a proof of concept.  Massage the API as needed.
> >
> > *) Document the process of adding new storage managers and pg_upgrade
> >    drivers.
> >
> > *) Extract other versions storage managers.
> >
> >
> > pg_upgrade sequence
> > -------------------
> >
> > pg_upgrade API for the steps below to update for the next release.
> >
> > What to do with WAL?? Maybe upgrade can simply be done using WAL replay
> > with old WAL manager? Not, fully, because not everything is in WAL, but
> > some WAL recovery maybe needed in case the server was not shutdown cleanly
> > before the upgrade.
> >
> > pg_upgrade will proceed as follows:
> >
> > - move PGDATA to PGDATA/<major pg version>
> > - move tablespaces likewise
> > - optional recovery from WAL in case old server was not shutdown properly
> > -? Shall I upgrade PITR logs of 8.x??? So one can recover to a
> >   point-in-time in the upgraded database?
> > - CLUSTER all old data
> > - ANALYZE all old data
> > - initdb() new system catalogs
> > - Merge in modifications from old system catalogs
> > - upgrade schemas/users
> >   -- variations
> > - upgrade user relations
> >
> > Upgrade API:
> > ------------
> >
> > First draft, to be refined multiple times, but to convey the ideas behind:
> >
> > moveData()
> >   movePGData()
> >   moveTablespaces() 8.0+
> >   moveDbLocation() < 8.0
> >
> > preliminaryRecovery()
> >  - WAL??
> >  - PITR 8.0+??
> >
> > preliminaryCleanup()
> >   CLUSTER -- recover some dead space
> >   ANALYZE -- gives us stats
> >
> > upgradeSystemInfo()
> >   initdb()
> >   mergeOldCatalogs()
> >   mergeOldTemplates()
> >
> > upgradeUsers()
> >
> > upgradeSchemas()
> >   - > 7.2, else NULL
> >
> > upgradeUserRelations()
> >   upgradeIndices()
> >     DROP/CREATE
> >
> > upgradeInit()
> > {
> >
> > }
> >
> > The main body in pseudocode:
> >
> > upgradeLoop()
> > {
> >     moveData();
> >     preliminaryRecovery();
> >     preliminaryCleanup();
> >     upgradeSystemInfo();
> >     upgradeUsers();
> >     upgradeSchemas();
> >     upgradeUserRelations();
> > }
> >
> > Something along these lines the API would be:
> >
> > typedef struct t_upgrade
> > {
> >     bool        (*moveData) (void);
> >     bool        (*preliminaryRecovery) (void);        /* may be NULL */
> >     bool        (*preliminaryCleanup) (void);        /* may be NULL */
> >     bool        (*upgradeSystemInfo) (void);        /* may be NULL */
> >     bool        (*upgradeUsers) (void);        /* may be NULL */
> >     bool        (*upgradeSchemas) (void);        /* may be NULL */
> >     bool        (*upgradeUserRelations) (void);        /* may be NULL */
> > } t_upgrade;
> >
> >
> > The above sequence is executed by either pg_upgrade utility uninterrupted
> > or by the pg_autoupgrade daemon. In the former the upgrade priority is
> > simply by OID, in the latter also, but can be overridden by the user using
> > the UPGRADE command to schedule relations upgrade, write operation can
> > also change such schedule, with user's selected choice to be first.  The
> > more write requests a relation receives while in the upgrade queue, its
> > priority increases; thus, the relation with most hits is on top. In case
> > of tie, OID is the decision mark.
> >
> > Some issues to look into:
> >
> > - catalog merger
> > - a crash in the middle of upgrade
> > - PITR logs for 8.x+
> > - ...
> >
> > Flames and Handwaiving
> > ----------------------
> >
> > Okay, flame is on, but before you flame, mind you, this is a very initial
> > version of the design.  Some of the ideas may seem far fetched, the
> > contents may seem messy, but I believe it's now more doable than ever and
> > I am willing to put effort in it for the next release or two and then
> > maintain it afterwards.  It's not going to be done in one shot maybe, but
> > incrementally, using input, feedback, and hints from you, guys.
> >
> > Thank you for reading till this far :-) I.d like to hear from you if any
> > of this made sense to you.
> >
> > Truly yours,

-- 
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