Database monitoring is one of the most critical tasks for any DBA.
PostgreSQL offers a wide range of built-in tools and extensions to help you track performance, troubleshoot issues, and ensure your systems stay reliable.
In this article, we’ll explore the essentials of PostgreSQL monitoring, from system views to advanced tools.
Why Monitor PostgreSQL?
Monitoring allows you to:
- Detect and resolve performance bottlenecks.
- Track active sessions and locks.
- Capture query execution statistics.
- Ensure high availability and stability.
Without proactive monitoring, slow queries, blocking sessions, and resource mismanagement can silently degrade performance.
Built-in Monitoring Tools
PostgreSQL ships with several catalog tables and views that provide valuable insights:
- pg_stat_activity – Shows current sessions and SQL queries.
- pg_locks – Displays locks held by running transactions.
- pg_stat_database – Provides statistics about database activity.
- pg_stat_user_tables – Monitors table-level activity like inserts, updates, and deletes.
- pg_stat_user_indexes – Tracks index usage.
- pg_stat_progress_vacuum / create_index / cluster – Shows progress of maintenance tasks.
👉 These views give you real-time insight into what’s happening inside your cluster.
Extensions for Deeper Insight
- pg_stat_statements – Tracks execution statistics of all queries, helping you identify slow SQL.
- auto_explain – Logs execution plans for queries that run longer than a configured threshold.
- pg_badger – Parses PostgreSQL logs to generate performance reports.
These tools are especially useful for long-term analysis and optimization.
PostgreSQL Enterprise Manager (PEM)
For enterprises that need centralized monitoring, Postgres Enterprise Manager (PEM) provides:
- Dashboards with system health metrics.
- Query debugger and profiler.
- Alerting and job scheduling.
- Backup and failover management.
- Integration with other monitoring systems via APIs and webhooks.
PEM is ideal for DBAs managing multiple clusters at scale.
Key Logging Parameters
You can configure PostgreSQL to log useful information by adjusting settings in postgresql.conf:
- log_min_duration_statement – Logs queries longer than X milliseconds.
- log_connections / log_disconnections – Tracks session activity.
- log_lock_waits – Helps identify blocking queries.
- log_temp_files – Detects excessive use of temporary files.
👉 Tuning these parameters allows you to catch problematic queries early.
Practical Monitoring Queries
Here are some quick examples DBAs can use daily:
-- Check current running queries
SELECT pid, usename, state, query
FROM pg_stat_activity;
-- Identify blocking sessions
SELECT pid, pg_blocking_pids(pid) AS blocked_by, query
FROM pg_stat_activity;
-- Find top queries by execution time (requires pg_stat_statements)
SELECT query, calls, total_exec_time
FROM pg_stat_statements
ORDER BY total_exec_time DESC
LIMIT 5;
Final Thoughts
Monitoring is not just about catching problems—it’s about ensuring your PostgreSQL databases run at peak performance.
PostgreSQL 16 provides powerful built-in statistics and extensions, while tools like PEM add enterprise-grade capabilities.