PostgreSQL Database Monitor is one of IPNetwork’s database monitors. It is used to establish a connection to a PostgreSQL database server and run a specified SQL query. The first column returned in the result is interpreted as an integer value and can be used in later checks to determine the monitor state.
PostgreSQL is a powerful open-source relational database management system widely used for business applications, web services, analytics platforms, and internal infrastructure. Many critical applications depend on PostgreSQL databases, so checking only whether the server port is open is often not enough. In many cases, it is important to verify that the database accepts connections, responds to SQL queries, and returns expected values.
IPNetwork Monitor now includes native PostgreSQL monitoring based on the standard PostgreSQL libpq client library. This allows you to create PostgreSQL checks directly in IPNetwork Monitor and monitor database availability, query results, and key PostgreSQL server metrics.
Creation of PostgreSQL Database Monitor is a simple task. Specify the host and, if required, the TCP port to connect to. To connect to the database, provide the database name, user name, and password. Then enter the SQL query that should be executed by the monitor. The first column returned by the query should contain an integer value, which can then be evaluated on the monitor State conditions tab.
For easier setup, IPNetwork Monitor also includes a PostgreSQL Database Server template. It allows you to quickly add a group of PostgreSQL-related monitors for a selected host. The template includes checks such as PostgreSQL server version, PostgreSQL TCP port, a test SQL query, PostgreSQL daemon process count, service process count, active connections, total connections, connection utilization, deadlocks, committed and rolled back transactions, cache hit ratio, total database size, and uptime.
The PostgreSQL TCP port monitor can be used to verify that the server is reachable. The test SQL query monitor can be used as a database sanity check, for example to confirm that a query can be executed and that the database returns an expected value. Other template monitors help track PostgreSQL activity and performance indicators, such as connection usage, transaction counters, deadlocks, cache efficiency, and database size.
There are many ways to use PostgreSQL Database Monitor, and they depend on the application using the PostgreSQL database. A system administrator can check whether a database accepts connections and returns valid query results. A developer or DevOps engineer can monitor application-specific counters stored in the database. A manager can use SQL-based checks to verify whether planned tasks, orders, records, or other business objects exist for a given period of time. Generally speaking, consistency of data for the given application using PostgreSQL database can be efficiently tested by a monitor of this type.
PostgreSQL Database Monitor can take significant time to run, since host location, database schema, query complexity, and server load may vary. Quicker monitors such as TCP monitor should first be used to check host availability. Such monitors can also be used as dependencies to reduce unnecessary database queries and diminish the impact on the target PostgreSQL server.
Description of other features:
| Monitoring Features | Here you can find the list of monitor types supported in IPNetwork Monitor and brief description of their parameters. |
| Application Templates | Here you can find the list of application templates supported in IPNetwork Monitor and their short description. |
| Network Discovery | Helps you to create a basis of your monitoring configuration and automates the task of detection network hosts and network services. |
| Alerting Features | Here you can find the list of alert types (ways of reaction to the problems happened during monitoring) available in IPNetwork Monitor, and their brief description. |
| Reporting Features | Here you can find the list of report types available in IPNetwork Monitor with brief descriptions. |
| IPNetwork Monitor interfaces and structure |
Here you can find an overview of IPNetwork Monitor components, Windows and web interfaces. |