Re: autovacuum causing numerous regression-test failures

Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net> writes:
> Tom Lane wrote:
>> I think we shall have to reconsider that patch to turn it on by
>> default. So far I've seen two categories of failure:

> So we turn autovacuum off for regression test instance.

Not a solution for "make installcheck", unless you are proposing adding
the ability to suppress autovac per-database.  Which would be a good
new feature ... for 8.3.

>> * manual ANALYZE issued by regression tests fails because autovac is
>> analyzing the same table concurrently.

> Or we put manual exceptions for the affected tables into pg_autovacuum.

New feature?  Or does that capability exist already?

>> * contrib tests fail in their repeated drop/create database
>> operations because autovac is connected to that database.  (pl tests
>> presumably have same issue.)

> I opine that when a database is to be dropped, the connections should be 
> cut.

Sure, but that's another thing that we're not going to start designing
and implementing four weeks after feature freeze.

I didn't complain about your proposing two weeks after feature freeze
that we turn autovac on by default, because I assumed (same as you no
doubt) that it would be a trivial one-liner change.  It is becoming
clear that that is not the case, and I don't think it makes any sense
from a project-management standpoint to try to flush the problems out
at this time in the release cycle.  We have more than enough problems
to fix for 8.2 already.  Let's try to do this early in the 8.3 cycle
instead.
        regards, tom lane