EDB Postgres AI Q3 2024 release highlights

August 28, 2024

This release roundup originally appeared on the EDB blog.

There’s a lot of energy at EDB following the Q2 announcement of EDB Postgres AI, an intelligent platform for unified management of transactional, analytical, and AI workloads, last quarter. The features we’re unveiling today build on last quarter’s EDB Postgres AI announcement by further enhancing the value delivered across our platform to support next gen applications, while further strengthening our core transactional database capabilities.

Let’s take a closer look at these features.

Trusted Postgres Architect release improves HA cluster deployment verification and PEM & EFM integration

With Trusted Postgres Architect (TPA), we continuously seek to create useful default configurations for our users to minimize the manual work required to tweak the cluster after deployment. We’ve done that and more with our latest features.

TPA Version 23.24 introduces clearer and more concise CLI output, helping operators verify that deployment was successful. Today’s release includes a new module that processes the raw Ansible output into a more concise form before streaming it to the operator, making it easier to spot important information.

For clusters that include EDB Postgres Enterprise Manager (PEM), operators can now specify additional options to pass to the “register-agent” command, as well as provide their own SSL certificates to be used by the PEM web server. This enhancement improves upon earlier processes requiring the use of custom hooks or manual configuration. For Enterprise Failover Manager (EFM) clusters, TPA now supports the new configuration parameters introduced with EFM 4.9. In addition, the configuration files created by TPA now include all the formatting and comments provided in the default EFM configuration files, making it easier for any operator wanting to manually inspect these files. TPA now allows users to specify whether TPA uses host names or IP addresses in EFM configuration, where previously only IP addresses were supported.

Find out more about Trusted Postgres Architect. If you’re new to TPA, try out this TPA tutorial to spin up your first cluster.

Postgres Enterprise Manager advances database and server monitoring

Postgres Enterprise Manager provides tools to keep databases running smoothly, continuously monitoring database and server health with real-time graphical dashboards and automatic alerts. When issues are detected, PEM makes it easier to pinpoint and fix performance bottlenecks with integrated query profiling, performance, and log analysis tools. Highlights of Postgres Enterprise Manager Version 9.7.0 include the following:

• EDB Postgres Distributed information in the “Core Usage” report: This release enhances the PEM core usage report by adding information about EDB Postgres Distributed (PGD), giving customers a more complete view of their EDB license usage. As a result, the core usage report shows how many cores are running each version of Postgres across all PEM-monitored servers, including PGD. 
• Copy notification settings: This release extends the copy feature used by PEM to synchronize settings across multiple servers to now include notification settings, making it more powerful and reducing the need for additional manual steps or coding using the REST API. 
• Dynamic probe scheduling to avoid showing outdated information: PEM Agents collect data from monitored servers periodically, so changes can take a short time to reflect in the data. To mitigate this, PEM will now force some key agent tasks (known as probes) to run immediately after a server is added or changed in PEM, reducing the lag between adding or modifying a Postgres instance and the information being reflected in PEM monitoring data. 

To get the latest PEM and enjoy all these benefits, update your PEM today.

EDB Database Server Updates for PostgreSQL Community

As part of EDB’s support for the open source community’s quarterly release schedule, we completed new software releases in the EDB repositories of PostgreSQL, EDB Postgres Extended (PGE) Server, and EDB Postgres Advanced Server (EPAS), including the following: 

The PostgreSQL minor releases were made available by the PostgreSQL Global Development Group on August 8th, addressing a security vulnerability. EDB repositories were simultaneously updated with new, minor releases of PostgreSQL, PGE, and EPAS, incorporating upstream fixes and additional feature enhancements. Complete PGE release notes and EPAS release notes are available. For details on the security fix and other improvements in PostgreSQL, please see the Postgres release announcement.

Seamlessly Convert Postgres Databases into a RESTful API with PostgREST Extension Support

The popular open source tool PostgREST has been added to EDB’s supported open source software list. This update unlocks more efficient and scalable Web services by enabling customers to seamlessly convert their Postgres database into a RESTful API.

With EDB-supported software, customers can deploy with confidence knowing that these solutions are not only packaged by EDB but also come with the assurance of thorough EDB review and dedicated support for any issues encountered.

New Migration Toolkit command line options ease migration criteria specification

Operators have long relied on the EDB Migration Toolkit command-line tool to help migrate tables and data from legacy DBMS to PostgreSQL or EDB Postgres Advanced Server. By adding the ability to enable command line options to be specified via a file for configuration, EDB Migration Toolkit reduces administration risks and increases the predictability of Oracle-to-Postgres migrations.

The new version of the Migration Toolkit is available for download from the EDB repositories or the EDB software downloads page.

For more information about the new command line options and other enhancements and fixes in this release, see the Migration Toolkit documentation.

EDB Query Advisor updates provide actionable index recommendations 

EDB customers can leverage EDB Query Advisor with PostgreSQL, PGE, and EPAS to get index recommendations based on the running database workload. This soon-to-be-released version builds on that capability by analyzing the gap between estimated and actual rows in query plans. With this insight, EDB Query Advisor provides actionable recommendations for extended table statistics, resulting in more accurate query plans, improved performance, and enhanced overall database efficiency.

EDB Postgres for Kubernetes 1.24 released

EDB Postgres for Kubernetes adds speed, efficiency, and protection for your k8s infrastructure modernization, with an enterprise-grade operator for Postgres. EDB Postgres for Kubernetes brings automation, security, and reliability to cloud-native data infrastructures.

Our new EDB Postgres for Kubernetes upstream release is merged with CloudNativePG 1.24.0. 

For more CloudNativePG information, check out the 1.24 Release Notes.

Barman 3.11 release leverages PostgreSQL 17 incremental backup and more

Barman provides robust backup and recovery solutions for PostgreSQL. We recently detailed how the combination of Barman 3.11 and PostgreSQL 17 combine to deliver seamless, enterprise-grade backup strategies in this EDB blog: Why PostgreSQL 17's Incremental Backup Feature is a Game-Changer.

Learn more about enhanced Barman 3.11 features focused on saving resources and adding configuration options in the Release Notes.

Take a closer look at Barman on EDB Docs.

There’s more to come from EDB in Q3 

We’re not done sharing news about our EDB Postgres AI enhancements. As a leading PostgreSQL community contributor, we already have expert-level analysis into our favorite features in the upcoming PostgreSQL17 release. We’ll share news on how EDB database platforms build on this important community update as the September 15th release date arrives. Plus, stay tuned for new EDB announcements focused on our fully managed EDB Postgres AI Cloud Service and EDB Postgres Distributed database solutions. 

For more information about our Q3 releases, contact us today.