PostgreSQL monitoring

2-min read
Published Jul 19, 2017

Deprecation notice

This extension documentation is now deprecated and will no longer be updated. We recommend using the new PostgresDB extension for improved functionality and support.

Dynatrace PostgreSQL monitoring provides you with deep visibility into the performance of your PostgreSQL databases.

Prerequisites

See list of supported PostgreSQL versions

Viewing PostgreSQL monitoring metrics

Captured PostgreSQL metrics are displayed on each PostgreSQL Process page. Click the infographic or the PostgreSQL metrics and Further details tabs to view metric details.

Collected metrics

Active connections

Number of active connections to all databases running under PostgreSQL

Buffer hit

Number of times disk blocks were found in buffer cache so that a read was not necessary (only includes hits in the PostgreSQL buffer cache, not the OS file system cache)

Cache hits ratio

Percentage of accesses that result in cache hits

Block reads

Number of disk blocks read in the database per second

Rows returned by index scans

Number of live rows fetched by index scans

Rows updated

Number of rows updated by queries in the database per second

Rows inserted

Number of rows inserted by queries in the database per second

Rows deleted

Number of rows deleted by queries in the database per second

Rows returned by sequential scans

Number of sequential scans fetched on the table per second

Index scans

Number of index scans initiated on the table per second

Commits

Number of transactions committed to the database per second

Rollbacks

Number of rolled-back transactions in the database per second

Enabling PostgreSQL monitoring

To enable PostgreSQL monitoring globally:

Go to Settings.
Select Monitoring > Monitored technologies.
Find PostgreSQL and enter your PostgreSQL server Database name, User, and Password credentials.
No special privileges are required, just user “Can login” privileges.
Turn on the PostgreSQL switch to enable monitoring with the plugin.
Select Save.
Dynatrace will verify the credentials and begin collecting PostgreSQL metrics.

With PostgreSQL monitoring enabled globally, when a new host running PostgreSQL is detected in your environment, Dynatrace automatically collects PostgreSQL metrics, assuming that the same credentials are used by the PostgreSQL server or a new DB.

Dynatrace also allows you to enable PostgreSQL monitoring for specific hosts rather than globally. To do this, first disable the global PostgreSQL monitoring setting explained above. Then click the Host settings link and select a host you want to start PostgreSQL monitoring on. Follow the same steps as for global configuration.

Process logs with technology bundle parsers

Through OpenPipeline, you can use and configure technology bundles. A technology bundle is a library of parsers (processing rules), that process logs from various technologies such as Java, .NET, Microsoft IIS, etc.

Parsers help you to improve filtering, troubleshooting, metrics, alerts, and dashboards by efficiently extracting log levels and relevant attributes. You can also use technology bundles to structure logs from technologies that are not supported by Dynatrace out of the box.

For more information, see Process logs with technology bundle parsers.