Ensure WAL archiving is configured and functional

MediumLevel 1Automatedpostgres

Description

Write Ahead Log (WAL) Archiving, or Log Shipping, is the process of sending transaction log files from the PRIMARY host either to one or more STANDBY hosts or to be archived on a remote storage device for later use, e.g. PITR. There are several utilities that can copy WALs including, but not limited to, cp, scp, sftp, and rynsc. Passes when archive_mode is on/always and archive_command or archive_library is set; also confirm pg_stat_archiver shows successful archiving. Runs psql as ${PGUSER:-postgres} against ${PGDATABASE:-postgres}; set PGHOST/PGPORT and use ~/.pgpass (not PGPASSWORD, see 1.6/1.7) when peer authentication is not available.

How it is checked

Audit method: SQL query

sql_query

out=$(psql -X -U "${PGUSER:-postgres}" -d "${PGDATABASE:-postgres}" -tAc "SELECT CASE WHEN current_setting('archive_mode') IN ('on','always') AND (current_setting('archive_command') NOT IN ('', '(disabled)') OR current_setting('archive_library') <> '') THEN 'compliant' ELSE 'noncompliant' END" 2>/dev/null) || exit 1; printf '%s\n' "$out"

Expected output: compliant

How it is fixed

Fix method: Guidance or infrastructure patch

Set archive_mode = on and archive_command (e.g. 'pgbackrest --stanza=<name> archive-push %p') or archive_library in postgresql.conf, restart PostgreSQL, then confirm archived_count grows and failed_count stays constant in pg_stat_archiver.

Properties

Operating systems: Any
Tags: postgresdatabasebackupwal
Reference: CIS PostgreSQL 18 Benchmark v1.0.0 - 7.4 Ensure WAL archiving is configured and functional

Check this host

Run this on a machine you are allowed to audit. The scan is read-only.

shell

tmaegis scan --target postgres