Command line tool for PostgreSQL server activity monitoring.
The simplest way to install pg_activity is through the package manager of your Linux distribution, if it ships with a package. E.g., on Debian-based distributions (e.g. Debian, Ubuntu, Mint...):
$ sudo apt install pg-activity
(on Debian bullseye, the current stable version, a backport is available: apt install pg-activity/bullseye-backports).
The PostgreSQL Global Development Group (PGDG) also provides packages for RPM-based (https://yum.postgresql.org/) and Debian-based distributions (https://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Apt).
Note: distribution packages may not be up to date with the latest pg_activity releases. Before submitting a bug report here:
- check the package version, compare that to our latest release and then review the change log to see if the bug has been fixed;
- if the issue is about packaging, e.g. missing dependencies, reach out the package maintainer (or PGDG) first.
pg_activity can be installed using pip on Python 3.8 or later along with psycopg:
$ python3 -m pip install "pg_activity[psycopg]"
Alternatively, pipx can be used to install and run pg_activity in an isolated environment:
$ pipx install "pg_activity[psycopg]"
In case your $PATH does not already contain it, the full path is:
$ ~/.local/bin/pg_activity
This is only necessary to test development versions. First, clone the repository:
$ git clone https://github.com/dalibo/pg_activity.git
Change the branch if necessary. Then create a dedicated environment, and install pg_activity with the psycopg database driver:
$ cd pg_activity
$ python3 -m venv .venv
$ . .venv/bin/activate
(.venv) $ pip install ".[psycopg]"
(.venv) $ pg_activity
To quit this env and destroy it:
$ deactivate
$ rm -r .venv
pg_activity works locally or remotely. In local execution context, to obtain
sufficient rights to display system information, the system user running
pg_activity must be the same user running postgresql server (postgres by
default), or have more rights like root. The PostgreSQL user used to connect
to the database must be super-user in order to get as much data as possible.
Otherwise, pg_activity can fall back to a degraded mode where some data like
system information or temporary file data are not displayed.
ex:
sudo -u postgres pg_activity -U postgres
pg_activity [options] [connection string]
Configuration:
-P PROFILE, --profile PROFILE
Configuration profile matching a PROFILE.conf file in
${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:~/.config}/pg_activity/ or
/etc/pg_activity/, or a built-in profile.
Options:
--blocksize BLOCKSIZE
Filesystem blocksize (default: 4096).
--rds Enable support for AWS RDS (implies --no-tempfiles and
filters out the rdsadmin database from space
calculation).
--output FILEPATH Store running queries as CSV.
--db-size, --no-db-size
Enable/disable total size of DB.
--tempfiles, --no-tempfiles
Enable/disable tempfile count and size.
--walreceiver, --no-walreceiver
Enable/disable walreceiver checks.
-w, --wrap-query Wrap query column instead of truncating.
--duration-mode DURATION_MODE
Duration mode. Values: 1-QUERY(default),
2-TRANSACTION, 3-BACKEND.
--min-duration SECONDS
Don't display queries with smaller than specified
duration (in seconds).
--filter FIELD:REGEX Filter activities with a (case insensitive) regular
expression applied on selected fields. Known fields
are: dbname.
--debug-file DEBUG_FILE
Enable debug and write it to DEBUG_FILE.
--version show program's version number and exit.
--help Show this help message and exit.
Connection Options:
connection string A valid connection string to the database, e.g.:
'host=HOSTNAME port=PORT user=USER dbname=DBNAME'.
-h HOSTNAME, --host HOSTNAME
Database server host or socket directory.
-p PORT, --port PORT Database server port.
-U USERNAME, --username USERNAME
Database user name.
-d DBNAME, --dbname DBNAME
Database name to connect to.
Process table display options:
These options may be used hide some columns from the processes table.
--pid, --no-pid Enable/disable PID.
--database, --no-database
Enable/disable DATABASE.
--user, --no-user Enable/disable USER.
--client, --no-client
Enable/disable CLIENT.
--cpu, --no-cpu Enable/disable CPU%.
--mem, --no-mem Enable/disable MEM%.
--read, --no-read Enable/disable READ/s.
--write, --no-write Enable/disable WRITE/s.
--time, --no-time Enable/disable TIME+.
--wait, --no-wait Enable/disable W.
--app-name, --no-app-name
Enable/disable APP.
Header display options:
--no-inst-info Display instance information.
--no-sys-info Display system information.
--no-proc-info Display workers process information.
Other display options:
--hide-queries-in-logs
Disable log_min_duration_statements and
log_min_duration_sample for pg_activity.
--refresh REFRESH Refresh rate. Values: 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (default: 2).
pg_activity may be configured through a configuration file, in INI format,
read from ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:~/.config}/pg_activity.conf or
/etc/pg_activity.conf in that order. Command-line options may override
configuration file settings.
This is used to control how columns in the processes table are rendered or which
items of the header should be displayed, e.g.:
[header]
show_instance = yes
show_system = yes
show_workers = no
[client]
hidden = yes
[database]
width = 9Alternatively, the user might define configuration profiles in the form of
files located at ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:~/.config}/pg_activity/<my-profile>.conf or
/etc/pg_activity/<my-profile>.conf; these can then be used through the
--profile <my-profile> command-line option. The format of these files is the
same as the main configuration file.
pg_activity ships with a few built-in profiles:
narrow, providing a narrow user interface with most non-essential columns in the process table hidden,wide, providing a wide user interface (the inverse ofnarrow), and,minimal, providing an even more minimal user interface with header information hidden
Columns of the process table in pg_activity user interface can be assigned a custom color in the configuration file, e.g.:
[client]
color = magenta
[relation]
color = redThe color option illustrated above defines the color used to render the cell
independently of its value, i.e. the "normal" color. Some columns may be
colorized differently depending on the value of their cells; for example, the
time column can handle tree colors depending on whether the time value is
high, medium or low. The color of such columns cannot be currently
customized and attempting to do so will result in pg_activity to exit early
with an error message.
Length of SQL query text that pg_activity reports relies on PostgreSQL
parameter track_activity_query_size. Default value is 1024 (expressed in
bytes). If your SQL query text look truncated, you should increase
track_activity_query_size.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
r |
Sort by READ/s, descending |
w |
Sort by WRITE/s, descending |
c |
Sort by CPU%, descending |
m |
Sort by MEM%, descending |
t |
Sort by TIME+, descending |
y |
Copy focused query to clipboard |
T |
Change duration mode: query, transaction, backend |
Space |
Pause on/off |
v |
Change queries display mode: full, indented, truncated |
UP/DOWN |
Scroll processes list |
k/j |
Scroll processes list |
q |
Quit |
+ |
Increase refresh time. Maximum value: 5s |
- |
Decrease refresh time. Minimum Value: 0.5s |
F1/1 |
Running queries list |
F2/2 |
Waiting queries list |
F3/3 |
Blocking queries list |
h |
Help page |
R |
Refresh |
D |
Refresh Database Size (including when --no-dbzise option applied) |
s |
Display system information in header |
i |
Display general instance information in header |
o |
Display worker information in header |
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
UP/k |
Move up the cursor |
DOWN/j |
Move down the cursor |
K |
Terminate the current backend/tagged backends |
C |
Cancel the current backend/tagged backends |
Space |
Tag or untag the process |
q |
Quit |
Other |
Back to activity |
I can't see my queries only TPS is shown
pg_activity scans the view pg_stat_activity with a user defined refresh
time comprised between 0.5 and 5 seconds. It can be modified in the interface
with the + and - keys. Any query executed between two scans won't be
displayed.
What is more, pg_activity uses different queries to get:
- settings from
pg_settings - version info using
version() - queries and number of connections from
pg_stat_activity - locks from
pg_locks - tps from
pg_databaseusingpg_stat_get_db_xact_commit()andpg_stat_get_db_xact_rollback() - and more (e.g.:
pg_cancel_backend()andpg_terminate_backend())
Those queries cannot be seen in the query tab because all queries issued from
the pg_activity backend are considered as noise and are not displayed . On
the other hand, the transactions used to get the info for pg_activity's
reporting are still accounted for by postgres in pg_stat_get_db_xact_commit()
and pg_stat_get_db_xact_commit(). Therefore pg_activity will display a non
zero TPS even with no activity on the database, and/or no activity displayed on
screen.
How can I specify a password for authentication?
pg_activity uses libpq to access to PostgreSQL therefore all the traditional methods are available.
You can pass the password for the database connection in a password file. Information can also be given via PostgreSQL's environment variables (PGPASSFILE or PGPASSWORD) or via the connection string parameters.
The password file is preferred since it's more secure (security is deferred to the OS). Please avoid password in connection strings at all cost.
How to copy/paste the query of focused process?
The y shortcut will copy the query of focused process to system clipboard
using OSC 52 escape sequence. This requires the terminal emulator to support
this escape sequence and set the clipboard accordingly. If so, the copy even
works across remote connections (SSH). In general, terminal emulators supporting
this would use CTRL+SHIFT+V to paste from this clipboard.
In order to work on pg_activity source code, in particular to run the tests
suite, a temporary PostgreSQL database cluster will be created; accordingly,
PostgreSQL server binaries (e.g. initdb, pg_ctl) need to be available. For
instance, on a Debian system, this means simply having the postgresql package
installed.
To set up a development environment, get the source repository:
$ git clone https://github.com/dalibo/pg_activity
$ cd pg_activity
and then create a virtual environment, activate it and install the project along with development dependencies:
$ python3 -m venv .venv
$ .venv/bin/activate
(.venv) $ pip install -e ".[dev]"
The source code is formatted with black and isort and typed checked with mypy (all those are included in the development environment). Make sure to respect this, e.g. by configuring your editor, before committing changes. Alternatively, you can install pre-commit hooks so that this will be checked automatically:
(.venv) $ pre-commit install
To run the tests suite, simply invoke:
(.venv) $ pytest
================================ test session starts =================================
platform linux -- Python 3.11.2, pytest-7.3.1, pluggy-1.0.0
psycopg: 3.1.8
configfile: pytest.ini
plugins: cov-4.0.0, accept-0.1.9, postgresql-4.1.1
collected 70 items
pgactivity/activities.py .. [ 2%]
pgactivity/config.py .. [ 5%]
pgactivity/data.py .. [ 8%]
pgactivity/handlers.py ..... [ 15%]
pgactivity/keys.py . [ 17%]
pgactivity/types.py .............. [ 37%]
pgactivity/utils.py ......... [ 50%]
pgactivity/views.py ..... [ 57%]
tests/test_activities.py ... [ 61%]
tests/test_config.py .. [ 64%]
tests/test_data.py ................ [ 87%]
tests/test_scroll.txt . [ 88%]
tests/test_types.py . [ 90%]
tests/test_ui.txt . [ 91%]
tests/test_views.py .... [ 97%]
tests/test_views.txt . [ 98%]
tests/test_widgets.txt . [100%]
================================ 70 passed in 11.89s =================================
See CHANGELOG.md.
