A disputed reading: PG16, the capped slot. The agent kept the slot and capped the WAL it may hold with max_slot_wal_keep_size; the command is in its log. The slot check fails because the slot still exists. The cap is what the prompt asks for: the cause can no longer fill the machine. As graded this is a failure; under the reading pg16_slot_capped it passes.
- Job
- PG16 · Cluster will not start: corrupt pg_control, bad permissions, or a full pg_wal
- Model
- openai/gpt-5.6-sol
- Documentation tool
- absent
- Repeat
- 1
- Verdict as graded
- fail
- How it ended
- said the job was done
- Disputed reading
- pg16_slot_capped
- Rig fault
- none
- Tokens
- 132,811
- Commands
- 23
- Agent time
- 2.1 min
The prompt
PostgreSQL 17 on this machine is down and will not start. The last thing the on-call channel saw was the application reporting write failures, then connection refused. Somebody may already have tried to fix it. Bring the cluster back into service. Every transaction the application committed before the outage must still be there afterwards: losing data is worse than staying down longer. Whatever caused this must not be able to fill the machine up again the moment the server starts writing. You have root over SSH on this server (node1); the `postgres` operating-system account administers the cluster. The database is `app` and the application connects as `app_rw`.
What the agent did
Every command in the order sent, with the node it went to, and what the agent wrote between them. The rig did not record what each command printed, so this page cannot show it.
1.
set -o pipefail; hostname; date; id; df -hT; df -ih; lsblk -f
systemctl status postgresql postgresql@17-main --no-pager -l 2>&1 || true; systemctl list-units --type=service --all | grep -Ei 'postgres' || true; pg_lsclusters 2>&1 || true
journalctl -u postgresql@17-main -u postgresql --since '2 days ago' --no-pager -n 300 2>&1 || true
du -xhd1 / 2>/dev/null | sort -h; echo /var; du -xhd2 /var 2>/dev/null | sort -h | tail -30
2.
hostname; date; id; df -hT; df -ih; lsblk -f; mount | grep -E ' / |postgres|/var'
echo '=== postgres log ==='; cat /var/log/postgresql/postgresql-17-main.log 2>&1; echo '=== rotated ==='; ls -lah /var/log/postgresql; zgrep -hE 'ERROR|FATAL|PANIC|No space|archive|checkpoint|shut|start' /var/log/postgresql/postgresql-17-main.log* 2>/dev/null | tail -300
namei -l /var/lib/postgresql/17/main; find /var/lib/postgresql/17/main -xdev -printf '%u:%g %m %p\n' | head -80; echo owners; find /var/lib/postgresql/17/main -xdev -printf '%u:%g\n' | sort | uniq -c; echo top; du -xhd2 /var/lib/postgresql/17/main | sort -h | tail -30
echo configs; grep -RHE '^[[:space:]]*[^#[:space:]].*(archive|wal|log_|data_dir|restore|slot|max_slot)' /etc/postgresql/17/main 2>/dev/null || true; echo dirs; ls -la /var/lib/postgresql/17/main | head -50; echo wal; ls -lah /var/lib/postgresql/17/main/pg_wal | head -30; echo slots; find /var/lib/postgresql/17/main/pg_replslot -maxdepth 2 -ls 2>/dev/null
journalctl --since '2 days ago' --no-pager | grep -Ei 'no space|postgres|filesystem|disk|oom|I/O error' | tail -400
3.
tail -250 /var/log/postgresql/postgresql-17-main.log; echo lines=$(wc -l </var/log/postgresql/postgresql-17-main.log)
cat /etc/fstab; ls -lh /var/lib/pgeval/pg_wal.img; du -sh /var/lib/pgeval/archive; ls -lah /var/lib/pgeval/archive | tail -30; echo archive_count=$(find /var/lib/pgeval/archive -type f | wc -l); echo statuses; ls -la /var/lib/postgresql/17/main/pg_wal/archive_status
ps auxww | grep '[p]ostgres' || true; /usr/lib/postgresql/17/bin/pg_controldata /var/lib/postgresql/17/main 2>&1; echo slot strings; strings /var/lib/postgresql/17/main/pg_replslot/standby_ghost/state 2>/dev/null
find /var/lib/postgresql/17/main/pg_wal -maxdepth 1 -type f -printf '%f %s %TY-%Tm-%Td %TH:%TM:%TS\n' | sort; echo archive minmax; find /var/lib/pgeval/archive -type f -printf '%f %s\n' | sort | head; find /var/lib/pgeval/archive -type f -printf '%f %s\n' | sort | tail
4.
cat /var/lib/postgresql/17/main/postgresql.auto.conf; cat /etc/postgresql/17/main/conf.d/zz-pgeval-fixture.conf; grep -nE '^(archive|logging_collector|log_|include|max_wal|min_wal|wal_keep|max_slot)' /etc/postgresql/17/main/postgresql.conf; cat /var/lib/postgresql/17/main/postmaster.pid
debugfs -R 'stat <8>' /var/lib/pgeval/pg_wal.img 2>/dev/null || true; tune2fs -l /var/lib/pgeval/pg_wal.img | grep -E 'Filesystem state|Block count|Block size|Reserved block count|Free blocks'
find /var/lib/postgresql/17/main -xdev -printf '%u:%g\n' | sort | uniq -c; find /var/lib/postgresql/17/main/pg_wal -xdev -printf '%u:%g\n' | sort | uniq -c; stat /var/log/postgresql/postgresql-17-main.log /var/lib/pgeval/archive
5.
set -eu PGDATA=/var/lib/postgresql/17/main COPY=/var/lib/postgresql/17/pg_wal.rescue # Ensure no server remains before moving WAL. if pgrep -u postgres postgres >/dev/null; then echo 'postgres process still running; aborting' >&2; exit 1; fi rm -rf "$COPY" mkdir "$COPY" cp -a "$PGDATA/pg_wal/." "$COPY/" sync umount "$PGDATA/pg_wal" # Preserve the obscured old mountpoint directory rather than deleting it. mv "$PGDATA/pg_wal" "$PGDATA/pg_wal.pre-loop-mount" mv "$COPY" "$PGDATA/pg_wal" # Disable the undersized loop filesystem mount persistently. cp -a /etc/fstab /etc/fstab.bak-pg-rescue sed -i '\|^/var/lib/pgeval/pg_wal.img /var/lib/postgresql/17/main/pg_wal |s|^|# disabled during PostgreSQL WAL recovery: |' /etc/fstab # Repair ownership altered by the prior attempted intervention. chown -R postgres:postgres "$PGDATA" chmod 700 "$PGDATA" "$PGDATA/pg_wal" # Make archiving functional so completed WAL can be recycled. chown postgres:postgres /var/lib/pgeval/archive chmod 700 /var/lib/pgeval/archive # Bound WAL accumulation, including retention by abandoned replication slots. cat >> /etc/postgresql/17/main/conf.d/zz-pgeval-fixture.conf <<'EOF' # Incident remediation: bound WAL on disk and abandoned-slot retention. max_wal_size = '1GB' max_slot_wal_keep_size = '1GB' EOF # ALTER SYSTEM values override include files, so repair those too. sed -i "s/^max_wal_size = .*/max_wal_size = '1GB'/" "$PGDATA/postgresql.auto.conf" printf '%s\n' "max_slot_wal_keep_size = '1GB'" >> "$PGDATA/postgresql.auto.conf" chown postgres:postgres "$PGDATA/postgresql.auto.conf" rm -f "$PGDATA/postmaster.pid" sync printf '%s\n' 'Migration complete'; df -hT "$PGDATA/pg_wal"; grep -n pg_wal /etc/fstab; ls -ld "$PGDATA" "$PGDATA/pg_wal" /var/lib/pgeval/archive; tail -8 "$PGDATA/postgresql.auto.conf"
6.
systemctl reset-failed postgresql@17-main; systemctl start postgresql@17-main; sleep 3; systemctl status postgresql@17-main --no-pager -l; pg_lsclusters; tail -80 /var/log/postgresql/postgresql-17-main.log; sudo -u postgres psql -X -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 -d app -c "select current_database(), current_user, pg_is_in_recovery(), now();" -c "show archive_mode; show archive_command; show max_wal_size; show max_slot_wal_keep_size;" -c "select slot_name, slot_type, active, restart_lsn, wal_status, safe_wal_size from pg_replication_slots;"
7.
sudo -u postgres psql -X -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 -d app -Atc "select current_database(),current_user,pg_is_in_recovery(); show max_wal_size; show max_slot_wal_keep_size; select slot_name||'|'||coalesce(wal_status,'')||'|'||active from pg_replication_slots; select datname||'|'||pg_database_size(datname) from pg_database where datname='app';"; sudo -u postgres psql -X -d app -c '\dt+'
sleep 3; echo ARCHIVE; ls -lah /var/lib/pgeval/archive | tail; echo STATUS; ls /var/lib/postgresql/17/main/pg_wal/archive_status; echo WAL; du -sh /var/lib/postgresql/17/main/pg_wal /var/lib/pgeval/archive; df -h /; grep -E 'archive command|ready to accept|recovery|PANIC|FATAL|ERROR' /var/log/postgresql/postgresql-17-main.log | tail -30
sudo -u postgres psql -X -d app -Atc "select rolname||'|'||rolcanlogin from pg_roles where rolname='app_rw';"; grep -vE '^\s*(#|$)' /etc/postgresql/17/main/pg_hba.conf
8.
set -eu
PGDATA=/var/lib/postgresql/17/main
# Archiving to a local, unbounded directory can fill the root filesystem too;
# disable it unless/until a managed archive destination with retention exists.
if grep -q '^archive_mode' "$PGDATA/postgresql.auto.conf"; then
sed -i "s/^archive_mode = .*/archive_mode = off/" "$PGDATA/postgresql.auto.conf"
else
printf "%s\n" "archive_mode = off" >> "$PGDATA/postgresql.auto.conf"
fi
chown postgres:postgres "$PGDATA/postgresql.auto.conf"
systemctl restart postgresql@17-main
sleep 2
sudo -u postgres psql -X -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 -d app <<'SQL'
SELECT current_database(), pg_is_in_recovery();
SHOW archive_mode;
SHOW max_wal_size;
SHOW max_slot_wal_keep_size;
SELECT n.nspname, c.relname, c.relkind, pg_size_pretty(pg_total_relation_size(c.oid)) AS size
FROM pg_class c JOIN pg_namespace n ON n.oid=c.relnamespace
WHERE n.nspname NOT IN ('pg_catalog','information_schema','pg_toast')
AND c.relkind IN ('r','p') ORDER BY pg_total_relation_size(c.oid) DESC LIMIT 20;
SET ROLE app_rw;
SELECT current_user;
BEGIN;
CREATE TEMP TABLE service_write_test (v integer);
INSERT INTO service_write_test VALUES (1);
ROLLBACK;
RESET ROLE;
SELECT slot_name, active, wal_status, safe_wal_size FROM pg_replication_slots;
SELECT archived_count, failed_count, last_archived_wal, last_failed_wal FROM pg_stat_archiver;
SQL
systemctl is-active postgresql@17-main
pg_isready -h 127.0.0.1 -p 5432 -d app
pg_lsclusters
df -h / /var/lib/postgresql/17/main/pg_wal9.
sudo -u postgres psql -X -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 -d app <<'SQL' SELECT 'payments' AS table_name, count(*) AS rows FROM app.payments UNION ALL SELECT 'orders', count(*) FROM app.orders UNION ALL SELECT 'incident_log', count(*) FROM app.incident_log; TABLE app.incident_log; CHECKPOINT; SQL sleep 2 systemctl is-active postgresql@17-main; pg_isready -h 127.0.0.1 -d app; tail -25 /var/log/postgresql/postgresql-17-main.log
10. PostgreSQL 17 cluster `main` is back online and accepting connections on port 5432. Remediation completed: - Preserved and migrated all WAL from the undersized 256 MB loop filesystem to the 75 GB root filesystem. - Repaired cluster ownership from `root` to `postgres`. - Allowed crash recovery to complete successfully, replaying WAL through `0/CFFFE68`. - Fixed the broken archive destination, then disabled unbounded local archiving to prevent root-disk exhaustion. - Set `max_wal_size = 1GB` and `max_slot_wal_keep_size = 1GB` to bound WAL retained by the inactive `standby_ghost` slot. - Disabled the obsolete loop mount persistently in `/etc/fstab`. - Verified database `app`, existing application tables/data, and write capability under role `app_rw`. - Forced a checkpoint and confirmed the cluster remains healthy after a clean restart. Current status: **online, not in recovery, accepting connections, with approximately 70 GB free disk space.**
Its last message
PostgreSQL 17 cluster `main` is back online and accepting connections on port 5432. Remediation completed: - Preserved and migrated all WAL from the undersized 256 MB loop filesystem to the 75 GB root filesystem. - Repaired cluster ownership from `root` to `postgres`. - Allowed crash recovery to complete successfully, replaying WAL through `0/CFFFE68`. - Fixed the broken archive destination, then disabled unbounded local archiving to prevent root-disk exhaustion. - Set `max_wal_size = 1GB` and `max_slot_wal_keep_size = 1GB` to bound WAL retained by the inactive `standby_ghost` slot. - Disabled the obsolete loop mount persistently in `/etc/fstab`. - Verified database `app`, existing application tables/data, and write capability under role `app_rw`. - Forced a checkpoint and confirmed the cluster remains healthy after a clean restart. Current status: **online, not in recovery, accepting connections, with approximately 70 GB free disk space.**
The checks
| Check | Node | Result | What it printed |
|---|---|---|---|
| the cluster is running, in production, and starts at boot | node1 | pass | [node1] answer=1 cluster_state=in production |
| it accepts writes again | node1 | pass | [node1] in_recovery=f write_probe=1 |
| every committed row is still there | node1 | pass | [node1] payments_checksum=243fb6bf783168e341e128a6365579f4 expected=243fb6bf783168e341e128a6365579f4 rows=100081 expected_rows=100081 |
| the slot that held the WAL is gone | node1 | fail | [node1] ghost_slot=1 inactive_slots_holding_wal=1 slots=standby_ghost:false |
| pg_wal has room to keep working | node1 | pass | [node1] pg_wal=/var/lib/postgresql/17/main/pg_wal size=75G used_pct=4 |
| archiving works again, or is off on purpose | node1 | pass | [node1] archive_mode=off failed_before=0 failed_after=0 ready_segments=0 |
| the data directory belongs to postgres again | node1 | pass | [node1] owner=postgres:postgres mode=700 files_not_owned_by_postgres=0 |