[ClusterLabs] Frequent PAF log messages - Forbidding promotion on <node> in state "startup"

[Jehan-Guillaume de Rorthais]

On Fri, 11 May 2018 16:25:18 +0000
"Shobe, Casey" <Casey.Shobe at sling.com> wrote:

> I'm using PAF and my corosync log ends up filled with messages like this
> (about 3 times per minute for each standby node):
> 
> pgsqlms(postgresql-10-main)[26822]:     2018/05/11_06:47:08  INFO: Forbidding
> promotion on "d-gp2-dbp63-1" in state "startup"
> pgsqlms(postgresql-10-main)[26822]:     2018/05/11_06:47:08  INFO: Forbidding
> promotion on "d-gp2-dbp63-2" in state "startup"
> 
> What is the cause of this logging and does it indicate something is wrong
> with my setup?

Yes, something is wrong with your setup. When a PostgreSQL standby is starting
up, it tries to hook replication with the primary instance: this is the
"startup" state. As soon as it is connected, it start replicating and tries to
catchup with the master location, this is the "catchup" state. As soon as the
standby is in sync with the master, it enters in "streaming" state. 
See column "state" in the doc:
https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/monitoring-stats.html#PG-STAT-REPLICATION-VIEW

If you have one standby stuck in "startup" state, that means it was able to
connect to the master but is not replicating with it for some reason
(different/incompatible/non catchable timeline?).

Look for errors in your PostgreSQL logs on the primary and the standby.