F.25. pg_buffercache - inspect PostgreSQL buffer cache state

The definitions of the columns exposed by the view are shown in Table F.14 .

There is one row for each buffer in the shared cache. Unused buffers are shown with all fields null except bufferid . Shared system catalogs are shown as belonging to database zero.

Because the cache is shared by all the databases, there will normally be pages from relations not belonging to the current database. This means that there may not be matching join rows in pg_class for some rows, or that there could even be incorrect joins. If you are trying to join against pg_class , it's a good idea to restrict the join to rows having reldatabase equal to the current database's OID or zero.

Since buffer manager locks are not taken to copy the buffer state data that the view will display, accessing pg_buffercache view has less impact on normal buffer activity but it doesn't provide a consistent set of results across all buffers. However, we ensure that the information of each buffer is self-consistent.

The definitions of the columns exposed by the function are shown in Table F.15 .

The pg_buffercache_summary() function returns a single row summarizing the state of all shared buffers. Similar and more detailed information is provided by the pg_buffercache view, but pg_buffercache_summary() is significantly cheaper.

Like the pg_buffercache view, pg_buffercache_summary() does not acquire buffer manager locks. Therefore concurrent activity can lead to minor inaccuracies in the result.

The definitions of the columns exposed by the function are shown in Table F.16 .

The pg_buffercache_usage_counts() function returns a set of rows summarizing the states of all shared buffers, aggregated over the possible usage count values. Similar and more detailed information is provided by the pg_buffercache view, but pg_buffercache_usage_counts() is significantly cheaper.

Like the pg_buffercache view, pg_buffercache_usage_counts() does not acquire buffer manager locks. Therefore concurrent activity can lead to minor inaccuracies in the result.

The pg_buffercache_evict() function takes a buffer identifier, as shown in the bufferid column of the pg_buffercache view. It returns true on success, and false if the buffer wasn't valid, if it couldn't be evicted because it was pinned, or if it became dirty again after an attempt to write it out. The result is immediately out of date upon return, as the buffer might become valid again at any time due to concurrent activity. The function is intended for developer testing only.

regression=# SELECT n.nspname, c.relname, count(*) AS buffers
             FROM pg_buffercache b JOIN pg_class c
             ON b.relfilenode = pg_relation_filenode(c.oid) AND
                b.reldatabase IN (0, (SELECT oid FROM pg_database
                                      WHERE datname = current_database()))
             JOIN pg_namespace n ON n.oid = c.relnamespace
             GROUP BY n.nspname, c.relname
             ORDER BY 3 DESC
             LIMIT 10;

  nspname   |        relname         | buffers
------------+------------------------+---------
 public     | delete_test_table      |     593
 public     | delete_test_table_pkey |     494
 pg_catalog | pg_attribute           |     472
 public     | quad_poly_tbl          |     353
 public     | tenk2                  |     349
 public     | tenk1                  |     349
 public     | gin_test_idx           |     306
 pg_catalog | pg_largeobject         |     206
 public     | gin_test_tbl           |     188
 public     | spgist_text_tbl        |     182
(10 rows)


regression=# SELECT * FROM pg_buffercache_summary();
 buffers_used | buffers_unused | buffers_dirty | buffers_pinned | usagecount_avg
--------------+----------------+---------------+----------------+----------------
          248 |        2096904 |            39 |              0 |       3.141129
(1 row)


regression=# SELECT * FROM pg_buffercache_usage_counts();
 usage_count | buffers | dirty | pinned
-------------+---------+-------+--------
           0 |   14650 |     0 |      0
           1 |    1436 |   671 |      0
           2 |     102 |    88 |      0
           3 |      23 |    21 |      0
           4 |       9 |     7 |      0
           5 |     164 |   106 |      0
(6 rows)

Mark Kirkwood < markir@paradise.net.nz >

Design suggestions: Neil Conway < neilc@samurai.com >

Debugging advice: Tom Lane < tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us >