---
id: v1.21
title: Release notes for CloudNativePG 1.21
---

# Release notes for CloudNativePG 1.21

History of user-visible changes in the 1.21 minor release of CloudNativePG.

For a complete list of changes, please refer to the
[commits](https://github.com/cloudnative-pg/cloudnative-pg/commits/release-1.21)
on the release branch in GitHub.

## Version 1.21.6

**Release date:** Jun 12, 2024

:::warning
    This is expected to be the last release in the 1.21.X series.
    Users are encouraged to update to a newer minor version soon.
:::

### Enhancements:

- Enabled configuration of standby-sensitive parameters during recovery using a
  physical backup (#4564)

- Enabled the configuration of the liveness probe timeout via the
  `.spec.livenessProbeTimeout` option (#4719)

- `cnpg` plugin for `kubectl`:

    - Enhanced support for ANSI colors in the plugin by adding the `--color`
      option, which accepts `always`, `never`, and `auto` (default) as values
      (#4775)
    - The plugin is now available on Homebrew for macOS users (#4602)

### Fixes:

- Prevented fenced instances from entering an unnecessary loop and consuming
  all available CPU (#4625)

- Resolved an issue where the instance manager on the primary would
  indefinitely wait for the instance to start after encountering a failure
  following a stop operation (#4434)

- Fixed an issue where the interaction between `hot_standby_feedback` and
  managed cluster-level replication slots was preventing the autovacuum from
  operating correctly; this issue was causing disk space to remain occupied by
  dead tuples (#4811)

- Fixed a panic in the backup controller that occurred when pod container
  statuses were missing (#4765)

- Prevented unnecessary shutdown of the instance manager (#4670)

- Prevented unnecessary reloads of PostgreSQL configuration when unchanged (#4531)

- Prevented unnecessary reloads of the ident map by ensuring a consistent and
  unique method of writing its content (#4648)

- Avoided conflicts during phase registration by patching the status of the
  resource instead of updating it (#4637)

- Implemented a timeout when restarting PostgreSQL and lifting fencing (#4504)

- Ensured that a replica cluster is restarted after promotion to properly set
  the archive mode (#4399)

- Removed an unneeded concurrent keep-alive routine that was causing random
  failures in volume snapshot backups (#4768)

- Ensured correct parsing of the additional rows field returned when the
  `pgaudit.log_rows` option was enabled, preventing audit logs from being
  incorrectly routed to the normal log stream (#4394)

- `cnpg` plugin for `kubectl`:

    - Resolved an issue with listing PDBs using the `cnpg status` command (#4530)

### Changes

- Default operand image set to PostgreSQL 16.3 (#4584)
- Removed all RBAC requirements on namespace objects (#4753)

## Version 1.21.5

**Release date:** Apr 24, 2024

### Enhancements:

- Users can now configure the `wal_log_hints` PostgreSQL parameter (#4218)
  (#4218)
- Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDN) in URIs for automatically generated
  secrets (#4095)
- Cleanup of instance Pods not owned by the Cluster during Cluster restore
  (#4141)
- Error detection when invoking `barman-cloud-wal-restore` in `recovery`
  bootstrap (#4101)

### Fixes:

- Ensured that before a switchover, the elected replica is in streaming
  replication (#4288)
- Correctly handle parsing errors of instances' LSN when sorting them (#4283)
- Recreate the primary Pod if there are no healthy standbys available to
  promote (#4132)
- Cleanup `PGDATA` in case of failure of the restore job (#4151)
- Reload certificates on configuration update (#3705)
- `cnpg` plugin for `kubectl`:
    - Improve the arguments handling of `destroy`, `fencing`, and `promote`
      plugin commands (#4280)
    - Correctly handle the percentage of the backup progress in `cnpg status`
      (#4131)
    - Gracefully handle databases with no sequences in `sync-sequences` command
      (#4346)

### Changes:

- The Grafana dashboard now resides at
  https://github.com/cloudnative-pg/grafana-dashboards (#4154)

## Version 1.21.4

**Release date:** Mar 14, 2024

### Enhancements

- Allow customization of the `wal_level` GUC in PostgreSQL (#4020)
- Add the `cnpg.io/skipWalArchiving` annotation to disable WAL archiving when
  set to `enabled` (#4055)
- Enrich the `cnpg` plugin for `kubectl` with the `publication` and
  `subscription` command groups to imperatively set up PostgreSQL native
  logical replication (#4052)
- Allow customization of `CERTIFICATE_DURATION` and `EXPIRING_CHECK_THRESHOLD`
  for automated management of TLS certificates handled by the operator (#3686)
- Introduce initial support for tab-completion with the `cnpg` plugin for
  `kubectl` (#3875)
- Retrieve the correct architecture's binary from the corresponding catalog in
  the running operator image during in-place updates, enabling the operator to
  inject the correct binary into any Pod with a supported architecture (#3840)

### Fixes

- Properly synchronize PVC group labels with those on the pods, a critical
  aspect when all pods are deleted and the operator needs to decide which Pod
  to recreate first (#3930)
- Disable `wal_sender_timeout` when cloning a replica to prevent timeout errors
  due to slow connections (#4080)
- Ensure that volume snapshots are ready before initiating recovery bootstrap
  procedures, preventing an error condition where recovery with incomplete
  backups could enter an error loop (#3663)
- Prevent an error loop when unsetting connection limits in managed roles (#3832)
- Resolve a corner case in hibernation where the instance pod has been deleted,
  but the cluster status still has the hibernation condition set to false (#3970)
- Correctly detect Google Cloud capabilities for Barman Cloud (#3931)

### Security

- Use `Role` instead of `ClusterRole` for operator permissions in OLM,
  requiring fewer privileges when installed on a per-namespace basis (#3855,
  #3990)
- Enforce fully-qualified object names in SQL queries for the PgBouncer pooler
  (#4080)

### Changes

- Follow Kubernetes recommendations to switch from client-side to server-side
  application of manifests, requiring the `--server-side` option by default
  when installing the operator (#3729).
- Set the default operand image to PostgreSQL 16.2 (#3823).

## Version 1.21.3

**Release date:** Feb 2, 2024

### Enhancements:

- Tailor ephemeral volume storage in a Postgres cluster using a claim template
  through the `ephemeralVolumeSource` option (#3678)
- Introduce the `pgadmin4` command in the `cnpg` plugin for `kubectl`,
  providing a straightforward method to demonstrate connecting to a given
  database cluster and navigate its content in a local environment such as kind -
  for evaluation purposes only (#3701)
- Allow customization of PostgreSQL's ident map file via the
  `.spec.postgresql.pg_ident` stanza, through a list of user name maps (#3534)

### Fixes:

- Prevent an unrecoverable issue with `pg_rewind` failing due to
  `postgresql.auto.conf` being read-only on clusters where the `ALTER SYSTEM`
  SQL command is disabled - the default (#3728)
- Reduce the risk of disk space shortage when using the import facility of the
  `initdb` bootstrap method, by disabling the durability settings in the PostgreSQL
  instance for the duration of the import process (#3743)
- Avoid pod restart due to erroneous resource quantity comparisons, e.g. "1 !=
  1000m"  (#3706)
- Properly escape reserved characters in `pgpass` connection fields (#3713)
- Prevent systematic rollout of pods due to considering zero and nil different
  values in `.spec.projectedVolumeTemplate.sources` (#3647)
- Ensure configuration coherence by pruning from `postgresql.auto.conf` any
  options now incorporated into `override.conf` (#3773)

## Version 1.21.2

**Release date:** Dec 21, 2023

### Security:

- By default, TLSv1.3 is now enforced on all PostgreSQL 12 or higher
  installations. Additionally, users can configure the `ssl_ciphers`,
  `ssl_min_protocol_version`, and `ssl_max_protocol_version` GUCs (#3408).
- Integration of Docker image scanning with Dockle and Snyk to enhance security
  measures (#3300).

### Enhancements:

- Improved reconciliation of external clusters (#3533).
- Introduction of the ability to enable/disable the `ALTER SYSTEM` command (#3535).
- Support for Prometheus' dynamic relabeling through the
  `podMonitorMetricRelabelings` and `podMonitorRelabelings` options in the
  `.spec.monitoring` stanza of the `Cluster` and `Pooler` resources (#3075).
- Enhanced computation of the first recoverability point and last successful
  backup by considering volume snapshots alongside object-store backups (#2940). <!-- NO 1.20 -->
- Elimination of the use of the `PGPASSFILE` environment variable when
  establishing a network connection to PostgreSQL (#3522).
- Improved `cnpg report` plugin command by collecting a cluster's PVCs (#3357).
- Enhancement of the `cnpg status` plugin command, providing information about
  managed roles, including alerts (#3310).
- Introduction of Red Hat UBI 8 container images for the operator, suitable for
  OLM deployments. <!-- NO 1.20 -->
- Connection pooler:
    - Scaling down instances of a `Pooler` resource to 0 is now possible (#3517).
    - Addition of the `cnpg.io/podRole` label with a value of 'pooler' to every
      pooler deployment, differentiating them from instance pods (#3396).

### Fixes:

- Reconciliation of metadata, annotations, and labels of `PodDisruptionBudget`
  resources (#3312 and #3434).
- Reconciliation of the metadata of the managed credential secrets (#3316).
- Resolution of a bug in the backup snapshot code where an error reading the
  body would be handled as an overall error, leaving the backup process
  indefinitely stuck (#3321).
- Implicit setting of online backup with the `cnpg backup` plugin command when
  either `immediate-checkpoint` or `wait-for-archive` options are requested (#3449).
- Disabling of wal_sender_timeout when joining through pg_basebackup (#3586)
- Reloading of secrets used by external clusters (#3565)
- Connection pooler:
    - Ensuring the controller watches all secrets owned by a `Pooler` resource (#3428).
    - Reconciliation of `RoleBinding` for `Pooler` resources (#3391).
    - Reconciliation of `imagePullSecret` for `Pooler` resources (#3389).
    - Reconciliation of the service of a `Pooler` and addition of the required labels (#3349).
    - Extension of `Pooler` labels to the deployment as well, not just the pods (#3350).

### Changes:

- Default operand image set to PostgreSQL 16.1 (#3270).

## Version 1.21.1

**Release date:** Nov 3, 2023

### Enhancements:

- Introduce support for online/hot backups with volume snapshots by using the
  PostgreSQL API for physical online base backups. Default configuration for
  hot/cold backups on a given Postgres cluster can be controlled through the
  `online` option and the `onlineConfiguration` stanza in
  `.spec.backup.volumeSnapshot`. Unless explicitly set, backups on volume
  snapshots are now taken online by default (#3102)
- Introduce the possibility to override the above default settings on volume
  snapshot backup using the `ScheduledBackup` and `Backup` resources (#3208, #3226)
- Enhance cold backup on volume snapshots by reducing the time window in which
  the target instance (standby or primary) is fenced, by lifting it as soon as
  the volume snapshot have been cut and provisioned (#3210)
- During a recovery from volume snapshots, ensure that the provided volume
  snapshots are coherent by validating the existing labels and annotations
- The `backup` command of the `cnpg` plugin for `kubectl` improves the volume
  snapshot backup experience through the `--online`, `--immediate-checkpoint`,
  and `--wait-for-archive` runtime options
- Enhance the `status` command of the `cnpg` plugin for `kubectl` with progress
  information on active streaming base backups (#3101)
- Allow the configuration of `max_prepared_statements` with the pgBouncer
  `Pooler` resource (#3174)

### Fixes:

- Suspend WAL archiving during a switchover and resume it when it is completed
  (#3227)
- Ensure that the instance manager always uses `synchronous_commit = local`
  when managing the PostgreSQL cluster (#3143)
- Custom certificates for streaming replication user through
  `.spec.certificates.replicationTLSSecret` are now working (#3209)
- Set the `cnpg.io/cluster` label to the `Pooler` pods (#3153)
- Reduce the number of labels in `VolumeSnapshots` resources and render them
  into more appropriate annotations (#3151)

### Changes:

- Volume snapshot backups, introduced in 1.21.0, are now online/hot by default;
  in order to restore offline/cold backups set `.spec.backup.volumeSnapshot` to
  `false`
- Stop using the `postgresql.auto.conf` file inside PGDATA to control Postgres
  replication settings, and replace it with a file named `override.conf` (#2812)

### Technical enhancements:

- Use extended query protocol for PostgreSQL in the instance manager (#3152)

## Version 1.21.0

**Release date:** Oct 12, 2023

:::info[Important changes from previous versions]
    This release contains a few changes to the default settings of
    CloudNativePG with the goal to improve general stability and security through
    predefined values. If you are upgrading from a previous version, please
    carefully read the "Important Changes" section below, as well as the
    upgrade documentation.
:::

### Features:

- **Volume Snapshot support for backup and recovery:** leverage the standard
  Kubernetes API on Volume Snapshots to take advantage of capabilities like
  incremental and differential copy for both backup and recovery operations. This
  first step, covering cold backups from a standby, will continue in 1.22 with
  support for hot backups using the PostgreSQL API and tablespaces.

- **OLM installation method**: introduce support for Operator Lifecycle Manager
  via OperatorHub.io for the latest patch version of the latest minor release
  through the *stable* channel. Many thanks to EDB for donating the bundle of
  their "EDB Postgres for Kubernetes" operator and adapting it for CloudNativePG.

### Important Changes:

- Change the default value of `stopDelay` to 1800 seconds instead of 30 seconds
  (#2848)
- Introduce a new parameter, called `smartShutdownTimeout`, to control the
  window of time reserved for the smart shutdown of Postgres to complete; the
  general formula to compute the overall timeout to stop Postgres is
  `max(stopDelay -  smartShutdownTimeout, 30)` (#2848)
- Change the default value of `startDelay` to 3600, instead of 30 seconds
  (#2847)
- Replace the livenessProbe initial delay with a more proper Kubernetes
  startup probe to deal with the start of a Postgres server (#2847)
- Change the default value of `switchoverDelay` to 3600 seconds instead of
  40000000 seconds (#2846)
- Disable superuser access by default for security (#2905)
- Enable replication slots for HA by default (#2903)
- Stop supporting the `postgresql` label - replaced by `cnpg.io/cluster` in
  1.18 (#2744)

### Security:

- Add a default `seccompProfile` to the operator deployment (#2926)

### Enhancements:

- Enable bootstrap of a replica cluster from a consistent set of volume
  snapshots (#2647)
- Enable full and Point In Time recovery from a consistent set of volume
  snapshots (#2390)
- Introduce the `cnpg.io/coredumpFilter` annotation to control the content of a
  core dump generated in the unlikely event of a PostgreSQL crash, by default
  set to exclude shared memory segments from the dump (#2733)
- Allow to configure ephemeral-storage limits for the shared memory and
  temporary data ephemeral volumes (#2830)
- Validate resource limits and requests through the webhook (#2663)
- Ensure that PostgreSQL's `shared_buffers` are coherent with the pods'
  allocated memory resources (#2840)
- Add `uri` and `jdbc-uri` fields in the credential secrets to facilitate
  developers when connecting their applications to the database (#2186)
- Add a new phase `Waiting for the instances to become active` for finer
  control of a cluster's state waiting for the replicas to be ready (#2612)
- Improve detection of Pod rollout conditions through the `podSpec` annotation
  (#2243)
- Add primary timestamp and uptime to the kubectl plugin's `status` command
  (#2953)

### Fixes:

- Ensure that the primary instance is always recreated first by prioritizing
  ready PVCs with a primary role (#2544)
- Honor the `cnpg.io/skipEmptyWalArchiveCheck` annotation during recovery to
  bypass the check for an empty WAL archive (#2731)
- Prevent a cluster from being stuck when the PostgreSQL server is down but the
  pod is up on the primary (#2966)
- Avoid treating the designated primary in a replica cluster as a regular HA
  replica when replication slots are enabled (#2960)
- Reconcile services every time the selectors change or when labels/annotations
  need to be changed (#2918)
- Defaults to `app` both the owner and database during recovery bootstrap
  (#2957)
- Avoid write-read concurrency on cached cluster (#2884)
- Remove empty items, make them unique and sort in the `ResourceName` sections
  of the generated roles (#2875)
- Ensure that the `ContinuousArchiving` condition is properly set to 'failed'
  in case of errors (#2625)
- Make the `Backup` resource reconciliation cycle more resilient on
  interruptions by stopping only if the backup is completed or failed (#2591)
- Reconcile PodMonitor `labels` and `annotations` (#2583)
- Fix backup failure due to missing RBAC `resourceNames` on the `Role` object
  (#2956)
- Observability:

    - Add TCP port label to default `pg_stat_replication` metric (#2961)
    - Fix the `pg_wal_stat` default metric for Prometheus (#2569)
    - Improve the `pg_replication` default metric for Prometheus (#2744 and
      #2750)
    - Use `alertInstanceLabelFilter` instead of `alertName` in the provided
      Grafana dashboard
    - Enforce `standard_conforming_strings` in metric collection (#2888)

### Changes:

- Set the default operand image to PostgreSQL 16.0
- Fencing now uses PostgreSQL's fast shutdown instead of smart shutdown to halt
  an instance (#3051)
- Rename webhooks from kb.io to cnpg.io group (#2851)
- Replace the `cnpg snapshot` command with `cnpg backup -m volumeSnapshot` for
  the `kubectl` plugin
- Let the `cnpg hibernate` plugin command use the
  `ClusterManifestAnnotationName` and `PgControldataAnnotationName` annotations
  on PVCs (#2657)
- Add the `cnpg.io/instanceRole` label while deprecating the existing `role`
  label (#2915)

### Technical enhancements:

- Replace `k8s-api-docgen` with `gen-crd-api-reference-docs` to automatically
  build the API reference documentation (#2606)

