---
id: v1.23
title: Release notes for CloudNativePG 1.23
---

# Release notes for CloudNativePG 1.23

History of user-visible changes in the 1.23 minor release of CloudNativePG.

For a complete list of changes, please refer to the
[commits](https://github.com/cloudnative-pg/cloudnative-pg/commits/release-1.23)
on the release branch in GitHub.

## Version 1.23.6

**Release Date:** December 23, 2024

:::warning
    This is the final release in the 1.23.x series.
    Users are strongly encouraged to upgrade to a newer minor version, as 1.23
    is no longer supported.
:::

### Enhancements

- Enable customization of startup, liveness, and readiness probes through the
  `.spec.probes` stanza. (#6266)
- Add the `cnpg.io/userType` label to secrets generated for predefined users,
  specifically `superuser` and `app`. (#4392)
- Improved validation for the `spec.schedule` field in ScheduledBackups,
  raising warnings for potential misconfigurations. (#5396)
- `cnpg` plugin:
    - Honor the `User-Agent` header in HTTP requests with the API server. (#6153)

### Bug Fixes

- Ensure the former primary flushes its WAL file queue to the archive before
  re-synchronizing as a replica, reducing recovery times and enhancing data
  consistency during failovers. (#6141)
- Clean the WAL volume along with the `PGDATA` volume during bootstrap. (#6265)
- Update the operator to set the cluster phase to `Unrecoverable` when
  all previously generated `PersistentVolumeClaims` are missing. (#6170)
- Fix the parsing of the `synchronous_standby_names` GUC when
  `.spec.postgresql.synchronous.method` is set to `first`. (#5955)
- Resolved a potential race condition when patching certain conditions
  in CRD statuses, improving reliability in concurrent updates. (#6328)
- Correct role changes to apply at the transaction level instead of the
  database context. (#6064)
- Remove the `primary_slot_name` definition from the `override.conf` file on
  the primary to ensure it is always empty. (#6219)
- Configure libpq environment variables, including `PGHOST`, in PgBouncer pods
  to enable seamless access to the `pgbouncer` virtual database using `psql`
  from within the container. (#6247)
- Remove unnecessary updates to the Cluster status when verifying changes in
  the image catalog. (#6277)
- Prevent panic during recovery from an external server without proper backup
  configuration. (#6300)
- Resolved a key collision issue in structured logs, where the name field was
  inconsistently used to log two distinct values. (#6324)
- Ensure proper quoting of the inRoles field in SQL statements to prevent
  syntax errors in generated SQL during role management. (#6346)
- `cnpg` plugin:
    - Ensure the `kubectl` context is properly passed in the `psql` command. (#6257)
    - Avoid displaying physical backups block when empty with `status` command. (#5998)

## Version 1.23.5

**Release date:** Oct 16, 2024

### Enhancements:

- Remove the use of `pg_database_size` from the status probe, as it caused
  high resource utilization by scanning the entire `PGDATA` directory to
  compute database sizes. The `kubectl status` plugin will now rely on `du`
  to provide detailed size information retrieval (#5689).
- Add the ability to configure the `full_page_writes` parameter in
  PostgreSQL. This setting defaults to `on`, in line with PostgreSQL's
  recommendations (#5516).
- Plugin:
    - Add the `logs pretty` command in the `cnpg` plugin to read a log stream
      from standard input and output a human-readable format, with options to
      filter log entries (#5770)
    - Enhance the `status` command by allowing multiple `-v` options to
      increase verbosity for more detailed output (#5765).
    - Add support for specifying a custom Docker image using the `--image`
      flag in the `pgadmin4` plugin command, giving users control over the
      Docker image used for pgAdmin4 deployments (#5515).

### Fixes:

- Resolve an issue with concurrent status updates when demoting a primary to a
  designated primary, ensuring smoother transitions during cluster role changes
  (#5755).
- Ensure that replica PodDisruptionBudgets (PDB) are removed when scaling down
  to two instances, enabling easier maintenance on the node hosting the replica
  (#5487).
- Prioritize full rollout over inplace restarts (#5407).
- Fix an issue that could lead to double failover in cases of lost
  connectivity (#5788).
- Correctly set the `TMPDIR` and `PSQL_HISTORY` environment variables for pods
  and jobs, improving temporary file and history management (#5503).
- Plugin:
    - Resolve a race condition in the `logs cluster` command (#5775).
    - Display the `potential` sync status in the `status` plugin (#5533).
    - Fix the issue where pods deployed by the `pgadmin4` command didn’t have
      a writable home directory (#5800).

### Supported versions

- PostgreSQL 17 (PostgreSQL 17.0 is the default image)

## Version 1.23.4

**Release date:** Aug 22, 2024

### Enhancements:

- `cnpg` plugin updates:
    - Enhance the `install generate` command by adding a `--control-plane` option,
      allowing deployment of the operator on control-plane nodes by setting
      node affinity and tolerations (#5271).
    - Enhance the `destroy` command to delete also any job related to the target
      instance (#5298).

### Fixes:

- Synchronous replication self-healing checks now exclude terminated pods,
  focusing only on active and functional pods (#5210).
- The instance manager will now terminate all existing operator-related replication
  connections following a role change in a replica cluster (#5209).
- Allow setting `smartShutdownTimeout` to zero, enabling immediate fast
  shutdown and bypassing the smart shutdown process when required (#5347).

## Version 1.23.3

**Release date:** Jul 29, 2024

### Enhancements:

- Add transparent support for PostgreSQL 17's `allow_alter_system` parameter,
  enabling or disabling the `ALTER SYSTEM` command through the
  `.spec.postgresql.enableAlterSystem` option (#4921).
- Introduce the `reconcilePodSpec` annotation on the `Cluster` and `Pooler`
  resources to control the restart of pods following a change in the Pod
  specification (#5069).
- Support the new metrics introduced in PgBouncer 1.23 in the `Pooler` metrics
  collector (#5044).

### Fixes:

- Enhance the mechanism for detecting Pods that have been terminated but not
  deleted during an eviction process, and extend the cleanup process during
  maintenance windows to include unschedulable Pods when the `reusePVC` flag is
  set to false (#2056).
- Disable `pg_rewind` execution for newly created replicas that employ
  VolumeSnapshot during bootstrapping to avoid introducing a new shutdown
  checkpoint entry in the WAL files. This ensures that replicas can reconnect to
  the primary without issues, which would otherwise be hindered by the additional
  checkpoint entry (#5081).
- Gracefully handle failures during the initialization of a new instance.
  Any remaining data from the failed initialization is now either removed or,
  if it's a valid PostgreSQL data directory, moved to a backup location to avoid
  possible data loss (#5112).
- Enhance the robustness of the immediate backups reconciler by implementing
  retry logic upon initial backup failure (#4982).
- Wait for the `postmaster` to shut down before starting it again (#4938).
- Ensure that the `Pooler` service template can override the default service
  (#4846).
- Exclude immutable databases from `pg_database` metric monitoring and alerting
  processes (#4980).
- Removed unnecessary permissions from the operator service account (#4911).
- Fix cluster role permissions for `ClusterImageCatalogs` (#5034).
- Ensure the operator initiates a rollout of the `Pooler` instance when
  the operator image is upgraded (#5006)
- Address race condition causing the readiness probe to incorrectly
  show "not ready" after a PostgreSQL restart, even when the
  `postmaster` was accessible (#4920).
- Prevent reconciliation of resources that aren't owned by a `Pooler` (#4967).
- Renew the certificates managed by the operator when the DNS Subject
  Alternative Names (SANs) are updated (#3269, #3319).
- Set PVC default `AccessModes` in the template only when unspecified (#4845).
- Gracefully handle unsatisfiable backup schedule (#5109).
- `cnpg` plugin:
  - Properly handle errors during the `status` command execution.
  - Support TLS in the `status` command (#4915).

## Version 1.23.2

**Release date:** Jun 12, 2024

### 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 1.23.1

**Release date:** Apr 29, 2024

### Fixes:

- Corrects the reconciliation of `PodMonitor` resources, which was
  failing due to a regression (#4286)

## Version 1.23.0

**Release date:** Apr 24, 2024

:::info[Important changes to Community Supported Versions]
    We've updated our support policy to streamline our focus on one supported
    minor release at a time, rather than two. Additionally, we've extended the
    supplementary support period for the previous minor release to 3 months.
:::

### Features:

- **PostgreSQL Image Catalogs:** Introduced `ClusterImageCatalog` and
  `ImageCatalog` CRDs to manage operand container images based on PostgreSQL
  major version. This is facilitated through the `Cluster`'s
  `.spec.imageCatalogRef stanza`. This feature provides an alternative to the
  imageName option and will eventually replace it as the default method to define
  operand container images.
- **User-Defined Replication Slots:** Enhanced the synchronization of physical
  replication slots to cover user-defined replication slots on the primary,
  via the newly introduced stanza `replicationSlots.synchronizeReplicas`.
- **Configuration of Pod Disruption Budgets (PDB)**: Introduced the
  `.spec.enablePDB` field to disable PDBs on the primary instance, allowing
  proper eviction of the pod during maintenance operations. This is particularly
  useful for single-instance deployments. This feature is intended to replace the
  node maintenance window feature.

### Enhancements:

- Users now have the capability to transition an existing cluster into replica
  mode, simplifying cross-datacenter switchover operations (#4261)
- Users can now customize the connection pooler service, including its type,
  labels, and annotations (#3384)
- 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)
- Command output of the plugin’s `status` command to show the status of PDBs
  (#4319)
- 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:

- Operator images are now based on `gcr.io/distroless/static-debian12:nonroot`
  (#4201)
- The Grafana dashboard now resides at
  https://github.com/cloudnative-pg/grafana-dashboards (#4154)

