Re: ALTER SYSTEM SET command to change postgresql.conf parameters (RE: Proposal for Allow postgresql.conf values to be changed via SQL [review])

Tom Lane <tgl(at)sss(dot)pgh(dot)pa(dot)us> writes:
> Come to think of it, maybe part of the reason we're having such a hard
> time getting to consensus is that people are conflating the "snippet"
> part with the "writable" part? I mean, if you are thinking you want
> system-management tools to be able to drop in configuration fragments as
> separate files, there's a case to be made for a conf.d subdirectory that
> lives somewhere that the postmaster can't necessarily write. We just
> mustn't confuse that with support for ALTER SYSTEM SET. I strongly
> believe that ALTER SYSTEM SET must not be designed to write anywhere
> outside $PGDATA.

Agreed, +1.

I think we should have conf.d in the same place as postgresql.conf,
wherever that is for your distribution of choice (e.g. /etc), and
certainly ALTER SYSTEM SET should stay away from those places.

Come to think of it, the one-file-per-guc approach that received some
push back when targeting the conf.d place might well be acceptable when
targeting some place in $PGDATA, right? I still believe that's the best
technical way to have at it.

Regards,
--
Dimitri Fontaine
http://2ndQuadrant.fr PostgreSQL : Expertise, Formation et Support