polar

PolarDB for PostgreSQL kernel, provides Aurora-style storage-compute separation capability

The polar configuration template uses Alibaba Cloud’s PolarDB for PostgreSQL database kernel instead of native PostgreSQL, providing “cloud-native” Aurora-style storage-compute separation capability.

For the complete tutorial, see: PolarDB for PostgreSQL (POLAR) Kernel Guide

Overview

  • Config Name: polar
  • Node Count: Single node
  • Description: Uses PolarDB for PostgreSQL kernel
  • OS Distro: el8, el9, el10, d12, d13, u22, u24
  • OS Arch: x86_64, aarch64
  • Related: meta

Usage:

./configure -c polar [-i <primary_ip>]

Content

Source: pigsty/conf/polar.yml

---
#==============================================================#
# File      :   polar.yml
# Desc      :   Pigsty 1-node PolarDB Kernel Config Template
# Ctime     :   2020-08-05
# Mtime     :   2026-04-15
# Docs      :   https://pigsty.io/docs/conf/polar
# License   :   Apache-2.0 @ https://pigsty.io/docs/about/license/
# Copyright :   2018-2026  Ruohang Feng / Vonng ([email protected])
#==============================================================#

# This is the config template for PolarDB PG Kernel,
# Which is a PostgreSQL 17 fork with RAC flavor features
# tutorial: https://pigsty.io/docs/pgsql/kernel/polardb
#
# Usage:
#   curl https://repo.pigsty.io/get | bash
#   ./configure -c polar
#   ./deploy.yml

all:
  children:
    infra: { hosts: { 10.10.10.10: { infra_seq: 1 }} ,vars: { repo_enabled: false }}
    etcd:  { hosts: { 10.10.10.10: { etcd_seq: 1  }} ,vars: { etcd_cluster: etcd  }}
    #minio: { hosts: { 10.10.10.10: { minio_seq: 1 }} ,vars: { minio_cluster: minio }}

    #----------------------------------------------#
    # PolarDB Database Cluster
    #----------------------------------------------#
    pg-meta:
      hosts:
        10.10.10.10: { pg_seq: 1, pg_role: primary }
      vars:
        pg_cluster: pg-meta
        pg_users:
          - {name: dbuser_meta ,password: DBUser.Meta   ,pgbouncer: true ,roles: [dbrole_admin]    ,comment: pigsty admin user }
          - {name: dbuser_view ,password: DBUser.Viewer ,pgbouncer: true ,roles: [dbrole_readonly] ,comment: read-only viewer for meta database }
        pg_databases:
          - {name: meta ,baseline: cmdb.sql ,comment: pigsty meta database ,schemas: [pigsty]}
        pg_hba_rules:   # https://pigsty.io/docs/pgsql/config/hba
          - { user: all ,db: all ,addr: intra ,auth: pwd ,title: 'everyone intranet access with password' ,order: 800 }
        pg_crontab:     # https://pigsty.io/docs/pgsql/admin/crontab
          - '00 01 * * * /pg/bin/pg-backup full'

        # PolarDB Ad Hoc Settings
        pg_version: 17                            # PolarDB PG is based on PG 17
        pg_mode: polar                            # PolarDB PG Compatible mode
        pg_packages: [ polardb, pgsql-common ]    # Replace PG kernel with PolarDB kernel
        pg_exporter_exclude_database: 'template0,template1,postgres,polardb_admin'
        pg_default_roles:                         # PolarDB require replicator as superuser
          - { name: dbrole_readonly  ,login: false ,comment: role for global read-only access     }
          - { name: dbrole_offline   ,login: false ,comment: role for restricted read-only access }
          - { name: dbrole_readwrite ,login: false ,roles: [dbrole_readonly] ,comment: role for global read-write access }
          - { name: dbrole_admin     ,login: false ,roles: [pg_monitor, dbrole_readwrite] ,comment: role for object creation }
          - { name: postgres     ,superuser: true  ,comment: system superuser }
          - { name: replicator   ,superuser: true  ,replication: true ,roles: [pg_monitor, dbrole_readonly] ,comment: system replicator } # <- superuser is required for replication
          - { name: dbuser_dba   ,superuser: true  ,roles: [dbrole_admin]  ,pgbouncer: true ,pool_mode: session, pool_connlimit: 16 ,comment: pgsql admin user }
          - { name: dbuser_monitor ,roles: [pg_monitor] ,pgbouncer: true ,parameters: {log_min_duration_statement: 1000 } ,pool_mode: session ,pool_connlimit: 8 ,comment: pgsql monitor user }

  vars:                               # global variables
    #----------------------------------------------#
    # INFRA : https://pigsty.io/docs/infra/param
    #----------------------------------------------#
    version: v4.3.0                   # pigsty version string
    admin_ip: 10.10.10.10             # admin node ip address
    region: default                   # upstream mirror region: default,china,europe
    infra_portal:                     # infra services exposed via portal
      home : { domain: i.pigsty }     # default domain name

    #----------------------------------------------#
    # NODE : https://pigsty.io/docs/node/param
    #----------------------------------------------#
    nodename_overwrite: false           # do not overwrite node hostname on single node mode
    node_repo_modules: node,infra,pgsql # add these repos directly to the singleton node
    node_tune: oltp                     # node tuning specs: oltp,olap,tiny,crit

    #----------------------------------------------#
    # PGSQL : https://pigsty.io/docs/pgsql/param
    #----------------------------------------------#
    pg_version: 17                      # PolarDB is compatible with PG 17
    pg_conf: oltp.yml                   # pgsql tuning specs: {oltp,olap,tiny,crit}.yml

    #----------------------------------------------#
    # PASSWORD : https://pigsty.io/docs/setup/security/
    #----------------------------------------------#
    grafana_admin_password: pigsty
    grafana_view_password: DBUser.Viewer
    pg_admin_password: DBUser.DBA
    pg_monitor_password: DBUser.Monitor
    pg_replication_password: DBUser.Replicator
    patroni_password: Patroni.API
    haproxy_admin_password: pigsty
    minio_secret_key: S3User.MinIO
    etcd_root_password: Etcd.Root

...

Explanation

The polar template uses Alibaba Cloud’s open-source PolarDB for PostgreSQL kernel, providing cloud-native database capabilities.

Key Features:

  • Storage-compute separation architecture, compute and storage nodes can scale independently
  • Supports one-write-multiple-read, read replicas scale in seconds
  • Compatible with PostgreSQL ecosystem, maintains SQL compatibility
  • Supports shared storage scenarios, suitable for cloud environment deployment
  • Default PolarDB kernel path is /u01/polardb_pg_17

Use Cases:

  • Cloud-native scenarios requiring storage-compute separation architecture
  • Read-heavy write-light workloads
  • Scenarios requiring quick scaling of read replicas
  • Test environments for evaluating PolarDB features

Notes:

  • PolarDB is now based on PostgreSQL 17
  • Replication user requires superuser privileges (different from native PostgreSQL)
  • Some PostgreSQL extensions may have compatibility issues
  • The current template provides packages for both x86_64 and aarch64

Last Modified 2026-04-15: routine extension update (77993e8)