Logical replication currently has the following restrictions or missing functionality. These might be addressed in future releases.
The database schema and DDL commands are not replicated. The initial
schema can be copied by hand using pg_dump
--schema-only
. Subsequent schema changes would need to be kept
in sync manually. (Note, however, that there is no need for the schemas
to be absolutely the same on both sides.) Logical replication is robust
when schema definitions change in a live database: When the schema is
changed on the publisher and replicated data starts arriving at the
subscriber but does not fit into the table schema, replication will error
until the schema is updated. In many cases, intermittent errors can be
avoided by applying additive schema changes to the subscriber first.
Sequence data is not replicated. The data in serial or identity columns
backed by sequences will of course be replicated as part of the table,
but the sequence itself would still show the start value on the
subscriber. If the subscriber is used as a read-only database, then this
should typically not be a problem. If, however, some kind of switchover
or failover to the subscriber database is intended, then the sequences
would need to be updated to the latest values, either by copying the
current data from the publisher (perhaps
using pg_dump
) or by determining a sufficiently high
value from the tables themselves.
Replication of TRUNCATE
commands is supported, but
some care must be taken when truncating groups of tables connected by
foreign keys. When replicating a truncate action, the subscriber will
truncate the same group of tables that was truncated on the publisher,
either explicitly specified or implicitly collected via
CASCADE
, minus tables that are not part of the
subscription. This will work correctly if all affected tables are part
of the same subscription. But if some tables to be truncated on the
subscriber have foreign-key links to tables that are not part of the same
(or any) subscription, then the application of the truncate action on the
subscriber will fail.
Large objects (see Chapter 35) are not replicated. There is no workaround for that, other than storing data in normal tables.
Replication is only supported by tables, including partitioned tables. Attempts to replicate other types of relations, such as views, materialized views, or foreign tables, will result in an error.
When replicating between partitioned tables, the actual replication
originates, by default, from the leaf partitions on the publisher, so
partitions on the publisher must also exist on the subscriber as valid
target tables. (They could either be leaf partitions themselves, or they
could be further subpartitioned, or they could even be independent
tables.) Publications can also specify that changes are to be replicated
using the identity and schema of the partitioned root table instead of
that of the individual leaf partitions in which the changes actually
originate (see
publish_via_partition_root
parameter of CREATE PUBLICATION
).
When using
REPLICA IDENTITY FULL
on published tables, it is important to note that the UPDATE
and DELETE
operations cannot be applied to subscribers
if the tables include attributes with datatypes (such as point or box)
that do not have a default operator class for B-tree or Hash. However,
this limitation can be overcome by ensuring that the table has a primary
key or replica identity defined for it.