Postgresql 13 LOG: could not rename file “pg_wal/0000000100000001000000C6”

Question

Something very strange appear in my postgresql log file. I updated postgresql version from 13.0 to 13.1 and it's the same thing:

2020-12-21 15:17:55.652 EET [4316] LOG:  starting PostgreSQL 13.1, compiled by Visual C++ build 1914, 64-bit

2020-12-21 15:17:55.657 EET [4316] LOG:  listening on IPv6 address "::", port 5432

2020-12-21 15:17:55.660 EET [4316] LOG:  listening on IPv4 address "0.0.0.0", port 5432

2020-12-21 15:17:55.998 EET [5224] LOG:  database system was shut down at 2020-12-21 15:17:01 EET

2020-12-21 15:17:56.075 EET [4316] LOG:  database system is ready to accept connections

2020-12-21 16:43:14.938 EET [7832] LOG:  could not rename file "pg_wal/0000000100000001000000C6": Permission denied

2020-12-21 16:48:17.949 EET [7832] LOG:  could not rename file "pg_wal/0000000100000001000000C6": Permission denied

2020-12-21 16:53:15.911 EET [7832] LOG:  could not rename file "pg_wal/0000000100000001000000C6": Permission denied

2020-12-21 16:58:14.865 EET [7832] LOG:  could not rename file "pg_wal/0000000100000001000000C6": Permission denied

2020-12-21 17:03:14.730 EET [7832] LOG:  could not rename file "pg_wal/0000000100000001000000C6": Permission denied

Can't find anything about that message. After restarting the service and after some time that message starts showing on every 5 minutes. I know that is because of checkpoint_timeout = 5min but that is all I know. Someone to help me?

Answer 1

It could be somebody or something locked or modified the permissions on this file. Perhaps it was anti-virus software (which should always be prevented from messing with the data directory).

But there is also a bug in PostgreSQL that causes this problem. This is currently being researched. There is no fix yet (in March 2021).