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PostgreSQL 16 → 17 GUC diff

Core configuration parameters added, removed, or changed in boot default between PostgreSQL 16 and 17.
Note

Fact. The measured inventory changes from 364 to 380 settings: 19 added, 3 boot-default changes, and 3 removed.

Added parameters

Parameter Type Context Boot default Category
allow_alter_system bool sighup on Version and Platform Compatibility / Other Platforms and Clients
commit_timestamp_buffers integer postmaster 0 8kB (0 B (0 × 8kB)) Resource Usage / Memory
enable_group_by_reordering bool user on Query Tuning / Planner Method Configuration
event_triggers bool superuser on Client Connection Defaults / Statement Behavior
huge_pages_status enum internal unknown Preset Options
io_combine_limit integer user 16 8kB (128 KiB (16 × 8kB)) Resource Usage / Asynchronous Behavior
max_notify_queue_pages integer postmaster 1048576 Resource Usage / Disk
multixact_member_buffers integer postmaster 32 8kB (256 KiB (32 × 8kB)) Resource Usage / Memory
multixact_offset_buffers integer postmaster 16 8kB (128 KiB (16 × 8kB)) Resource Usage / Memory
notify_buffers integer postmaster 16 8kB (128 KiB (16 × 8kB)) Resource Usage / Memory
serializable_buffers integer postmaster 32 8kB (256 KiB (32 × 8kB)) Resource Usage / Memory
subtransaction_buffers integer postmaster 0 8kB (0 B (0 × 8kB)) Resource Usage / Memory
summarize_wal bool sighup off Write-Ahead Log / Summarization
sync_replication_slots bool sighup off Replication / Standby Servers
synchronized_standby_slots string sighup "" (empty string) Replication / Primary Server
trace_connection_negotiation bool postmaster off Developer Options
transaction_buffers integer postmaster 0 8kB (0 B (0 × 8kB)) Resource Usage / Memory
transaction_timeout integer user 0 ms Client Connection Defaults / Statement Behavior
wal_summary_keep_time integer sighup 14400 min (10 d) Write-Ahead Log / Summarization

Boot-default changes

Parameter PG16 PG17 Category
server_version 16.15 (Debian 16.15-1.pgdg13+2) 17.11 (Debian 17.11-1.pgdg13+2) Preset Options
server_version_num 160015 170011 Preset Options
vacuum_buffer_usage_limit 256 kB (256 KiB) 2048 kB (2 MiB) Resource Usage / Memory

Removed parameters

Parameter Last type Context Last boot default Category
db_user_namespace bool sighup off Connections and Authentication / Authentication
old_snapshot_threshold integer postmaster -1 min Resource Usage / Asynchronous Behavior
trace_recovery_messages enum sighup log Developer Options

Method

The three lists compare the pinned PG16 and PG17 pg_settings snapshots directly. A default change is a change in the boot_val plus unit pair; setting is excluded so an initdb-generated value is not mistaken for the compiled boot default.