pg_catcheck

pg_catcheck : Diagnosing system catalog corruption

Overview

Packages

Source

Install

Make sure PGDG repo available:

pig repo add pgdg -u    # add pgdg repo and update cache

Install this extension with pig:

pig install pg_catcheck;		# install via package name, for the active PG version

pig install pg_catcheck -v 18;   # install for PG 18
pig install pg_catcheck -v 17;   # install for PG 17
pig install pg_catcheck -v 16;   # install for PG 16
pig install pg_catcheck -v 15;   # install for PG 15
pig install pg_catcheck -v 14;   # install for PG 14

Create this extension with:

CREATE EXTENSION pg_catcheck;

Usage

pg_catcheck: Diagnosing system catalog corruption

pg_catcheck is a command-line tool that checks PostgreSQL system catalogs for corruption by verifying cross-references between catalog tables. It accepts the same connection parameters as other PostgreSQL utilities (-h, -p, -U, -d).

Basic Usage

pg_catcheck -h localhost -p 5432 -d mydb

Normal output when no issues are found:

progress: done (0 inconsistencies, 0 warnings, 0 errors)

Example Output with Corruption

notice: pg_class row has invalid relnamespace "24580": no matching entry in pg_namespace
row identity: oid="24581" relname="foo" relkind="r"
notice: pg_type row has invalid typnamespace "24580": no matching entry in pg_namespace
row identity: oid="24583"
progress: done (4 inconsistencies, 0 warnings, 0 errors)

Result Categories

• Inconsistencies: logical problems in catalog cross-references (e.g., dangling OID references)
• Warnings: more serious issues
• Errors: inability to read catalogs

Options

pg_catcheck --help                      # Full list of options
pg_catcheck --select-from-relations     # Also check for missing/inaccessible relation files

Connection

Supports the same options as psql: -h host, -p port, -U user, -d database, or connection strings/URLs.