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Adding a Node with pgBackRest

You can use a pgBackRest backup to populate a new cluster node, and then add that node to your cluster with the Spock extension. In the following high-level walkthrough, we walk through the steps you can use to add a fourth node (n4) to a three-node cluster (n1, n2, and n3).

  1. Create a pgBackRest stanza. This step is required as the stanza defines the cluster configuration, which is essential for backup and restore operations.

  2. Perform a full backup of your primary node, n1. The backup can be stored in an S3 bucket, a network-shared folder, or a local directory (if all nodes are on the same machine).

  3. Restore the backup from n1 to the data directory of n4. This prepares n4 to become a replica of n1.

  4. Configure streaming replication on n4, making the node a replica of n1. This ensures that n4 contains all transactions on n1 since the backup was taken, ensuring n4 is 100 percent synchronized with n1.

  5. Use the ALTER command to set nodes n1, n2, and n3 to read-only mode and reload the configuration on these nodes to apply the changes. This step is crucial because n4 has configurations copied from n1 that are not valid for n4. By making the nodes read-only, you ensure no transactions occur while you modify the configurations.

  6. Terminate all ongoing transactions on n1, n2, and n3. This prevents any long-running queries from interfering during the configuration changes.

  7. Edit the shared_preload_libraries parameter on n4, removing spock. This prevents Spock from using the old configuration from n1 on n4.

  8. Start n4, allowing the node to become a replica of n1. This step ensures that n4 contains all transactions from n1.

  9. Promote n4 to the role of primary node or configure the node as a standalone node with Spock disabled. This step finalizes n4 as the new primary node in your replication setup.

  10. Remove all replication sets and nodes from the configuration. This clears any old replication configurations that are no longer needed.

  11. Re-add spock to the shared_preload_libraries parameter on n4. This prepares n4 to handle replication in the new role.

  12. Restart n4 to apply the changes made in the previous steps.

  13. Reintegrate n4 into the replication cluster with n1, n2, and n3.

  14. Remove the read-only mode from n1, n2, and n3, allowing them to resume normal operations.

  15. Add the following subscriptions between the new node (n4) and Nodes 1, 2, and 3 (n1, n2, n3):

    • The subn1n4 subscription syncs n1 with n4.
    • The subn2n4 subscription syncs n2 with n4.
    • The subn3n4 subscription syncs n3 with n4.
    • The subn4n1 subscription syncs n4 with n1.
    • The subn4n2 subscription syncs n4 with n2.
    • The subn4n3 subscription syncs n4 with n3.

  16. Verify that all nodes (n1, n2, n3, and n4) are properly configured and synchronized within the cluster. Ensure that replication is functioning as expected by checking the status of all nodes.