Release notes for CloudNativePG 1.25

History of user-visible changes in the 1.25 minor release of CloudNativePG.

For a complete list of changes, please refer to the commits on the release branch in GitHub.

Version 1.25.1

Release Date: February 28, 2025

Enhancements

  • Introduced a startup probe for the operator to enhance reliability and prevent premature liveness probe failures during initialization. (#7008)
  • Added support for using the -r service with the Pooler. (#6868)
  • Introduced an optional --ttl flag for the pgbench plugin, enabling automatic deletion of completed jobs after a user-defined duration. (#6701)
  • Marked known error messages from the Azure CSI Driver for volume snapshots as retryable, improving resilience. (#6906)
  • Updated the default PostgreSQL version to 17.4 for new cluster definitions. (#6960)

Security

  • The operator image build process has been enhanced to strengthen security and transparency. Images are now signed with cosign, and OCI attestations are generated, incorporating the Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) and provenance data. Additionally, OCI annotations have been added to improve traceability and ensure the integrity of the images.

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed inconsistent behavior in default probe knob values when .spec.probes is defined, ensuring users can override all settings, including failureThreshold. If unspecified in the startup probe, failureThreshold is now correctly derived from .spec.startupDelay / periodSeconds (default: 10, now overridable). The same logic applies to liveness probes via .spec.livenessProbeTimeout. (#6656)
  • Managed service ports now take precedence over default operator-defined ports. (#6474)
  • Fixed an issue where WAL metrics were unavailable after an instance restart until a configuration change was applied. (#6816)
  • Fixed an issue in monolithic database import where role import was skipped if no roles were specified. (#6646)
  • Added support for new metrics introduced in PgBouncer 1.24. (#6630)
  • Resolved an issue where Database, Publication, and Subscription CRDs became stuck in cluster resource has been deleted, skipping reconciliation after cluster rehydration. This patch forces status.observedGeneration to zero, ensuring proper reconciliation. (#6607)
  • Improved handling of replication-sensitive parameter reductions by ensuring timely reconciliation after primary server restarts. (#6440)
  • Introduced a new isWALArchiver flag in the CNPG-I plugin configuration, allowing users to designate a plugin as a WAL archiver. This enables seamless migration from in-tree Barman Cloud support to the plugin while maintaining WAL archive consistency. (#6593)
  • Ensured override.conf is consistently included in postgresql.conf during replica cluster bootstrapping, preventing replication failures due to missing configuration settings. (#6808)
  • Ensured override.conf is correctly initialized before invoking pg_rewind to prevent failures during primary role changes. (#6670)
  • Enhanced webhook responses to return both warnings and errors when applicable, improving diagnostic accuracy. (#6579)
  • Ensured the operator version is correctly reconciled. (#6496)
  • Improved PostgreSQL version detection by using a more precise check of the data directory. (#6659)
  • Volume Snapshot Backups:
    • Fixed an issue where unused backup connections were not properly cleaned up. (#6882)
    • Ensured the instance manager closes stale PostgreSQL connections left by failed volume snapshot backups. (#6879)
    • Prevented the operator from starting a new volume snapshot backup while another is already in progress. (#6890)
  • cnpg plugin:
    • Restored functionality of the promote plugin command. (#6476)
    • Enhanced kubectl cnpg report --logs <cluster> to collect logs from all containers, including sidecars. (#6636)
    • Ensured pgbench jobs can run when a Cluster uses an ImageCatalog. (#6868)

Technical Enhancements

  • Added support for Kubernetes client-gen, enabling automated generation of Go clients for all CloudNativePG CRDs. (#6695)

Version 1.25.0

Release Date: December 23, 2024

Features

  • Declarative Database Management: Introduce the Database Custom Resource Definition (CRD), enabling users to create and manage PostgreSQL databases declaratively within a cluster. (#5325)

  • Logical Replication Management: Add Publication and Subscription CRDs for declarative management of PostgreSQL logical replication. These simplify replication setup and facilitate online migrations to CloudNativePG. (#5329)

  • Experimental Support for CNPG-I: Introducing CNPG-I (CloudNativePG Interface), a standardized framework designed to extend CloudNativePG functionality through third-party plugins and foster the growth of the CNPG ecosystem. The Barman Cloud Plugin serves as a live example, illustrating how plugins can be developed to enhance backup and recovery workflows. Although CNPG-I support is currently experimental, it offers a powerful approach to extending CloudNativePG without modifying the operator’s core code—akin to PostgreSQL extensions. We welcome community feedback and contributions to shape this exciting new capability.

Enhancements

  • Add the dataDurability option to the .spec.postgresql.synchronous stanza, allowing users to choose between required (default) or preferred durability in synchronous replication. (#5878)
  • Enable customization of startup, liveness, and readiness probes through the .spec.probes stanza. (#6266)
  • Support additional pg_dump and pg_restore options to enhance database import flexibility. (#6214)
  • Add support for maxConcurrentReconciles in the CloudNativePG controller and set the default to 10, improving the operator's ability to efficiently manage larger deployments out of the box. (#5678)
  • Add the cnpg.io/userType label to secrets generated for predefined users, specifically superuser and app. (#4392)
  • Improved validation for the spec.schedule field in ScheduledBackups, raising warnings for potential misconfigurations. (#5396)
  • cnpg plugin:
    • Enhance the backup command to support plugins. (#6045)
    • Honor the User-Agent header in HTTP requests with the API server. (#6153)

Bug Fixes

  • Ensure the former primary flushes its WAL file queue to the archive before re-synchronizing as a replica, reducing recovery times and enhancing data consistency during failovers. (#6141)
  • Clean the WAL volume along with the PGDATA volume during bootstrap. (#6265)
  • Update the operator to set the cluster phase to Unrecoverable when all previously generated PersistentVolumeClaims are missing. (#6170)
  • Fix the parsing of the synchronous_standby_names GUC when .spec.postgresql.synchronous.method is set to first. (#5955)
  • Resolved a potential race condition when patching certain conditions in CRD statuses, improving reliability in concurrent updates. (#6328)
  • Correct role changes to apply at the transaction level instead of the database context. (#6064)
  • Remove the primary_slot_name definition from the override.conf file on the primary to ensure it is always empty. (#6219)
  • Configure libpq environment variables, including PGHOST, in PgBouncer pods to enable seamless access to the pgbouncer virtual database using psql from within the container. (#6247)
  • Remove unnecessary updates to the Cluster status when verifying changes in the image catalog. (#6277)
  • Prevent panic during recovery from an external server without proper backup configuration. (#6300)
  • Resolved a key collision issue in structured logs, where the name field was inconsistently used to log two distinct values. (#6324)
  • Ensure proper quoting of the inRoles field in SQL statements to prevent syntax errors in generated SQL during role management. (#6346)
  • cnpg plugin:
    • Ensure the kubectl context is properly passed in the psql command. (#6257)
    • Avoid displaying physical backups block when empty with status command. (#5998)

Supported Versions

  • Kubernetes: 1.32, 1.31, 1.30, and 1.29
  • PostgreSQL: 17, 16, 15, 14, and 13
    • Default image: PostgreSQL 17.2
    • Officially dropped support for PostgreSQL 12
    • PostgreSQL 13 support ends on November 12, 2025