DBTrail

PostgreSQL (Beta)

Capture changes from PostgreSQL, added from the web console, nothing installed in your server

+ Add server → source type PostgreSQL, same console as MySQL. Beta: verified end to end against PostgreSQL 14 to 17 in CI.

Your PostgreSQL 14 or newer needs wal_level = logical, REPLICA IDENTITY FULL on captured tables, and a publication you create; the replication slot is created for you. DBTrail reads it read-only through the built-in pgoutput plugin and writes to a MySQL index, where the bundled one works. No extension, plugin or trigger is installed in your server.

Nothing is installed in your PostgreSQL server

DBTrail is an ordinary logical-replication client using the built-in pgoutput plugin. No output plugin, CREATE EXTENSION or event trigger. It never writes to your source. The index stays MySQL; a PostgreSQL index is not supported.

Prerequisites

Once, on the source, as a superuser or the managed-database master user:

  • wal_level = logical (server restart).
  • A role with REPLICATION.
  • REPLICA IDENTITY FULL on every captured table: the analog of MySQL's binlog_row_image = FULL.
  • A PUBLICATION over those tables. DBTrail validates it, never creates it.
  • Strongly recommended: max_slot_wal_keep_size bounded (for example '10GB'). Unlimited, a stalled slot pins WAL until the source disk fills.

Exact SQL: PostgreSQL-side setup. RDS, Aurora, Cloud SQL: Managed PostgreSQL.

Add it from the console

With the Compose stack running:

  1. + Add server → Source type: PostgreSQL. Extra fields appear: Database, Replication slot, Publication.
  2. Host, port, user, password, database, a slot name, your publication. Optionally Schemas.
  3. Save. Preflight checks wal_level, publication coverage, REPLICA IDENTITY FULL and slot health; failures become remediation cards. A dedicated index is provisioned and capture starts, resuming on restart.

The source type is fixed once saved: to change it, delete and re-create the server. More: Servers.

What the console shows

  • Position as an LSN, labeled "PostgreSQL · logical replication".
  • Replication health on Status: retained WAL, margin before invalidation, tables not at REPLICA IDENTITY FULL, with a freshness indicator. Status.
  • Permanent-loss badge when the slot is invalidated: the index is valid up to that point and capture must be re-baselined.
  • No session attribution: logical replication carries no backend connection id, and the Events page says so.

Recovery and time-travel

Same index, same downstream: Events, dry-run undo SQL from Restore, and a row's state at any past moment with a backup configured.

AS OF from psql, over the PostgreSQL wire protocol:

SELECT * FROM _flashback.orders AS OF '5 minutes ago' WHERE id = 42;

Setup: querying and recovering.

Beta limits: full-table reconstruct is not wired for PostgreSQL yet (single-row works), and sequences need setval after a restore. All of them: limitations.

Headless

bintrail-pg: standalone capture binary plus the shared read and recovery commands, as a Docker image, .deb/.rpm, or from source. docs/postgres.md.

Quick Start

Install the DBTrail console and start tracking your database changes in minutes

Recovery

Undo a wrong DELETE, UPDATE or INSERT on specific rows. DBTrail writes the SQL; you review it and apply it.

On this page

PrerequisitesAdd it from the consoleWhat the console showsRecovery and time-travelHeadless