Amount of information written to the WAL.
At a glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Parameter | wal_level |
| Category | WAL |
| Default | replica |
| Value type | boolean / enum / numeric |
| Change scope | Restart required |
What it does
Determines how much information is written to the write-ahead log. minimal logs only crash-recovery data; replica (default) supports physical replication and base backups; logical additionally supports logical decoding/replication.
How to apply a change
Requires a full server restart (postmaster context). Set it in postgresql.conf and restart PostgreSQL.
Inspect the current value and source with SHOW wal_level; or SELECT name, setting, unit, context, source FROM pg_settings WHERE name = 'wal_level';.
Tuning guidance
Use replica for streaming standbys and PITR, logical for logical replication or CDC. minimal only for single-node bulk-load throughput and disables replication/PITR.