Shell command to archive a completed WAL file.
At a glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Parameter | archive_command |
| Category | Archiving |
| Default | '' |
| Value type | boolean / enum / numeric |
| Change scope | Reload (no restart) |
What it does
The command executed to archive each completed WAL segment. It must return 0 only on success and must not overwrite existing files.
How to apply a change
Takes effect on configuration reload (sighup context). Run SELECT pg_reload_conf(); or send SIGHUP — no restart needed.
Inspect the current value and source with SHOW archive_command; or SELECT name, setting, unit, context, source FROM pg_settings WHERE name = 'archive_command';.
Tuning guidance
Use a tested tool (pgBackRest, WAL-G, barman) rather than a hand-rolled cp. PostgreSQL retries failed segments forever and stops removing WAL until archiving succeeds.