Maximum time between automatic checkpoints.
At a glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Parameter | checkpoint_timeout |
| Category | Checkpoints |
| Default | 5min |
| Value type | time (ms/s/min) |
| Change scope | Reload (no restart) |
What it does
Maximum interval between automatic checkpoints. Checkpoints flush dirty buffers to disk; spacing them out reduces I/O but lengthens recovery.
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 checkpoint_timeout; or SELECT name, setting, unit, context, source FROM pg_settings WHERE name = 'checkpoint_timeout';.
Tuning guidance
Raise to 15-30min on busy systems (with a correspondingly larger max_wal_size) to spread out checkpoint I/O. Longer means slower crash recovery.