PostgreSQL 17 In-Place Upgrade – Now in Public Preview
By Varun Dhawan, Principal PM. PostgreSQL 17 is now supported via in-place upgrades on Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Flexible Server. Learn how you can upgrade seamlessly from earlier versions without changing your server or migrating data, and take advantage of the latest PostgreSQL version.On-Demand Backups in Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server - Public Preview
In today’s fast-paced world of data management, safeguarding your databases is crucial. Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server simplifies this process with its robust backup management capabilities. The service automatically creates storage volume snapshots of your entire database instance, including all databases, as part of its scheduled backup routine. You can now create on-demand backups whenever required. On-demand backups can be taken in addition to scheduled automatic backups. This feature is especially useful for scenarios such as preparing for potentially high-risk operations like system upgrades or schema changes or performing periodic refreshes that fall outside your scheduled backup cadence. Key Benefits Flexible Retention: On-demand backups are retained according to your specified backup retention window, with the added flexibility to delete them when they are no longer needed. User Control: You can initiate backups based on your business needs and delete on-demand backups anytime. Seamless Integration: These backups are stored alongside automated backups, but only on-demand backups are user-deletable. Automated backups remain managed by the Flexible Server service to ensure compliance with retention requirements. Cost Optimization: While automated backups are managed by Azure and cannot be deleted, on-demand backups provide you with control over storage costs. Delete these backups once their purpose is served to avoid unnecessary storage expenses. Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server provides a comprehensive, user-friendly backup solution, giving you the confidence to manage your data effectively and securely. Let us explore how on-demand backups can elevate your database management strategy and provide peace of mind during high-stakes operations. Automated Backups vs On-Demand Backups Feature Automated Backups On-Demand Backups Creation Scheduled by Azure Manually initiated by the user Retention Based on the backup policy Based on the backup policy Deletion Managed by Azure User-controlled Use Cases Regular data protection High-risk operations, ad-hoc needs How to take On-Demand Backups using portal. In the Azure portal, choose your Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server. Click Settings from the left panel and choose Backup and Restore. Click Backup now and provide your backup name. 4. Click Trigger. 5. A notification is shown that an On-demand backup trigger has been initiated. How to take On-Demand Backups using CLI. You can run the following command to perform an on-demand backup of a server. az postgres flexible-server backup create [--source-server-name] [--resource-group] [--backup-name] Example : For more information: How to perform On-demand backups using CLI What's Next Once you have taken an on-demand backup based on your business needs, you can retain it until your high-risk operation is complete or use it to refresh your reporting or non-production environments. When the backup is no longer needed, you can delete it to optimize storage costs. To restore or delete on-demand backups, you can use the Azure portal, CLI, or API for seamless management. Limitations: In preview, on-demand backups currently work with general-purpose and Memory-optimized SKUs only. We will add support for burstable SKUs later. Take Control of Your Database Protection Today! The ability to create on-demand backups is critical for managing and safeguarding your data. Whether you're preparing for high-risk operations or refreshing non-production environments, this feature puts flexibility and control in your hands. Get started now: Create your first on-demand backup using the Azure Portal or CLI. Optimize your storage costs by deleting backups when no longer needed. Restore with ease to keep your databases resilient and ready for any challenge. Protect your data effectively and ensure your database is always prepared for the unexpected. Learn more about Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server and explore the possibilities with on-demand backups today! You can always find the latest features added to Flexible server in this release notes page. We are eager to hear all the great scenarios this new feature helps you optimize, and look forward to receiving your feedback at https://aka.ms/PGfeedback.April 2025 Recap: Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server
Hello Azure Community, April has brought powerful capabilities to Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server, On-Demand backups are now Generally Available, a new Terraform version for our latest REST API has been released, the Public Preview of the MCP Server is now live, and there are also a few other updates that we are excited to share in this blog. Stay tuned as we dive into the details of these new features and how they can benefit you! Feature Highlights General Availability of On-Demand Backups Public Preview of Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server Additional Tuning Parameters in PG 17 Terraform resource released for latest REST API version General Availability of pg_cron extension in PG 17 General Availability of On-Demand Backups We are excited to announce General Availability of On-Demand backups for Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server. With this it becomes easier to streamline the process of backup management, including automated, scheduled storage volume snapshots encompassing the entire database instance and all associated transaction logs. On-demand backups provide you with the flexibility to initiate backups at any time, supplementing the existing scheduled backups. This capability is useful for scenarios such as application upgrades, schema modifications, or major version upgrades. For instance, before making schema changes, you can take a database backup, in an unlikely case, if you run into any issues, you can quickly restore (PITR) database back to a point before the schema changes were initiated. Similarly, during major version upgrades, on-demand backups provide a safety net, allowing you to revert to a previous state if anything goes wrong. In the absence of on-demand backup, the PITR could take much longer as it would need to take the last snapshot which could be 24 hours earlier and then replay the WAL. Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server already does on-demand backup behind the scenes for you and then deletes it when the upgrade is successful. Key Benefits: Immediate Backup Creation: Trigger full backups instantly. Cost Control: Delete on-demand backups when no longer needed. Improved Safety: Safeguard data before major changes or refreshes. Easy Access: Use via Azure Portal, CLI, ARM templates, or REST APIs. For more details and on how to get started, check out this announcement blog post. Create your first on-demand backup using the Azure portal or Azure CLI. Public Preview of Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a new and emerging open protocol designed to integrate AI models with the environments where your data and tools reside in a scalable, standardized, and secure manner. We are excited to introduce the Public Preview of MCP Server for Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server which enables your AI applications and models to talk to your data hosted in Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible servers according to the MCP standard. The MCP Server exposes a suite of tools including listing databases, tables, and schema information, reading and writing data, creating and dropping tables, listing Azure Database for PostgreSQL configurations, retrieving server parameter values, and more. You can either build custom AI apps and agents with MCP clients to invoke these capabilities or use AI tools like Claude Desktop and GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code to interact with your Azure PostgreSQL data simply by asking questions in plain English. For more details and demos on how to get started, check out this announcement blog post. Additional Tuning Parameters in PG17 We have now provided an expanded set of configuration parameters in Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server (V17) that allows you to modify and have greater control to optimize your database performance for unique workloads. You can now tune internal buffer settings like commit timestamp, multixact member and offset, notify, serializable, subtransaction, and transaction buffers, allowing you to better manage memory and concurrency in high-throughput environments. Additionally, you can also configure parallel append, plan cache mode, and event triggers that opens powerful optimization and automation opportunities for analytical workloads and custom logic execution. This gives you more control for memory intensive and high-concurrency applications, increased control over execution plans and allowing parallel execution of queries. To get started, all newly modifiable parameters are available now through the Azure portal, Azure CLI, and ARM templates, just like any other server configuration setting. To learn more, visit our Server Parameter Documentation. Terraform resource released for latest REST API version A new version of the Terraform resource for Azure Databases for PostgreSQL flexible server is now available, this brings several key improvements including the ability to easily revive dropped databases with geo-redundancy and customer-managed keys (Geo + CMK - Revive Dropped), seamless switchover of read replicas to a new site (Read Replicas - Switchover), improved connectivity through virtual endpoints for read replicas, and using on-demand backups for your servers. To get started with Terraform support, please follow this link: Deploy Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server with Terraform General Availability of pg_cron extension in PG 17 We’re excited to announce that the pg_cron extension is now supported in Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server major versions including PostgreSQL 17. This extension enables simple, time-based job scheduling directly within your database, making maintenance and automation tasks easier than ever. You can get started today by enabling the extension through the Azure portal or CLI. To learn more, please refer Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server list of extensions. Azure Postgres Learning Bytes 🎓 Setting up alerts for Azure Database PostgreSQL flexible server using Terraform Monitoring metrics and setting up alerts for your Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server instance is crucial for maintaining optimal performance and troubleshooting workload issues. By configuring alerts, you can track key metrics like CPU usage and storage etc. and receive notifications by creating an action group for your alert metrics. This guide will walk you through the process of setting up alerts using Terraform. First, create an instance of Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server (if not already created) Next, create a Terraform File and add these resources 'azurerm_monitor_action_group', 'azurerm_monitor_metric_alert' as shown below. resource "azurerm_monitor_action_group" "example" { name = "<action-group-name>" resource_group_name = "<rg-name>" short_name = "<short-name>" email_receiver { name = "sendalerts" email_address = "<youremail>" use_common_alert_schema = true } } resource "azurerm_monitor_metric_alert" "example" { name = "<alert-name>" resource_group_name = "<rg-name>" scopes = [data.azurerm_postgresql_flexible_server.demo.id] description = "Alert when CPU usage is high" severity = 3 frequency = "PT5M" window_size = "PT5M" enabled = true criteria { metric_namespace = "Microsoft.DBforPostgreSQL/flexibleServers" metric_name = "cpu_percent" aggregation = "Average" operator = "GreaterThan" threshold = 80 } action { action_group_id = azurerm_monitor_action_group.example.id } } 3. Run the terraform initialize, plan and apply commands to create an action group and attach a metric to the Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server instance. terraform init -upgrade terraform plan -out <file-name> terraform apply <file-name>.tfplan Note: This script assumes you have already created an Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server instance. To verify your alert, check the Azure portal under Monitoring -> Alerts -> Alert Rules tab. Conclusion That's a wrap for the April 2025 feature updates! Stay tuned for our Build announcements, as we have a lot of exciting updates and enhancements for Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server coming up this month. We’ve also published our Yearly Recap Blog, highlighting many improvements and announcements we’ve delivered over the past year. Take a look at our yearly recap blog here: What's new with Postgres at Microsoft, 2025 edition We are always dedicated to improving our service with new array of features, if you have any feedback or suggestions we would love to hear from you. 📢 Share your thoughts here: aka.ms/pgfeedback Thanks for being part of our growing Azure Postgres community.July 2025 Recap: Azure Database for PostgreSQL
Hello Azure Community, July delivered a wave of exciting updates to Azure Database for PostgreSQL! From Fabric mirroring support for private networking to cascading read replicas, these new features are all about scaling smarter, performing faster, and building better. This blog covers what’s new, why it matters, and how to get started. Catch Up on POSETTE 2025 In case you missed POSETTE: An Event for Postgres 2025 or couldn't watch all of the sessions live, here's a playlist with the 11 talks all about Azure Database for PostgreSQL. And, if you'd like to dive even deeper, the Ultimate Guide will help you navigate the full catalog of 42 recorded talks published on YouTube. Feature Highlights Upsert and Script activity in ADF and Azure Synapse – Generally Available Power BI Entra authentication support – Generally Available New Regions: Malaysia West & Chile Central Latest Postgres minor versions: 17.5, 16.9, 15.13, 14.18 and 13.21 Cascading Read Replica – Public Preview Private Endpoint and VNet support for Fabric Mirroring - Public Preview Agentic Web with NLWeb and PostgreSQL PostgreSQL for VS Code extension enhancements Improved Maintenance Workflow for Stopped Instances Upsert and Script activity in ADF and Azure Synapse – Generally Available We’re excited to announce the general availability of Upsert method and Script activity in Azure Data Factory and Azure Synapse Analytics for Azure Database for PostgreSQL. These new capabilities bring greater flexibility and performance to your data pipelines: Upsert Method: Easily merge incoming data into existing PostgreSQL tables without writing complex logic reducing overhead and improving efficiency. Script Activity: Run custom SQL scripts as part of your workflows, enabling advanced transformations, procedural logic, and fine-grained control over data operations. Together, these features streamline ETL and ELT processes, making it easier to build scalable, declarative, and robust data integration solutions using PostgreSQL as either a source or sink. Visit our documentation guide for Upsert Method and script activity to know more. Power BI Entra authentication support – Generally Available You can now use Microsoft Entra ID authentication to connect to Azure Database for PostgreSQL from Power BI Desktop. This update simplifies access management, enhances security, and helps you support your organization’s broader Entra-based authentication strategy. To learn more, please refer to our documentation. New Regions: Malaysia West & Chile Central Azure Database for PostgreSQL has now launched in Malaysia West and Chile Central. This expanded regional presence brings lower latency, enhanced performance, and data residency support, making it easier to build fast, reliable, and compliant applications, right where your users are. This continues to be our mission to bring Azure Database for PostgreSQL closer to where you build and run your apps. For the full list of regions visit: Azure Database for PostgreSQL Regions. Latest Postgres minor versions: 17.5, 16.9, 15.13, 14.18 and 13.21 PostgreSQL latest minor versions 17.5, 16.9, 15.13, 14.18 and 13.21 are now supported by Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server. These minor version upgrades are automatically performed as part of the monthly planned maintenance in Azure Database for PostgreSQL. This upgrade automation ensures that your databases are always running on the most secure and optimized versions without requiring manual intervention. This release fixes two security vulnerabilities and over 40 bug fixes and improvements. To learn more, please refer PostgreSQL community announcement for more details about the release. Cascading Read Replica – Public Preview Azure Database for PostgreSQL supports cascading read replica in public preview capacity. This feature allows you to scale read-intensive workloads more effectively by creating replicas not only from the primary database but also from existing read replicas, enabling two-level replication chains. With cascading read replicas, you can: Improve performance for read-heavy applications. Distribute read traffic more efficiently. Support complex deployment topologies. Data replication is asynchronous, and each replica can serve as a source for additional replicas. This setup enhances scalability and flexibility for your PostgreSQL deployments. For more details read the cascading read replicas documentation. Private Endpoint and VNET Support for Fabric Mirroring - Public Preview Microsoft Fabric now supports mirroring for Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server instances deployed with Virtual Network (VNET) integration or Private Endpoints. This enhancement broadens the scope of Fabric’s real-time data replication capabilities, enabling secure and seamless analytics on transactional data, even within network-isolated environments. Previously, mirroring was only available for flexible server instances with public endpoint access. With this update, organizations can now replicate data from Azure Database for PostgreSQL hosted in secure, private networks, without compromising on data security, compliance, or performance. This is particularly valuable for enterprise customers who rely on VNETs and Private Endpoints for database connectivity from isolated networks. For more details visit fabric mirroring with private networking support blog. Agentic Web with NLWeb and PostgreSQL We’re excited to announce that NLWeb (Natural Language Web), Microsoft’s open project for natural language interfaces on websites now supports PostgreSQL. With this enhancement, developers can leverage PostgreSQL and NLWeb to transform any website into an AI-powered application or Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. This integration allows organizations to utilize a familiar, robust database as the foundation for conversational AI experiences, streamlining deployment and maximizing data security and scalability. For more details, read Agentic web with NLWeb and PostgreSQL blog. PostgreSQL for VS Code extension enhancements PostgreSQL for VS Code extension is rolling out new updates to improve your experience with this extension. We are introducing key connections, authentication, and usability improvements. Here’s what we improved: SSH connections - You can now set up SSH tunneling directly in the Advanced Connection options, making it easier to securely connect to private networks without leaving VS Code. Clearer authentication setup - A new “No Password” option eliminates guesswork when setting up connections that don’t require credentials. Entra ID fixes - Improved default username handling, token refresh, and clearer error feedback for failed connections. Array and character rendering - Unicode and PostgreSQL arrays now display more reliably and consistently. Azure Portal flow - Reuses existing connection profiles to avoid duplicates when launching from the portal. Don’t forget to update to the latest version in the Marketplace to take advantage of these enhancements and visit our GitHub to learn more about this month’s release. Improved Maintenance Workflow for Stopped Instances We’ve improved how scheduled maintenance is handled for stopped or disabled PostgreSQL servers. Maintenance is now applied only when the server is restarted - either manually or through the 7-day auto-restart rather than forcing a restart during the scheduled maintenance window. This change reduces unnecessary disruptions and gives you more control over when updates are applied. You may notice a slightly longer restart time (5–8 minutes) if maintenance is pending. For more information, refer Applying Maintenance on Stopped/Disabled Instances. Azure Postgres Learning Bytes 🎓 Set Up HA Health Status Monitoring Alerts This section will talk about setting up HA health status monitoring alerts using Azure Portal. These alerts can be used to effectively monitor the HA health states for your server. To monitor the health of your High Availability (HA) setup: Navigate to Azure portal and select your Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server instance. Create an Alert Rule Go to Monitoring > Alerts > Create Alert Rule Scope: Select your PostgreSQL Flexible Server Condition: Choose the signal from the drop down (CPU percentage, storage percentage etc.) Logic: Define when the alert should trigger Action Group: Specify where the alert should be sent (email, webhook, etc.) Add tags Click on “Review + Create” Verify the Alert Check the Alerts tab in Azure Monitor to confirm the alert has been triggered. For deeper insight into resource health: Go to Azure Portal > Search for Service Health > Select Resource Health. Choose Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server from the dropdown. Review the health status of your server. For more information, check out the HA Health status monitoring documentation guide. Conclusion That’s a wrap for our July 2025 feature updates! Thanks for being part of our journey to make Azure Database for PostgreSQL better with every release. We’re always working to improve, and your feedback helps us do that. 💬 Got ideas, questions, or suggestions? We’d love to hear from you: https://aka.ms/pgfeedback 📢 Want to stay on top of Azure Database for PostgreSQL updates? Follow us here for the latest announcements, feature releases, and best practices: Azure Database for PostgreSQL Blog Stay tuned for more updates in our next blog!
