radar

Table of Contents

The radar documentation consists of the following pages:

• Introduction - Introduces radar and the data it collects.
• Installing radar - Describes the ways to install radar.
  • Reviewing the Requirements - Lists the platform and PostgreSQL requirements.
  • Understanding Platform Differences - Describes the collectors that run on Linux and on macOS.
  • Installing the pgEdge Package - Installs radar from the pgEdge Enterprise Postgres repository.
  • Downloading a Pre-built Binary - Installs a release binary and verifies its checksum.
  • Building from Source - Builds a static radar binary with Go.
• Configuring radar - Describes radar's command-line options and environment variables.
  • Setting the Connection Defaults - Documents how radar resolves the host, user, and database.
  • Setting Environment Variables - Lists the PostgreSQL environment variables that radar reads.
  • Choosing an Authentication Method - Documents password, LDAP, certificate, and GSSAPI authentication.
  • Managing Permissions - Compares superuser, pg_monitor, and limited-permission collections.
• Using radar - Describes running a collection and reading the results.
  • Running a Collection - Documents collecting system data, PostgreSQL data, or both.
  • Reviewing the Command-Line Options - Lists every radar option.
  • Excluding Collectors - Documents skipping and enabling individual collectors.
  • Reading the Archive - Describes the archive layout and file formats.
• Collector Reference - Describes the collected data and links to a reference page for each collector.
  • Collecting Cross-Platform System Data - Documents the collectors that run on both Linux and macOS.
  • Collecting Linux System Data - Documents the Linux collectors, including cgroup and container detection.
  • Collecting macOS System Data - Documents the macOS collectors.
  • Collecting PostgreSQL Instance Data - Documents the instance-level PostgreSQL collectors.
  • Collecting Per-Database Data - Documents the schema and object data that radar collects per database.
  • Collecting pg_statviz Data - Documents the optional pg_statviz time-series collectors.
  • Collecting Spock Data - Documents the optional Spock replication collectors.
  • Collecting PgBouncer Configuration - Documents the optional PgBouncer configuration collectors.
• Support & Resources - Lists radar's documentation, issue tracker, and security policy.
• Changelog - Lists the changes in each radar release.
• License - Provides the PostgreSQL License, under which pgEdge distributes radar.

radar is an agentless diagnostic data collection tool for PostgreSQL and for the system that hosts it.

radar collects a snapshot of system and PostgreSQL diagnostic data for troubleshooting and analysis. radar runs system commands and PostgreSQL queries, and streams the output into a timestamped ZIP archive. A PostgreSQL connection is optional; without one, radar collects system data only. When a command, file, or view is unavailable, radar skips that collector and continues the run.

pgEdge publishes radar as RPM and DEB packages and as pre-built binaries for Linux and macOS, so you do not need to build radar yourself. The Installing radar section describes each method, starting with the simplest.

Installing radar

radar runs on Linux and macOS as a single static binary. You can install the pgEdge package, download a pre-built binary, or build radar from source.

Reviewing the Requirements

The requirements for radar include:

• a Linux or macOS host; radar uses standard utilities such as df and ps when they are present.
• PostgreSQL 12 or later; some collectors require a later version, as the data reference notes.
• Git and Go 1.26.10 or later for a build from source; the go directive in go.mod sets this minimum.

Understanding Platform Differences

Some system collectors are specific to one platform. On macOS, radar skips the Linux-only collectors for systemd, SELinux, and the /proc and /sys filesystems. radar uses macOS collectors such as sysctl, system_profiler, diskutil, and launchctl instead.

On macOS, Homebrew can install PostgreSQL if the host needs it:

brew install postgresql@18

Installing the pgEdge Package

pgEdge publishes radar as the pgedge-radar package in the pgEdge Enterprise Postgres repository for Enterprise Linux, Debian, and Ubuntu. The repository configuration enables signature checks with the pgEdge signing key. The package installs the radar binary in /usr/bin. The pgEdge repository requires an access certificate from pgEdge; you must request and install a certificate before you install the package.

Use the following steps to install the package:

1. Configure the pgEdge Enterprise Postgres repository and install its certificate by following the instructions for Enterprise Linux or for Debian and Ubuntu.

2. Install the package; on Enterprise Linux, use the following command:

   sudo dnf install -y pgedge-radar

   On Debian and Ubuntu, use the following commands:

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install -y pgedge-radar

3. Confirm the installation by printing the radar version:

   radar --version

Downloading a Pre-built Binary

Each GitHub release includes static radar binaries for Linux and macOS on amd64 and arm64. The release also includes a checksums.txt file with the SHA-256 checksum of each binary.

Use the following steps to install a pre-built binary on Linux:

1. Download the binary for your architecture and the checksum file from the latest release; the following commands download the amd64 binary:

   curl -fLO https://github.com/pgEdge/radar/releases/latest/download/radar-linux-amd64
   curl -fLO https://github.com/pgEdge/radar/releases/latest/download/checksums.txt

2. Verify the binary against the published checksum; the command prints OK after the name of a matching binary:

   sha256sum --check --ignore-missing checksums.txt

3. Make the binary executable and move the binary into a directory on your PATH:

   chmod +x radar-linux-amd64
   sudo mv radar-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/radar

On macOS, download radar-darwin-arm64 or radar-darwin-amd64 instead. Run shasum -a 256 on the binary, and compare the output with the matching line in checksums.txt.

Building from Source

Building radar from source requires Git and Go 1.26.10 or later. The Go installation guide describes how to install a current Go release on any platform.

Use the following steps to build radar from source:

1. Confirm that go version reports Go 1.26.10 or later:

   go version

2. Clone the pgEdge radar repository and change into its directory:

   git clone https://github.com/pgEdge/radar.git
   cd radar

3. Build a static binary for your platform:

   CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o radar .

4. Optionally, move the binary into a directory on your PATH:

   sudo mv radar /usr/local/bin/

The CONTRIBUTING.md file describes cross-compilation and the development setup.

Support & Resources

pgEdge provides documentation, an issue tracker, and a security policy for radar. For more information, visit docs.pgedge.com.

To report an issue with the software, visit GitHub Issues. To report a security vulnerability, follow the security policy.

For Developers

We welcome your project contributions; for more information, see CONTRIBUTING.md. All contributors follow the Code of Conduct.

Author

Jimmy Angelakos created radar.

License

This project is licensed under the PostgreSQL License.