Why doesn't `vacuum full` release space immediately?












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On Postgres 9.5 I had a table that grew to 30GB, but it was ultimately mostly dead rows. After cleaning it up with a vacuum full, postgres reports that the table size is now around 500MB. However, I see no space being released to the OS.



I found PostgreSQL - VACUUM FULL does not free space back to the OS which suggests the WAL files might be the culprit, but these are present on a different disk so it shouldn't affect my actual data disk at all.



I have confirmed that there are no other long running transactions or autovacuum's that might be locking the table.



What can I look at to figure out why my space isn't being released?









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    On Postgres 9.5 I had a table that grew to 30GB, but it was ultimately mostly dead rows. After cleaning it up with a vacuum full, postgres reports that the table size is now around 500MB. However, I see no space being released to the OS.



    I found PostgreSQL - VACUUM FULL does not free space back to the OS which suggests the WAL files might be the culprit, but these are present on a different disk so it shouldn't affect my actual data disk at all.



    I have confirmed that there are no other long running transactions or autovacuum's that might be locking the table.



    What can I look at to figure out why my space isn't being released?









    share

























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      0








      On Postgres 9.5 I had a table that grew to 30GB, but it was ultimately mostly dead rows. After cleaning it up with a vacuum full, postgres reports that the table size is now around 500MB. However, I see no space being released to the OS.



      I found PostgreSQL - VACUUM FULL does not free space back to the OS which suggests the WAL files might be the culprit, but these are present on a different disk so it shouldn't affect my actual data disk at all.



      I have confirmed that there are no other long running transactions or autovacuum's that might be locking the table.



      What can I look at to figure out why my space isn't being released?









      share














      On Postgres 9.5 I had a table that grew to 30GB, but it was ultimately mostly dead rows. After cleaning it up with a vacuum full, postgres reports that the table size is now around 500MB. However, I see no space being released to the OS.



      I found PostgreSQL - VACUUM FULL does not free space back to the OS which suggests the WAL files might be the culprit, but these are present on a different disk so it shouldn't affect my actual data disk at all.



      I have confirmed that there are no other long running transactions or autovacuum's that might be locking the table.



      What can I look at to figure out why my space isn't being released?







      postgresql-9.5





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      asked 9 mins ago









      RageshRagesh

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