PoWA on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS by cloudimg

PoWA on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS by cloudimg

PoWA, the PostgreSQL Workload Analyzer, is a workload analysis platform for PostgreSQL. Statistics collection extensions record what the server is doing, a background worker snapshots them on an interval into a repository database, and a web interface turns those snapshots into time series charts and ranked query lists.

Because PoWA stores a history rather than a single instantaneous reading, it answers the question a live statistics view cannot: what changed, and when. `pg_stat_statements` tells you which query has used the most time since the counters were reset. PoWA tells you the same query was fine all week and then tripled its runtime at 14:20 on Thursday.

### What is in the image

• powa-archivist 5.2.0 and powa-web 5.2.0, shipped as a matched pair
• PostgreSQL 18 from the PGDG repository, registered as the first monitored server
• The full statistics stack: `pg_stat_statements`, `pg_qualstats`, `pg_stat_kcache`, `pg_wait_sampling`, `pg_track_settings` and `hypopg`
• A dedicated data disk for the repository, so retention widens by resizing storage rather than rebuilding
• A demo workload tool, so collection can be proven end to end in about a minute

### Standalone from first boot

PoWA registers the PostgreSQL instance it is installed in as the `<local>` server and snapshots it with no collector, no remote server and no database of yours required. Remote servers are attached later, and are an extension of the appliance rather than a precondition for it working.

### Security

Only the web interface and SSH are reachable from the network: PostgreSQL and powa-web both bind the loopback address behind a single front door. The interface has no account store of its own, so its login credential is a PostgreSQL role, and that role does not exist in the image at all. It is created uniquely on each virtual machine at first boot along with the session signing key, and written to a file only the root user can read. The interface cannot start until first boot has minted them.

### Support

Published and supported by cloudimg. PoWA is developed by the PoWA team and distributed under the PostgreSQL licence. cloudimg is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by the PoWA team or the PostgreSQL Community Association.