So, I was looking in the Postgres log file for today on our DB server, and it’s nothing but lines like these:
< 2017-06-12 18:37:59.249 UTC >STATEMENT: SELECT "main_instance"."id", "main_instance"."uuid", "main_instance"."hostname", "main_instance"."created", "main_instance"."modified", "main_instance"."version", "main_instance"."capacity" FROM "main_instance" LIMIT 1 FOR UPDATE NOWAIT
< 2017-06-12 18:38:05.289 UTC >ERROR: could not obtain lock on row in relation "main_instance"
As far as I can tell, the DB is up, accepting connections, and basically working the way it should. So those error messages are confusing me. Are they something that can be ignored? If so, is it possible to turn them off?
The error comes from the use of FOR UPDATE NOWAIT as documented here:
It affects nothing aside from the query executing the SELECT statement (and anything that depends on it). That statement has a LIMIT 1 without an ORDER BY which could be intentional or a mis-understanding of how NOWAIT works (which is, I believe, that one random row is picked and then a lock is attempted; not pick the first unlocked row).
In any case you would need to figure out what application is issuing that statement and inquire of its creator.
Its hard to say whether ignoring the error is the correct response without knowing how about the usage of the statement in question.
I do not believe they can just be turned off - the client code would need to be modified.