DEV Community: Aravin

Backup Concepts

Aravin — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 10:11:21 +0000

This is Part 6 of the BigAnimal in PostgreSQL series.

In EDB BigAnimal, backups are fully managed, but we can view, configure, and trigger them manually if needed. Here’s how you can take and manage backups step-by-step

1. Open Backup Section

Go to the BigAnimal Console
Click Clusters → Select your cluster
From the top tabs, choose Backups

2. View Backup Configuration

On the Backups page, will see:

Automatic backup schedule — usually daily (default retention: 7–30 days)
Last backup status — Success, Failed, or In progress
Retention policy
Backup type — Full or Incremental

BigAnimal automatically performs continuous backups using WAL archiving + snapshots (depending on the cloud provider).

3. Take Manual Backup

To trigger an on-demand backup, follow these steps:

Go to Clusters → Backups
Click Create Backup
Choose:
- Backup type: Full
- Description (optional)
Click Start Backup

The status will appear as “Running” until the backup process is complete.

4. CLI Method (Optional)

If we use the BigAnimal CLI, we can trigger a manual backup like this:

biganimal backup create --cluster-id <cluster_id> --description "Manual backup before upgrade"

To check progress:

biganimal backup list --cluster-id <cluster_id>

5. Restore from Backup

To restore (Point-in-Time or Full):

biganimal cluster restore --cluster-id <cluster_id> --backup-id <backup_id>

We can also do this via the Console → Backups → Restore.

6. Verify Backups

In the Console → Backups tab, you can view:

Last backup time & duration
Result (Success/Failure)
Backup ID
Size
Restore option

Table Backup and Restore

In PostgreSQL / EDB BigAnimal, backups are typically cluster- or database-level, but you can absolutely take a specific table backup and restore it using standard PostgreSQL tools like pg_dump and psql — even inside BigAnimal.

1. Using `pg_dump` (Recommended)

pg_dump -h <hostname> -p 5432 -U <username> -d <database_name> -t <schema_name.table_name> -Fc -f table_backup.dump

Restore the Table Backup

Use pg_restore to restore into the same or another database.

pg_restore -h <hostname> -p 5432 -U <username> -d <database_name> -t <schema_name.table_name> table_backup.dump

If the table already exists, you can:

Drop it before restore, or
Use the --clean flag to automatically drop & recreate it:

pg_restore --clean -t public.orders -d salesdb orders_table_backup.dump

2. Export as SQL File (Plain Text)

pg_dump -h <hostname> -U <username> -d <database_name> -t public.orders -Fp -f orders_table_backup.sql

Then restore:

psql -h <hostname> -U <username> -d <database_name> -f orders_table_backup.sql

This method is simpler but slower for very large tables.

3. Using EDB BigAnimal Console

BigAnimal’s web console does not yet support per-table backup —
But We can:

Connect to your cluster via pgAdmin or psql
Run the above pg_dump command from your local terminal
Store the .dump file securely (e.g., S3 or Azure Blob)

Optional: Backup with Data Filter
We can even export only certain rows:

pg_dump -h mycluster.biganimal.io -U edb -d salesdb \
  -t public.orders --data-only \
  --where="order_date >= '2025-01-01'" \
  -Fc -f recent_orders.dump

Verification
To verify what’s inside the dump file:

pg_restore -l table_backup.dump

This lists the contents (schema, table, indexes, etc.).

Monitoring EDB BigAnimal console

Aravin — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 06:48:23 +0000

This is Part 5 of the BigAnimal in PostgreSQL series.

👉 Previous: Access Model
👉 Next: Backup Concepts

Scheduled Jobs Monitoring

pgAgent stores all job definitions and logs in pgagent catalog tables, located in the pgagent schema (usually in the postgres or maintenance database).

Main tables:

pgagent.pga_job → Job definitions
pgagent.pga_jobstep → Steps of each job
pgagent.pga_joblog → Job execution history
pgagent.pga_jobsteplog → Each step’s execution log

1️⃣Check if pgAgent service is running (system-level)

sudo systemctl status pgagent

or if it’s running as a background process (for EDB pgAgent):

ps aux | grep pgagent If you see the pgAgent process, it’s running.

2️⃣ Check current running jobs (SQL query)
Run this in the database where pgAgent is installed:

SELECT j.jobid, j.jobname, j.enabled, l.jlgid AS joblogid, l.jlgstatus AS status, l.jlgstart AS start_time
FROM pgagent.pga_job j
LEFT JOIN pgagent.pga_joblog l ON j.jobid = l.jlgjobid
WHERE l.jlgstatus = 'r'
ORDER BY l.jlgstart DESC;

🔹 jlgstatus = 'r' → job is running
🔹 s = success, f = failed, i = idle
If you get no rows → no job is running currently.

3️⃣ Check recent job run status

SELECT j.jobname, l.jlgstatus, l.jlgstart, l.jlgduration
FROM pgagent.pga_job j
JOIN pgagent.pga_joblog l ON j.jobid = l.jlgjobid
ORDER BY l.jlgstart DESC
LIMIT 10;

This shows the 10 most recent job runs with their statuses.

4️⃣ Check step-level details (optional)
If you want to see which step is currently running or failed:

SELECT j.jobname, s.jstname AS step_name, sl.jslstatus AS step_status, sl.jslstart AS step_start
FROM pgagent.pga_job j
JOIN pgagent.pga_jobstep s ON j.jobid = s.jstjobid
JOIN pgagent.pga_jobsteplog sl ON s.jstid = sl.jsljstid
ORDER BY sl.jslstart DESC
LIMIT 10;

5️⃣ pgAdmin (GUI method)

Go to pgAdmin → Jobs → [select job] → Statistics tab → you can see last run, next run, and last result.
You can also open pgAgent → Job Logs to view running or completed jobs.

Quick Troubleshooting Tips

Job not starting - Verify pgAgent service is running (systemctl status pgagent on the instance, if visible)
Job not listed - Ensure you’re connected to the same database where pgAgent was configured
Job failed - Inspect pgagent.pga_joblog.jlgoutput for error details
Job never runs - Check jobenabled = true and the schedule in pgagent.pga_schedule

Monitoring Dashboard BigAnimal Console

Open the BigAnimal Console: https://portal.biganimal.com
From the left sidebar, click Clusters → select your cluster.
Click the Monitoring & Logging tab. You’ll now see:
Overview (Summary) — CPU, memory, storage usage
Metrics — time-series graphs (like Grafana)
Logs — PostgreSQL logs & events
Queries — slow or long-running query insights

Query Monitoring (Performance tab)

BigAnimal automatically collects query performance data using pg_stat_statements and auto_explain.

We can view below in dashboard:

Top Queries - Queries ranked by total execution time.
Slow Queries - Queries exceeding configured thresholds.
Query Plans - Execution plans of slowest queries.
Query Frequency - Number of times a query pattern ran.

Save and reload configuration (no restart needed for these).

We can enable additional query logging from the console:

Go to Configuration → Parameters
Set log_min_duration_statement = 1000 (Logs queries slower than 1s)
log_statement_stats = on
log_parser_stats = on
log_executor_stats = on

Storage & Bloat Monitoring

In the Monitoring → Storage tab:

We will see table/index size growth.

SELECT relname AS table_name, pg_size_pretty(pg_total_relation_size(relid)) AS total_size, pg_size_pretty(pg_table_size(relid)) AS table_size, pg_size_pretty(pg_indexes_size(relid)) AS index_size
FROM pg_catalog.pg_statio_user_tables;

Autovacuum statistics (dead tuples, last vacuum time).

SELECT relname, n_dead_tup, last_autovacuum, last_autoanalyze 
ROM pg_stat_all_tables;

Index usage efficiency (from pg_stat_user_indexes).

SELECT relname, idx_scan, idx_tup_read, idx_tup_fetch
FROM pg_stat_user_indexes;

If idx_scan is 0 or very low → consider dropping the index.

If you enable pgstattuple and pg_repack extensions, the console can show bloat percentage for each table/index.

Optional Add-ons
If you enable these extensions in BigAnimal:

pgstattuple → shows table and index bloat %
pg_repack → allows reclaiming bloated space without downtime

Logs Dashboard

Under Monitoring & Logging → Logs,
We can:

Filter by severity (ERROR, WARNING, LOG)
Search for specific text (e.g., “autovacuum”, “statement timeout”)
View PostgreSQL logs per node
Export logs in .txt or .json format for external analysis

Log Sources Behind the Scenes
The dashboard aggregates data from:

PostgreSQL log files (pg_log)
System logs (e.g., WAL archiver, autovacuum, checkpoint activity)

Access Model

Aravin — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 15:33:48 +0000

This is Part 4 of the BigAnimal in PostgreSQL series.

👉 Previous: View Cluster Details
👉 Next: Monitoring EDB BigAnimal Console

In BigAnimal, when we create a cluster:

A superuser have created automatically is called biganimal_user.
we connect as that user (or another user with CREATEROLE privilege) to manage other users, roles, and databases.
We cannot use the postgres superuser directly (for security reasons).
But biganimal_user can do almost everything needed for user management.

Connect to the Cluster

biganimal cluster show-connection --id p-96589658

Then copy the connection string, for example:

psql "host=mycluster.xxxx.biganimal.io port=5432 dbname=postgres user=biganimal_user sslmode=require"

Manage via BigAnimal Portal (Optional GUI Way)

You can also do some of this in the BigAnimal Console:

Log in to your BigAnimal portal.
Go to your cluster → Databases & Users tab.
Click “Create User” or “Create Database.”
Specify username, password, and assign privileges. This GUI uses the same SQL commands under the hood.

Get Connection Details from BigAnimal

biganimal cluster show-connection --id p-xxxxxxxxxx

Replace p-xxxxxxxxxx with your actual cluster ID.

It will display something like this

Cluster ID: p-xxxxxxxxxx
Cluster Name: prod-db
Connection Details:
  Hostname: prod-db.abcd1234.us-east-1.aws.biganimal.io
  Port: 5432
  Database: postgres
  User: biganimal_user
  SSL Mode: require
  Connection String:
    psql "host=prod-db.abcd1234.us-east-1.aws.biganimal.io port=5432 dbname=postgres user=biganimal_user sslmode=require"

Connect via psql (Command Line)

Requirements:

psql (PostgreSQL client) must be installed.
You need the password for biganimal_user (from the BigAnimal console when cluster was created).

Example Command:

psql "host=prod-db.abcd1234.us-east-1.aws.biganimal.io port=5432 dbname=postgres user=biganimal_user sslmode=require"

You’ll be prompted for a password.
After that, you should see:

psql (15.4)
Type "help" for help.

postgres=>

You’re now connected to your BigAnimal cluster.

Optional: Store the Password Securely

You can store your password in a .pgpass file to avoid typing it every time.

Create the file (Linux):
nano ~/.pgpass

And Add below format details:

hostname:port:databasename:user_name:password

Verify Connection

In psql:
\conninfo
Shows connection details (host, port, user, SSL mode, etc.).

Create a new user (invite a collaborator)

An organization administrator manages users by inviting them as collaborators. This process grants the user access to the BigAnimal console and assigns them an organizational role.

Log in to the EDB BigAnimal console.
Navigate to the Admin panel.
Access the Users section to see and manage the list of members in your organization.
Initiate the process to invite a new user by providing their email address and assigning them an organizational role.

The organizational role (e.g., Administrator, Member) determines the user's base-level permissions for managing resources like clusters and other users.

Provide privileges to a user

BigAnimal uses a multi-layered permission system. You manage privileges at both the organizational level (for console access) and the cluster level (for database-specific access).

1. Manage organizational privileges

You can modify a user's permissions within the organization from the Admin panel.

In the BigAnimal console, go to the Admin panel > Users.
Locate the user whose permissions you want to change.
Select the user to modify their assigned organizational role.
Save your changes to update their permissions across the entire BigAnimal organization.

2. Manage cluster-level privileges

Once a user has access to your organization, you can manage their access to specific clusters and their underlying databases.

Grant database access via the console

Navigate to your desired Cluster in the BigAnimal console.
Go to the Users or Permissions section for that specific cluster.
Find and select the user you want to grant access to.
Assign them a cluster-level role or grant specific database permissions (e.g., READ-ONLY).

Grant superuser access via the console

BigAnimal offers a self-service superuser access feature for users in their own cloud accounts.

From the Clusters page, navigate to your desired cluster.
Access the cluster details to enable the superuser feature for your user account.
Once activated, your user account will have superuser privileges, giving you full control over the database.

In the BigAnimal console, you can manage users at both the organizational level for platform access and the database level for data access within a cluster. The console offers a dedicated user management area for inviting new users and assigning organization-wide roles. Database user privileges are then managed by connecting to the database using a tool like psql.

Creating organization users

Organizational users are individuals you invite to join your BigAnimal account. These users are assigned roles that define their access to BigAnimal's management functions, such as creating clusters or managing other users.

Log in to the BigAnimal console.
Navigate to the Users page from the main menu.
Select Invite New User. You must have the correct permissions to see this option, typically Owner or Admin.
Enter the email address of the user you wish to invite.
Assign an organization-level role to the new user.

Owner: Has full control, including managing the subscription, editing organization info, and inviting other users.
Admin: Can invite users, manage user roles, and access all projects.
Member: Can create projects and access public projects.

The user will receive an invitation email to join the organization.

Creating database users and providing privileges

Database users are created within a specific cluster and are managed using standard PostgreSQL commands. For this, you will need to connect to your BigAnimal cluster.

Connect to your database: Use a client like psql to connect to your BigAnimal cluster. You can find the connection details in the BigAnimal console by navigating to your cluster's details page.

Create a new user: Run the CREATE USER command, replacing app1 and app1_pwd with your desired username and a secure password.

create user arc_user with password 'user_password';

Provide privileges: To grant the user permissions, you can use the GRANT command. The edb_admin role, which is the default for a new BigAnimal cluster, has elevated privileges, and you can grant some of these to your new user.

Grant the edb_admin role: This gives the user many common administrative permissions.
GRANT edb_admin TO arc_user;

Task	SQL Example
Create User	CREATE USER app_user WITH PASSWORD 'pwd';
Grant DB Access	GRANT CONNECT ON DATABASE sales_db TO app_user;
Grant Schema Access	GRANT USAGE ON SCHEMA public TO app_user;
Read-only	GRANT SELECT ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA public TO app_user;
Read/Write	GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA public TO app_user;
Role-based Access	CREATE ROLE readonly; GRANT readonly TO app_user;

Full SQL Script: Create Database, Roles & Access

 ===========================================
 1️⃣ Create Roles (Group roles for access control)
 ===========================================

-- Read-only role
CREATE ROLE readonly_role NOLOGIN;

-- Read-write role
CREATE ROLE readwrite_role NOLOGIN;

 ===========================================
 2️⃣ Create Users (Login roles)
 ===========================================

-- Reporting user (only read access)
CREATE USER report_user WITH PASSWORD 'StrongReadOnlyPwd@123';

-- Application user (read/write access)
CREATE USER app_user WITH PASSWORD 'StrongReadWritePwd@123';

 ===========================================
 3️⃣ Assign Users to Roles
 ===========================================
GRANT readonly_role TO report_user;
GRANT readwrite_role TO app_user;

 ===========================================
 4️⃣ Database-level Access
 ===========================================
GRANT CONNECT ON DATABASE sales_db TO readonly_role;
GRANT CONNECT ON DATABASE sales_db TO readwrite_role;

 ===========================================
 5️⃣ Schema-level Access
 ===========================================
GRANT USAGE ON SCHEMA public TO readonly_role;
GRANT USAGE ON SCHEMA public TO readwrite_role;

 ===========================================
 6️⃣ Table Privileges
 ===========================================
-- For existing tables:
GRANT SELECT ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA public TO readonly_role;
GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA public TO readwrite_role;

-- For future tables (default privileges):
ALTER DEFAULT PRIVILEGES IN SCHEMA public
    GRANT SELECT ON TABLES TO readonly_role;

ALTER DEFAULT PRIVILEGES IN SCHEMA public
    GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE ON TABLES TO readwrite_role;

-- ===========================================
-- 7️⃣ (Optional) Sequence Access
-- ===========================================
GRANT USAGE, SELECT ON ALL SEQUENCES IN SCHEMA public TO readonly_role;
GRANT USAGE, SELECT, UPDATE ON ALL SEQUENCES IN SCHEMA public TO readwrite_role;

ALTER DEFAULT PRIVILEGES IN SCHEMA public
    GRANT USAGE, SELECT ON SEQUENCES TO readonly_role;

ALTER DEFAULT PRIVILEGES IN SCHEMA public
    GRANT USAGE, SELECT, UPDATE ON SEQUENCES TO readwrite_role;

-- ===========================================
-- You can verify access as:
-- \c sales_db report_user
-- \c sales_db app_user
-- ===========================================

SCRAM-SHA-256

Aravin — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 10:29:10 +0000

SCRAM-SHA-256

The Salted Challenge Response Authentication Mechanism (SCRAM) is a secure protocol for proving a user's identity to a server without sending the password over the network. It uses a server-generated "salt" and a "challenge" to create a hashed response that is verified by both the client and server, protecting against attacks like eavesdropping and making dictionary attacks more difficult. SCRAM is based on the RFC 5802 standard from the IETF(Internet Engineering Task Force) and is used in various applications, including MongoDB, XMPP, IMAP, and SMTP.

How SCRAM works

Client sends login request: The client initiates a login by sending its username to the server.
Server generates salt and challenge: The server generates a unique, random string called a "salt" for the user and a random "challenge" for this session.
Server sends salt and challenge to client: The server sends both the salt and the challenge back to the client.
Client calculates response: The client uses the received salt, the challenge, and the user's password to perform a cryptographic hashing operation and creates a response.
Client sends response to server: The client sends this calculated response back to the server.
Server verifies response: The server performs the same hashing operation using its stored salt and the user's password, and then compares its result to the response received from the client.
Authentication is successful: If the two results match, the user is authenticated.

Key features

Mutual authentication: Both the client and the server can verify each other's identity without sending the password over the network.
Salted passwords: The use of a salt for each user prevents attackers from using pre-computed rainbow tables to crack passwords.
Challenge-response: The server's random challenge prevents an attacker from simply replaying a recorded login attempt.
Resistance to attacks: SCRAM is designed to be resistant to eavesdropping and man-in-the-middle attacks.

How SCRAM works

SCRAM authentication works through an interactive conversation between a client (user) and server. It involves several steps:

SCRAM session begins with the client sending a username and a client ‘nonce’ – a unique, random number, to the server. This is the “client-first” message.
In response, the server sends back a ‘nonce’ of its own (appended to the client nonce), along with a ‘salt’ (a random data that is used as an additional input to a one-way function that hashes data or password), and an iteration count. This constitutes the “server-first” message.
The client then uses these values along with its password to compute a ‘Client Proof’ and sends it back to the server, along with a ‘channel binding’ information. This is the “client-final” message.
The server then validates the ‘Client Proof’ using the stored iteration count, salt, and the original password’s hash. If it validates, the server will then generate a ‘Server Signature’ and send it back to the client. This is the “server-final” message.
Finally, the client validates the ‘Server Signature’.

If both ‘Client Proof’ and ‘Server Signature’ validations are successful, the client and server have mutually authenticated.

This process is designed to protect password-based authentication from eavesdropping and man-in-the-middle attacks while also providing mutual authentication. SCRAM can function with any hash function and is usually used with Transport Layer Security (TLS) for an extra layer of security. It can also incorporate channel binding to bind the authentication to a lower encryption layer.

Why use SCRAM?
Organizations use SCRAM authentication for numerous reasons:

Higher Security
SCRAM offers a higher level of security by storing hashed passwords, instead of plain ones, on the server. This means that even in case of a data breach, the attacker won’t be able to see the actual passwords.

Protection against Replay Attacks
SCRAM helps guard against replay attacks, in which an attacker intercepts and reuses authentication messages. It does not allow previously intercepted authentication messages to be reused illegitimately.

Resistance to Brute force Attacks
SCRAM uses an iteration value which can be set to a high number making the brute force attack computationally very expensive and impractical.

Prevention of Man-in-the-middle Attacks
SCRAM’s feature “channel binding” can provide additional protection against man-in-the-middle attacks, which occur when an attacker secretly intercepts and potentially alters the communication between two parties who believe they are directly communicating with each other.

Offloading Computation Cost
SCRAM shifts the computation cost of password hashing from the server to the client. This can prevent servers from being overwhelmed in a potential distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack.

Separation of Concerns
By using SCRAM, an organization can delegate the handling of cleartext credentials to a dedicated secrets-management service, minimizing exposure and possibly avoiding breaches. It’s easier to ensure security when responsibilities are clearly divided.

View Cluster Details

Aravin — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 09:26:49 +0000

This is Part 3 of the BigAnimal in PostgreSQL series.

👉 Previous: How to Configure BigAnimal
👉 Next: Access Model

1. To View Cluster details

biganimal cluster show

Purpose:
Displays detailed information about all clusters or a specific cluster running in your EDB BigAnimal environment.

Lists all PostgreSQL clusters you have access to under your BigAnimal account.
Shows summary details like:

Cluster ID
Name
Status (e.g., Running, Provisioning, Stopped)
PostgreSQL version
Region / Cloud provider
High Availability mode (Single, HA, DR)
Node size / instance type
Number of nodes
VPC or Network details
Creation time

ID              NAME          STATUS     VERSION   REGION     HA MODE
p-1234567890    prod-db       running    15.4      aws/us-east-1  HA
p-0987654321    staging-db    stopped    16.2      azure/eastus   Single

You can also add flags such as:
biganimal cluster show --id p-1234567890
to view only one cluster’s details.

2. Displays connection details for a specific PostgreSQL cluster

biganimal cluster show-connection --id p-23456789

The --id option specifies which cluster you want connection details for.
The command shows:

Primary endpoint (hostname or IP)
Read-only endpoint (for replicas)
Port number
Database name
Usernames (like postgres or biganimal_user)
Connection string (URI format) — both psql and pgAdmin compatible
SSL mode and certificate details
Load balancer endpoint (if HA enabled)

Cluster ID: p-23456789
Cluster Name: prod-db
Connection Details:
  Hostname: hostname
  Port: 5432
  Database: arcflow
  User: user_name
  SSL Mode: require
  Connection String:
    psql "host=hostname/ip port=5432 dbname=arcflow user=user_name sslmode=require"

DSN (Data Source Name)
A DSN (Data Source Name) is a string that defines how to connect to a database — it contains all the necessary connection parameters (like hostname, port, username, password, and database name) in one compact format.

In PostgreSQL (and EDB BigAnimal), the DSN is commonly used by tools like psql, pgAdmin, or applications to establish a connection without having to specify each option separately.

ODBC (Open Database Connectivity)

ODBC is a universal interface for connecting applications to databases — mainly used by:
Windows applications (like Excel, Power BI, Access)
C/C++ and .NET programs

JDBC (Java Database Connectivity)
JDBC is the Java standard API for database connectivity.
It uses a JDBC URL, which is similar to a DSN but Java-specific.

How to Configure BigAnimal

Aravin — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 11:49:18 +0000

This is Part 2 of the BigAnimal in PostgreSQL series.

👉 Previous: What is BigAnimal in PostgreSQL
👉 Next: View Cluster Details

Configuration happens during cluster creation.

Step 1: Sign Up and Login

Go to BigAnimal.com
Create an account or log in with EDB credentials.
Optionally, link your AWS or Azure subscription (if you want clusters inside your account).

Step 2: Create a Cluster

Click Create Cluster under the project.
Choose: Cloud Provider (AWS / Azure).
Deployment type:

EDB account (quick start, fully managed).
Your account (more control, resources billed to you).

Postgres Type:

PostgreSQL (vanilla open-source).
EPAS (Enterprise features like Oracle compatibility, advanced security, etc.).

Instance size (vCPUs, RAM).
Storage (SSD, autoscaling optional).
Number of nodes (1 for dev, 3+ for HA).

Step 3: Networking & Security
Configure:
VPC/VNet and region.
Networking: Public endpoint or private-only (recommended).
Security: IP allowlist or VPC peering.
Authentication: PostgreSQL roles + optional SSO integration.

Step 4: Advanced Configuration
High Availability:
Synchronous replication for strong consistency.
Async replication for better performance.
Backups:
Automated backups enabled.
PITR configuration (WAL archiving).
Monitoring:
Enable metrics export (Prometheus/Grafana).

What is BigAnimal in PostgreSQL

Aravin — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 11:14:39 +0000

BigAnimal is EnterpriseDB’s fully managed PostgreSQL Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS), designed to run in the public cloud (AWS, Azure, and soon GCP).
Think it as PostgreSQL + EDB Enterprise features + Cloud-native integration, all managed for you.

Provides:

Fully managed PostgreSQL clusters (deployment, scaling, patching, failover handled by EDB).
Choice of vanilla PostgreSQL or EDB Postgres Advanced Server (EPAS) (Postgres with Oracle compatibility features).
Multi-cloud & hybrid-cloud flexibility (you can run on AWS or Azure, in your account or EDB’s).
High availability and disaster recovery out-of-the-box.
Monitoring, backup, scaling, and security built-in.

When it is useful:

Want PostgreSQL in the cloud but don’t want to manage installation, patching, HA setup, or monitoring manually.
Want enterprise support and features (e.g., Oracle migration, advanced replication, global failover).
You need compliance and security controls (SOC2, GDPR, HIPAA, etc.).

How BigAnimal is Used

BigAnimal acts like a cloud-native PostgreSQL service, so usage is straightforward:

You log into the BigAnimal console (or use API/CLI).
Choose:
Cloud provider (AWS or Azure).
Database type (PostgreSQL or EPAS).

Deployment model:
1. EDB-owned account (EDB manages the infra).
2. Customer-owned account (runs inside your AWS/Azure subscription).

Connecting to the Database

BigAnimal provides a connection string (DSN) like a normal PostgreSQL.
You can use psql, PgAdmin, DBeaver, or applications with JDBC/ODBC.
SSL/TLS enforced by default for secure connections.

Operations

Scaling: You can scale vertically (bigger nodes) or horizontally (read replicas).
High availability: Standby nodes + automatic failover included.
Monitoring: Built-in dashboards, alerts, integration with Prometheus/Grafana.
Backups: Automated backups with PITR (Point-In-Time Recovery).
Upgrades: Click-button minor version upgrades; assisted major upgrades.
Security: Role-based access, VPC peering, IP allowlists, encryption at rest/in transit.

BigAnimal provides a connection string like:

psql "host=localhost port=5432 dbname=mydb user=appuser password=***** sslmode=require"

Linux - Searching Commands

Aravin — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 10:36:52 +0000

Linux - Searching Commands

This is Part 11 of the Linux CLI Commands series.

👉 Previous: Linux - Job Schedule Commands
👉 First Part: Linux - System Commands

Searching Commands

ls -lrt -a -- show the hidden files
ls -lart -- show the hidden files
ls -lrt d* -- starting files from d
echo -- print statment
test -d file_name && echo "dir" || echo "not-dir" -- to check dir or not-dir
which file or dir -- show the path
locate filename -- show the full path (if locate is not work install updatedb)
whereis filename -- command path
what is command -- it show the defination of the command
find -name filename -- to find file or dir
find -iname filename -- find files in upper case or in lower case
find -mmin -10 filename -- to find 10 min before files and dir
find -mtime -10 filename -- to find 10 days before files and dir
find -type f or d -- to find files or dir
find -perm 644 -- to find file and dir in permission 644
. -- current directory
~ -- home directory
find -size 690c -- to find file in size 690
find -empty -- to find empty files

Note:
-exec rm -rf {} \; -- to remove file or dir

find -user user_name -- find file or dir in a paticular user
grep findingword filename -- to find a word
grep -o findingword filename -- only that word (in lower case)
grep -io findingword filename -- only that word (upper and lower case)
grep -v findingword filename -- except that finding word (lower case)
grep -iv findingword filename -- except that finding word (upper and lower)
grep -c findingword filename -- count that word (in lower case)
grep -ic findingword filename -- count that word (in upper and lower case)
egrep "word1|word2" filename -- to find two word (in lower)
egrep -i "word1|word2" filename -- to find two word (in lower and upper)
fgrep "," filename -- find with special character
awk '{print $1}' finename -- print first field
tr 's' '$' <inputfile> outputfile --translate s to $ in outputfile
tr -d 's' <inputfile> outputfile -- delete s and store in outputfile
tr 'ad' 'ba' <inputfile> outputfile -- translate a to b and b to a
cut -b 1,2 filename -- cut first and second bytes in a file
cut -c 1,2 filename -- cut first and second chara in a file
cut -d ':' -f1 -- cut first column separated by ':'
cut -d ':' -f1,2 -- cut first and second field separated by ':'
sed -- stream editor
sed 's/find/replace/g' filename -- find and replace word that pressent
sed '3d' filename -- delete third line in a file
sed -n '2p' filename -- print the second line in a file

Linux - Job Schedule Commands

Aravin — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 10:35:11 +0000

Linux - Job Schedule Commands

This is Part 10 of the Linux CLI Commands series.

👉 Previous: Linux - File Transfer Commands
👉 Next: Linux - Searching Commands

Job Schedule Commands

jobs -- to find the running jobs
sleep 5s & -- to run backround
bg -- see backround running process
fg -- restart a stopped job
jobs -l -- list jobs
jobs -r -- show running jobs
jobs -s -- to stop jobs
nohup date -- create a file called nohup.out and store the date output into that file
crontab -- is a long running process that execute commands at a specific date and time
crontab -e -- to create a crontab
crontab -l -- to list crontab
crontab -r -- to remove crontab

Note: min hor date month week /file/path > output.file

Linux - File Transfer Commands

Aravin — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 10:33:01 +0000

Linux - File Transfer Commands

This is Part 9 of the Linux CLI Commands series.

👉 Previous: Linux - Root Commands
👉 Next: Linux - Job Schedule Commands

File Transfer Commands

scp -- secure copy protocol
ssh -- secure shell
scp filename user_name@ip_address:/path/ --> transfer a file to other user
ssh user_name@ip_address --> remote access

Note:
systemctl disable firewalld
systemctl enable firewalld

Linux - Root Commands

Aravin — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 10:28:18 +0000

Linux - Root Commands

This is Part 8 of the Linux CLI Commands series.

👉 Previous: Linux - Compress Commands
👉 Next: Linux - File Transfer Commands

Root Commands

su - root -- switch user
su root -- swith user in the current path
useradd username -- to create a user
passwd username -- to set a passwd for that user
useradd -g primary_group_name user_name -G Sub_group_name -- use to create user and add primary and secondary group
usermod -g primary_group_name user_name -G Sub_group_name -- to add primary and secondary group for the user
usermod -c -- modify the content of the user
usermod -e -- modify the date
usermod -l -- modify user name
userdel -f -- remove user while login
userdel -r -- remove user and home path
groupadd group_name -- to creata a group
groupdel group_name -- to delete group
cat /etc/passwd -- to check users
cat /etc/group -- to check group
fdisk -l -- for list out the disk
sudo -- other users can access the root commands
vi /etc/sudoers -- add users in this sudoers file to access the root commands

Linux - Compress Commands

Aravin — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 10:26:26 +0000

Linux - Compress Commands

This is Part 7 of the Linux CLI Commands series.

👉 Previous: Linux - Link Commands
👉 Next: Linux - Root Commands

Compress Commands

zip,gzip,tar

zip newfilename file1 dir1 file2 -- compress the files and directory
unzip newfilename -- To unzip the file
gzip filename -- to compress the zip files
gunzip -- to unzip the gzip
tar -cvf -- to create a tar file eg: file.tar
tar -tcf -- to list a tar file
tar -xvf -- to extract a tar file
tar -cvzf -- to create a tar file and compress eg: file.tar.gz
tar -tczf -- to list a compressed tar file
tar -xvzf -- to extract a compressed tar file

DEV Community: Aravin

Backup Concepts

1. Open Backup Section

2. View Backup Configuration

3. Take Manual Backup

4. CLI Method (Optional)

5. Restore from Backup

6. Verify Backups

Table Backup and Restore

1. Using pg_dump (Recommended)

Restore the Table Backup

2. Export as SQL File (Plain Text)

3. Using EDB BigAnimal Console

Monitoring EDB BigAnimal console

Access Model

Connect to the Cluster

Manage via BigAnimal Portal (Optional GUI Way)

Get Connection Details from BigAnimal

Connect via psql (Command Line)

Requirements:

Example Command:

Optional: Store the Password Securely

Verify Connection

Create a new user (invite a collaborator)

Provide privileges to a user

1. Manage organizational privileges

2. Manage cluster-level privileges

Grant database access via the console

Grant superuser access via the console

Creating organization users

Creating database users and providing privileges

Full SQL Script: Create Database, Roles & Access

SCRAM-SHA-256

View Cluster Details

1. To View Cluster details

2. Displays connection details for a specific PostgreSQL cluster

How to Configure BigAnimal

What is BigAnimal in PostgreSQL

Provides:

When it is useful:

How BigAnimal is Used

Connecting to the Database

Operations

Linux - Searching Commands

Linux - Searching Commands

Searching Commands

Linux - Job Schedule Commands

Linux - Job Schedule Commands

Job Schedule Commands

Linux - File Transfer Commands

Linux - File Transfer Commands

File Transfer Commands

Linux - Root Commands

Linux - Root Commands

Root Commands

Linux - Compress Commands

Linux - Compress Commands

Compress Commands

zip,gzip,tar

1. Using `pg_dump` (Recommended)