> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.honeycomb.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Send PostgreSQL Logs

> Parse PostgreSQL logs with Honeytail and send them to Honeycomb to analyze database query patterns, slow queries, and traffic across your application.

export const honeytail = {
  "version": "1.10.0",
  "deb_amd64": {
    "sha256": "3db441215f97eaed068aa0531c986cf5405957e3e8e26b22c16b571091caf917",
    "url": "https://honeycomb.io/download/honeytail/v1.10.0/honeytail_1.10.0_amd64.deb"
  },
  "deb_arm64": {
    "sha256": "4220756e5a941cde6a484cb4cfde184eb189aaf29170df301a874eb143e960ed",
    "url": "https://honeycomb.io/download/honeytail/v1.10.0/honeytail_1.10.0_arm64.deb"
  },
  "rpm": {
    "sha256": "b23215a9301b20b2e2262a0823c9e761e8b57e1a62fd5cec35f697fce41fa863",
    "url": "https://honeycomb.io/download/honeytail/v1.10.0/honeytail-1.10.0-1.x86_64.rpm"
  },
  "bin_linux_amd64": {
    "sha256": "c9cc7dd1aa2b12afeb30b089061870f3407d2df0119e7c2807fec648b603e2d5",
    "url": "https://honeycomb.io/download/honeytail/v1.10.0/honeytail-linux-amd64"
  },
  "bin_linux_arm64": {
    "sha256": "1dd37227788548c4ed44592554e3c90e374c4d796c444dde9f372db8618bc7fa",
    "url": "https://honeycomb.io/download/honeytail/v1.10.0/honeytail-linux-arm64"
  },
  "bin_darwin_amd64": {
    "sha256": "9a3da0f48fe21b1e610ac6b63130dfb8118a9a0ec16abae13350edba02d85e4d",
    "url": "https://honeycomb.io/download/honeytail/v1.10.0/honeytail-darwin-amd64"
  },
  "bin_name": "honeytail"
};

Our connector pulls your PostgreSQL logs into Honeycomb for analysis, so you can analyze PostgreSQL traffic on your machines and finally get a quick handle on the database queries triggered by your application logic.
It surfaces attributes like:

* The **normalized** query shape
* Time spent executing the query
* Transaction ID
* Client information
* ... and more!

Honeycomb is unique in its ability to calculate metrics and statistics on the fly, while retaining the full-resolution log lines (and the original query that started it all!).

<Note>
  This document is for running **PostgreSQL directly**.
  If running [PostgreSQL on RDS](https://aws.amazon.com/rds/postgresql/), Honeycomb offers support for ingesting RDS PostgreSQL logs via [CloudWatch Logs](/send-data/aws/aws-cloudformation/) with the option to convert these unstructured logs into structured logs.
</Note>

The agent used to translate logs to events and send them to Honeycomb is called `honeytail`.

## Configure PostgreSQL Query Logging

Before running `honeytail`, turn slow query logging on for all queries if possible.
To turn on slow query logging, edit your `postgresql.conf` and set:

```sql theme={}
log_min_duration_statement = 0
log_statement='none'
```

<Note>
  `log_statement` indicates which types of queries are logged, but is superseded when setting `log_min_duration_statement` to `0`, as this effectively logs all queries.
  Setting `log_statement` to any other value will change the format of the query logs in a way that is not currently supported by the Honeycomb PostgreSQL parser.
</Note>

Alternatively, you can set this from the `psql` shell by running

```sql theme={}
ALTER SYSTEM SET log_min_duration_statement=0;
ALTER SYSTEM SET log_statement='none';
SELECT pg_reload_conf();
```

Finally, take note of the value of the `log_line_prefix` configuration line. It will look something like this:

```sql theme={}
log_line_prefix = '%t [%p-%l] %q%u@%d '
```

## Install and Run Honeytail

On your PostgreSQL host, download and install the latest `honeytail` by running:

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="deb-amd64">
    Download the `honeytail_1.10.0_amd64.deb` package.

    ```shell theme={}
    wget -q https://honeycomb.io/download/honeytail/v1.10.0/honeytail_1.10.0_amd64.deb
    ```

    Verify the package.

    ```shell theme={}
    echo '3db441215f97eaed068aa0531c986cf5405957e3e8e26b22c16b571091caf917  honeytail_1.10.0_amd64.deb' | sha256sum -c
    ```

    Install the package.

    ```shell theme={}
    sudo dpkg -i honeytail_1.10.0_amd64.deb
    ```

    The packages install `honeytail`, its config file `/etc/honeytail/honeytail.conf`,
    and some start scripts.
    Build `honeytail` from source if you need it in an unpackaged form or for ad-hoc use.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="deb-arm64">
    Download the `honeytail_1.10.0_arm64.deb` package.

    ```shell theme={}
    wget -q https://honeycomb.io/download/honeytail/v1.10.0/honeytail_1.10.0_arm64.deb
    ```

    Verify the package.

    ```shell theme={}
    echo '4220756e5a941cde6a484cb4cfde184eb189aaf29170df301a874eb143e960ed  honeytail_1.10.0_arm64.deb' | sha256sum -c
    ```

    Install the package.

    ```shell theme={}
    sudo dpkg -i honeytail_1.10.0_arm64.deb
    ```

    The packages install `honeytail`, its config file `/etc/honeytail/honeytail.conf`,
    and some start scripts.
    Build `honeytail` from source if you need it in an unpackaged form or for ad-hoc use.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="rpm">
    Download the `honeytail_1.10.0-1.x86_64.rpm` package.

    ```shell theme={}
    wget -q https://honeycomb.io/download/honeytail/v1.10.0/honeytail_1.10.0-1.x86_64.rpm
    ```

    Verify the package.

    ```shell theme={}
    echo 'b23215a9301b20b2e2262a0823c9e761e8b57e1a62fd5cec35f697fce41fa863  honeytail_1.10.0-1.x86_64.rpm' | sha256sum -c
    ```

    Install the package.

    ```shell theme={}
    sudo rpm -i honeytail_1.10.0-1.x86_64.rpm
    ```

    The packages install `honeytail`, its config file `/etc/honeytail/honeytail.conf`,
    and some start scripts.
    Build `honeytail` from source if you need it in an unpackaged form or for ad-hoc use.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="bin-linux-amd64">
    Download the 1.10.0 binary.

    ```shell theme={}
    wget -q -O honeytail https://honeycomb.io/download/honeytail/v1.10.0/honeytail-linux-amd64
    ```

    Verify the binary.

    ```shell theme={}
    echo 'c9cc7dd1aa2b12afeb30b089061870f3407d2df0119e7c2807fec648b603e2d5  honeytail' | shasum -a 256 -c
    ```

    Set the permissions to allow execution.

    ```shell theme={}
    chmod 755 ./honeytail
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="bin-linux-arm64">
    Download the 1.10.0 binary.

    ```shell theme={}
    wget -q -O honeytail https://honeycomb.io/download/honeytail/v1.10.0/honeytail-linux-arm64
    ```

    Verify the binary.

    ```shell theme={}
    echo '1dd37227788548c4ed44592554e3c90e374c4d796c444dde9f372db8618bc7fa  honeytail' | shasum -a 256 -c
    ```

    Set the permissions to allow execution.

    ```shell theme={}
    chmod 755 ./honeytail
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="bin-darwin-amd64">
    Download the 1.10.0 binary.

    ```shell theme={}
    wget -q -O honeytail https://honeycomb.io/download/honeytail/v1.10.0/honeytail-darwin-amd64
    ```

    Verify the binary.

    ```shell theme={}
    echo '9a3da0f48fe21b1e610ac6b63130dfb8118a9a0ec16abae13350edba02d85e4d  honeytail' | shasum -a 256 -c
    ```

    Set the permissions to allow execution.

    ```shell theme={}
    chmod 755 ./honeytail
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="source">
    Clone the [Honeytail](https://github.com/honeycombio/honeytail) repository.

    ```shell theme={}
    git clone https://github.com/honeycombio/honeytail
    ```

    Install from source.

    ```shell theme={}
    cd honeytail; go install
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

Make sure you have enabled [query logging](#configure-postgresql-query-logging) before running `honeytail`.

To consume the current slow query log from the beginning, run:

```shell theme={}
honeytail \
    --writekey=YOUR_API_KEY \
    --dataset=postgres-queries --parser=postgresql \
    --postgresql.log_line_prefix=YOUR_LOG_LINE_PREFIX \
    --file=/var/log/postgresql/postgresql-9.5-main.log \
    --tail.read_from=beginning
```

## Troubleshooting

Check out [`honeytail` Troubleshooting](/troubleshoot/common-issues/sending-data/#honeytail) for debugging tips.

## Run Honeytail Continuously

To run `honeytail` continuously as a daemon process, first modify the configuration file `/etc/honeytail/honeytail.conf` and uncomment and set:

* `ParserName` to `postgresql`
* `WriteKey` to your API key, available from [the account page](https://ui.honeycomb.io/account)
* `LogFiles` to the path for your PostgreSQL log file.
* `Dataset` to the name of the dataset you wish to create with this log file.

Then start `honeytail` using `upstart` or `systemd`:

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="upstart">
    ```shell theme={}
    sudo initctl start honeytail
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="systemd">
    ```shell theme={}
    sudo systemctl start honeytail
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Backfill Archived Logs

You may have archived logs that you would like to import into Honeycomb.
If you have a log file located at `/var/log/postgresql/postgresql-main.log`, you can backfill using this command:

```shell theme={}
honeytail \
    --writekey=YOUR_API_KEY \
    --dataset=PostgreSQL \
    --parser=postgresql \
    --file=/var/log/postgresql/postgresql-main.log \
    --postgresql.log_line_prefix=YOUR_CONFIGURED_LOG_LINE_PREFIX \
    --backfill
```

This command can be used at any point to backfill from archived log files.
You can read more about `honeytail`'s backfill behavior [here](/send-data/logs/structured/honeytail/#backfilling-existing-data).

<Note>
  `honeytail` does not unzip log files, so you will need to do this before backfilling.
</Note>

Once you have finished backfilling your old logs, we recommend transitioning to the default streaming behavior to stream live logs to Honeycomb.

## Scrub Personally Identifiable Information

While we believe strongly in the value of being able to track down the precise query causing a problem, we understand the concerns of exporting log data, which may contain sensitive user information.

With that in mind, we recommend using `honeytail`'s PostgreSQL parser, but adding a `--scrub_field=query` flag to hash the concrete `query` value.
The `normalized_query` attribute will still be representative of the **shape** of the query, and identifying patterns including specific queries will still be possible—but the sensitive information will be completely obscured before leaving your servers.

More information about dropping or scrubbing sensitive fields can be [found here](/send-data/logs/structured/honeytail/#dropping-or-scrubbing-fields).

## Open Source

[Honeytail](https://github.com/honeycombio/honeytail) is open source and Apache 2.0 licensed.