Ensure Cloud SQL PostgreSQL instances have log_checkpoints database flag set to On

Error: Cloud SQL PostgreSQL instances have log_checkpoints database flag set to Off

Bridgecrew Policy ID: BC_GCP_SQL_2
Checkov Check ID: CKV_GCP_51
Severity: LOW

Cloud SQL PostgreSQL instances have log_checkpoints database flag set to Off

Description

Enabling log_checkpoints causes checkpoints and restart points to be logged in the server log. Some statistics are included in the log messages, including the number of buffers written, and the time spent writing them. This parameter can only be set in the postgresql.conf file or on the server command line.

We recommended you set the log_checkpoints database flag for the Cloud SQL PostgreSQL instance to on.

Fix - Runtime

GCP Console

To change the policy using the GCP Console, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to the GCP Console at https://console.cloud.google.com.
  2. Navigate to Cloud SQL Instances.
  3. Select the PostgreSQL instance where the database flag needs to be enabled.
  4. Click Edit.
  5. Scroll down to the Flags section.
  6. To set a flag that has not been set on the instance before, click Add item.
  7. Select the flag log_checkpoints from the drop-down menu, and set its value to On.
  8. Click Save.
  9. Confirm the changes in the Flags section on the Overview page.

CLI Command

  1. List all Cloud SQL database instances using the following command:
    gcloud sql instances list
  2. Configure the log_checkpoints database flag for every Cloud SQL PosgreSQL database instance using the below command:
    gcloud sql instances patch INSTANCE_NAME --database-flags log_checkpoints=on

📘

Note

This command will overwrite all previously set database flags. To keep those flags, and add new ones, include the values for all flags to be set on the instance. Any flag not specifically included is set to its default value. For flags that do not take a value, specify the flag name followed by an equals sign (=).

Fix - Buildtime

Terraform

  • Resource: google_sql_database_instance
  • Arguments:
    databaseversion = "POSTGRES* "
    settings::database_flags: key:"log_checkpoints", value: by default set to "off"
resource "google_sql_database_instance" "default" {
  name             = "master-instance"
  database_version = "POSTGRES_11"
  region           = "us-central1"

  settings {
+         database_flags {
+            name  = "log_checkpoints"
+            value = "on"
          }
  }
}