Greenplum Database New Features - Utilities ( gpload, gpstop, gpdbrestore, gpfdist, gpssh) enhancements

There were few new features added in the most commonly used GPDB utilities. Greenplum constantly adding more and more improvements in these utilities.  

Note: we will discuss enhancements added in gpload, gpstop, gpdbrestore, gpfdist and gpssh utilities in GPDB 4.3.3, 4.3.4,  4.3.4.1 and 4.3.5.1 announced in release notes.

Utilities ( gpload, gpfdist, gpssh) enhancements

(4.3.3, 4.3.4,  4.3.4.1, 4.3.5.1)

[GPDB 4.3.3.0] The gpload Utility Supports Table Schema Names

The Greenplum Database utility gpload supports specifying a schema name for the external table objects that are created when a load job is run. You specify the schema name in the YAML file that controls the load job with the EXTERNAL:SCHEMA property. See the Greenplum Database Utility Guide for information about the gpload utility and the YAML control file.

[GPDB 4.3.4.0] Greenplum Database Utilities gpstop: The Greenplum Database utility gpstop includes these enhancements:

[GPDB 4.3.4.0] Greenplum Database Utilities gpcrondump: The Greenplum Database utility gpcrondump supports backing up a set of tables based on database schema names. 

[GPDB 4.3.4.0] Greenplum Database Utilities gpdbrestore : The Greenplum Database utility gpdbrestore supports the --truncate option to table data before restoring the table data.

[GPDB 4.3.4.1] Greenplum Database Utilities gpssh: 

The gpssh utility supports the -s option. If specified, before executing any commands on the target host, gpssh sources the filegreenplum_path.sh in the directory specified by the $GPHOME environment variable. This option is valid for both interactive mode and single command mode.

[GPDB 4.3.4.1] Greenplum Database Utilities gpload: gpload Utility Can Capture Errors in an Error Log

The Greenplum Database utility gpload can capture errors that occur from reading data from external data sources in the internal Greenplum Database log. To capture errors in the Greenplum Database log, specify the value true for the key LOG_ERRORS in thegpload YAML control file. When logging errors that occur from reading data from external data sources, logging the errors in the Greenplum Database log is the recommended option.

For errors that are stored internally in a log, use the built-in SQL function gp_read_error_log() to read the error log data. Use the built-in SQL function gp_truncate_error_log() to delete the error log data.

For information about the gpload utility, see the Greenplum Database Utility Guide. For information about the functionsgp_read_error_log() and gp_truncate_error_log(), see the CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE command in the Greenplum Database Reference Guide and "Loading and Unloading Data" in the Greenplum Database Administrator Guide.

[GPDB 4.3.4.1] Greenplum Database Utilities gpfdist: gpfdist Utility Minimizes Message Logging

In Greenplum Database 4.3.5.1, the Greenplum Database utility gpfdist supports the -s option to reduce the information written to the gpfdist log file. If you specify the -s option, gpfdist only messages with WARN level and higher are written to the log file.INFO level messages are not written to the log file.