* still empowered to issue writes if the bgwriter fails to maintain enough
  * clean shared buffers.
  *
- * The bgwriter is also charged with handling all checkpoints. It will
- * automatically dispatch a checkpoint after a certain amount of time has
- * elapsed since the last one, and it can be signaled to perform requested
- * checkpoints as well.  (The GUC parameter that mandates a checkpoint every
- * so many WAL segments is implemented by having backends signal the bgwriter
- * when they fill WAL segments; the bgwriter itself doesn't watch for the
- * condition.)
+ * As of Postgres 9.2 the bgwriter no longer handles checkpoints.
  *
  * The bgwriter is started by the postmaster as soon as the startup subprocess
  * finishes, or as soon as recovery begins if we are doing archive recovery.
  * It remains alive until the postmaster commands it to terminate.
- * Normal termination is by SIGUSR2, which instructs the bgwriter to execute
- * a shutdown checkpoint and then exit(0). (All backends must be stopped
- * before SIGUSR2 is issued!)  Emergency termination is by SIGQUIT; like any
+ * Normal termination is by SIGUSR2, which instructs the bgwriter to exit(0).
+ * Emergency termination is by SIGQUIT; like any
  * backend, the bgwriter will simply abort and exit on SIGQUIT.
  *
  * If the bgwriter exits unexpectedly, the postmaster treats that the same
 #include "miscadmin.h"
 #include "pgstat.h"
 #include "postmaster/bgwriter.h"
-#include "replication/syncrep.h"
 #include "storage/bufmgr.h"
 #include "storage/ipc.h"
 #include "storage/lwlock.h"
 #include "utils/resowner.h"
 
 
-/*----------
- * Shared memory area for communication between bgwriter and backends
- *
- * The ckpt counters allow backends to watch for completion of a checkpoint
- * request they send.  Here's how it works:
- * * At start of a checkpoint, bgwriter reads (and clears) the request flags
- *   and increments ckpt_started, while holding ckpt_lck.
- * * On completion of a checkpoint, bgwriter sets ckpt_done to
- *   equal ckpt_started.
- * * On failure of a checkpoint, bgwriter increments ckpt_failed
- *   and sets ckpt_done to equal ckpt_started.
- *
- * The algorithm for backends is:
- * 1. Record current values of ckpt_failed and ckpt_started, and
- *    set request flags, while holding ckpt_lck.
- * 2. Send signal to request checkpoint.
- * 3. Sleep until ckpt_started changes.  Now you know a checkpoint has
- *    begun since you started this algorithm (although *not* that it was
- *    specifically initiated by your signal), and that it is using your flags.
- * 4. Record new value of ckpt_started.
- * 5. Sleep until ckpt_done >= saved value of ckpt_started.  (Use modulo
- *    arithmetic here in case counters wrap around.)  Now you know a
- *    checkpoint has started and completed, but not whether it was
- *    successful.
- * 6. If ckpt_failed is different from the originally saved value,
- *    assume request failed; otherwise it was definitely successful.
- *
- * ckpt_flags holds the OR of the checkpoint request flags sent by all
- * requesting backends since the last checkpoint start.  The flags are
- * chosen so that OR'ing is the correct way to combine multiple requests.
- *
- * num_backend_writes is used to count the number of buffer writes performed
- * by non-bgwriter processes.  This counter should be wide enough that it
- * can't overflow during a single bgwriter cycle.  num_backend_fsync
- * counts the subset of those writes that also had to do their own fsync,
- * because the background writer failed to absorb their request.
- *
- * The requests array holds fsync requests sent by backends and not yet
- * absorbed by the bgwriter.
- *
- * Unlike the checkpoint fields, num_backend_writes, num_backend_fsync, and
- * the requests fields are protected by BgWriterCommLock.
- *----------
- */
-typedef struct
-{
-   RelFileNodeBackend rnode;
-   ForkNumber  forknum;
-   BlockNumber segno;          /* see md.c for special values */
-   /* might add a real request-type field later; not needed yet */
-} BgWriterRequest;
-
-typedef struct
-{
-   pid_t       bgwriter_pid;   /* PID of bgwriter (0 if not started) */
-
-   slock_t     ckpt_lck;       /* protects all the ckpt_* fields */
-
-   int         ckpt_started;   /* advances when checkpoint starts */
-   int         ckpt_done;      /* advances when checkpoint done */
-   int         ckpt_failed;    /* advances when checkpoint fails */
-
-   int         ckpt_flags;     /* checkpoint flags, as defined in xlog.h */
-
-   uint32      num_backend_writes;     /* counts non-bgwriter buffer writes */
-   uint32      num_backend_fsync;      /* counts non-bgwriter fsync calls */
-
-   int         num_requests;   /* current # of requests */
-   int         max_requests;   /* allocated array size */
-   BgWriterRequest requests[1];    /* VARIABLE LENGTH ARRAY */
-} BgWriterShmemStruct;
-
-static BgWriterShmemStruct *BgWriterShmem;
-
-/* interval for calling AbsorbFsyncRequests in CheckpointWriteDelay */
-#define WRITES_PER_ABSORB      1000
-
 /*
  * GUC parameters
  */
 int            BgWriterDelay = 200;
-int            CheckPointTimeout = 300;
-int            CheckPointWarning = 30;
-double     CheckPointCompletionTarget = 0.5;
 
 /*
  * Flags set by interrupt handlers for later service in the main loop.
  */
 static volatile sig_atomic_t got_SIGHUP = false;
-static volatile sig_atomic_t checkpoint_requested = false;
 static volatile sig_atomic_t shutdown_requested = false;
 
 /*
  */
 static bool am_bg_writer = false;
 
-static bool ckpt_active = false;
-
-/* these values are valid when ckpt_active is true: */
-static pg_time_t ckpt_start_time;
-static XLogRecPtr ckpt_start_recptr;
-static double ckpt_cached_elapsed;
-
-static pg_time_t last_checkpoint_time;
-static pg_time_t last_xlog_switch_time;
-
 /* Prototypes for private functions */
 
-static void CheckArchiveTimeout(void);
 static void BgWriterNap(void);
-static bool IsCheckpointOnSchedule(double progress);
-static bool ImmediateCheckpointRequested(void);
-static bool CompactBgwriterRequestQueue(void);
 
 /* Signal handlers */
 
 static void bg_quickdie(SIGNAL_ARGS);
 static void BgSigHupHandler(SIGNAL_ARGS);
-static void ReqCheckpointHandler(SIGNAL_ARGS);
 static void ReqShutdownHandler(SIGNAL_ARGS);
 
 
    sigjmp_buf  local_sigjmp_buf;
    MemoryContext bgwriter_context;
 
-   BgWriterShmem->bgwriter_pid = MyProcPid;
    am_bg_writer = true;
 
    /*
     * process to participate in ProcSignal signalling.
     */
    pqsignal(SIGHUP, BgSigHupHandler);  /* set flag to read config file */
-   pqsignal(SIGINT, ReqCheckpointHandler);     /* request checkpoint */
-   pqsignal(SIGTERM, SIG_IGN); /* ignore SIGTERM */
+   pqsignal(SIGINT, SIG_IGN);          /* as of 9.2 no longer requests checkpoint */
+   pqsignal(SIGTERM, ReqShutdownHandler);  /* shutdown */
    pqsignal(SIGQUIT, bg_quickdie);     /* hard crash time */
    pqsignal(SIGALRM, SIG_IGN);
    pqsignal(SIGPIPE, SIG_IGN);
-   pqsignal(SIGUSR1, SIG_IGN); /* reserve for ProcSignal */
-   pqsignal(SIGUSR2, ReqShutdownHandler);      /* request shutdown */
+   pqsignal(SIGUSR1, SIG_IGN);         /* reserve for ProcSignal */
+   pqsignal(SIGUSR2, SIG_IGN);         /* request shutdown */
 
    /*
     * Reset some signals that are accepted by postmaster but not here
    /* We allow SIGQUIT (quickdie) at all times */
    sigdelset(&BlockSig, SIGQUIT);
 
-   /*
-    * Initialize so that first time-driven event happens at the correct time.
-    */
-   last_checkpoint_time = last_xlog_switch_time = (pg_time_t) time(NULL);
-
    /*
     * Create a resource owner to keep track of our resources (currently only
     * buffer pins).
        AtEOXact_Files();
        AtEOXact_HashTables(false);
 
-       /* Warn any waiting backends that the checkpoint failed. */
-       if (ckpt_active)
-       {
-           /* use volatile pointer to prevent code rearrangement */
-           volatile BgWriterShmemStruct *bgs = BgWriterShmem;
-
-           SpinLockAcquire(&bgs->ckpt_lck);
-           bgs->ckpt_failed++;
-           bgs->ckpt_done = bgs->ckpt_started;
-           SpinLockRelease(&bgs->ckpt_lck);
-
-           ckpt_active = false;
-       }
-
        /*
         * Now return to normal top-level context and clear ErrorContext for
         * next time.
    if (RecoveryInProgress())
        ThisTimeLineID = GetRecoveryTargetTLI();
 
-   /* Do this once before starting the loop, then just at SIGHUP time. */
-   SyncRepUpdateSyncStandbysDefined();
-
    /*
     * Loop forever
     */
    for (;;)
    {
-       bool        do_checkpoint = false;
-       int         flags = 0;
-       pg_time_t   now;
-       int         elapsed_secs;
-
        /*
         * Emergency bailout if postmaster has died.  This is to avoid the
         * necessity for manual cleanup of all postmaster children.
        if (!PostmasterIsAlive())
            exit(1);
 
-       /*
-        * Process any requests or signals received recently.
-        */
-       AbsorbFsyncRequests();
-
        if (got_SIGHUP)
        {
            got_SIGHUP = false;
            ProcessConfigFile(PGC_SIGHUP);
            /* update global shmem state for sync rep */
-           SyncRepUpdateSyncStandbysDefined();
-       }
-       if (checkpoint_requested)
-       {
-           checkpoint_requested = false;
-           do_checkpoint = true;
-           BgWriterStats.m_requested_checkpoints++;
        }
        if (shutdown_requested)
        {
             * control back to the sigsetjmp block above
             */
            ExitOnAnyError = true;
-           /* Close down the database */
-           ShutdownXLOG(0, 0);
            /* Normal exit from the bgwriter is here */
            proc_exit(0);       /* done */
        }
 
        /*
-        * Force a checkpoint if too much time has elapsed since the last one.
-        * Note that we count a timed checkpoint in stats only when this
-        * occurs without an external request, but we set the CAUSE_TIME flag
-        * bit even if there is also an external request.
+        * Do one cycle of dirty-buffer writing.
         */
-       now = (pg_time_t) time(NULL);
-       elapsed_secs = now - last_checkpoint_time;
-       if (elapsed_secs >= CheckPointTimeout)
-       {
-           if (!do_checkpoint)
-               BgWriterStats.m_timed_checkpoints++;
-           do_checkpoint = true;
-           flags |= CHECKPOINT_CAUSE_TIME;
-       }
-
-       /*
-        * Do a checkpoint if requested, otherwise do one cycle of
-        * dirty-buffer writing.
-        */
-       if (do_checkpoint)
-       {
-           bool        ckpt_performed = false;
-           bool        do_restartpoint;
-
-           /* use volatile pointer to prevent code rearrangement */
-           volatile BgWriterShmemStruct *bgs = BgWriterShmem;
-
-           /*
-            * Check if we should perform a checkpoint or a restartpoint. As a
-            * side-effect, RecoveryInProgress() initializes TimeLineID if
-            * it's not set yet.
-            */
-           do_restartpoint = RecoveryInProgress();
-
-           /*
-            * Atomically fetch the request flags to figure out what kind of a
-            * checkpoint we should perform, and increase the started-counter
-            * to acknowledge that we've started a new checkpoint.
-            */
-           SpinLockAcquire(&bgs->ckpt_lck);
-           flags |= bgs->ckpt_flags;
-           bgs->ckpt_flags = 0;
-           bgs->ckpt_started++;
-           SpinLockRelease(&bgs->ckpt_lck);
-
-           /*
-            * The end-of-recovery checkpoint is a real checkpoint that's
-            * performed while we're still in recovery.
-            */
-           if (flags & CHECKPOINT_END_OF_RECOVERY)
-               do_restartpoint = false;
-
-           /*
-            * We will warn if (a) too soon since last checkpoint (whatever
-            * caused it) and (b) somebody set the CHECKPOINT_CAUSE_XLOG flag
-            * since the last checkpoint start.  Note in particular that this
-            * implementation will not generate warnings caused by
-            * CheckPointTimeout < CheckPointWarning.
-            */
-           if (!do_restartpoint &&
-               (flags & CHECKPOINT_CAUSE_XLOG) &&
-               elapsed_secs < CheckPointWarning)
-               ereport(LOG,
-                       (errmsg_plural("checkpoints are occurring too frequently (%d second apart)",
-               "checkpoints are occurring too frequently (%d seconds apart)",
-                                      elapsed_secs,
-                                      elapsed_secs),
-                        errhint("Consider increasing the configuration parameter \"checkpoint_segments\".")));
-
-           /*
-            * Initialize bgwriter-private variables used during checkpoint.
-            */
-           ckpt_active = true;
-           if (!do_restartpoint)
-               ckpt_start_recptr = GetInsertRecPtr();
-           ckpt_start_time = now;
-           ckpt_cached_elapsed = 0;
-
-           /*
-            * Do the checkpoint.
-            */
-           if (!do_restartpoint)
-           {
-               CreateCheckPoint(flags);
-               ckpt_performed = true;
-           }
-           else
-               ckpt_performed = CreateRestartPoint(flags);
-
-           /*
-            * After any checkpoint, close all smgr files.  This is so we
-            * won't hang onto smgr references to deleted files indefinitely.
-            */
-           smgrcloseall();
-
-           /*
-            * Indicate checkpoint completion to any waiting backends.
-            */
-           SpinLockAcquire(&bgs->ckpt_lck);
-           bgs->ckpt_done = bgs->ckpt_started;
-           SpinLockRelease(&bgs->ckpt_lck);
-
-           if (ckpt_performed)
-           {
-               /*
-                * Note we record the checkpoint start time not end time as
-                * last_checkpoint_time.  This is so that time-driven
-                * checkpoints happen at a predictable spacing.
-                */
-               last_checkpoint_time = now;
-           }
-           else
-           {
-               /*
-                * We were not able to perform the restartpoint (checkpoints
-                * throw an ERROR in case of error).  Most likely because we
-                * have not received any new checkpoint WAL records since the
-                * last restartpoint. Try again in 15 s.
-                */
-               last_checkpoint_time = now - CheckPointTimeout + 15;
-           }
-
-           ckpt_active = false;
-       }
-       else
-           BgBufferSync();
-
-       /* Check for archive_timeout and switch xlog files if necessary. */
-       CheckArchiveTimeout();
+       BgBufferSync();
 
        /* Nap for the configured time. */
        BgWriterNap();
    }
 }
 
-/*
- * CheckArchiveTimeout -- check for archive_timeout and switch xlog files
- *
- * This will switch to a new WAL file and force an archive file write
- * if any activity is recorded in the current WAL file, including just
- * a single checkpoint record.
- */
-static void
-CheckArchiveTimeout(void)
-{
-   pg_time_t   now;
-   pg_time_t   last_time;
-
-   if (XLogArchiveTimeout <= 0 || RecoveryInProgress())
-       return;
-
-   now = (pg_time_t) time(NULL);
-
-   /* First we do a quick check using possibly-stale local state. */
-   if ((int) (now - last_xlog_switch_time) < XLogArchiveTimeout)
-       return;
-
-   /*
-    * Update local state ... note that last_xlog_switch_time is the last time
-    * a switch was performed *or requested*.
-    */
-   last_time = GetLastSegSwitchTime();
-
-   last_xlog_switch_time = Max(last_xlog_switch_time, last_time);
-
-   /* Now we can do the real check */
-   if ((int) (now - last_xlog_switch_time) >= XLogArchiveTimeout)
-   {
-       XLogRecPtr  switchpoint;
-
-       /* OK, it's time to switch */
-       switchpoint = RequestXLogSwitch();
-
-       /*
-        * If the returned pointer points exactly to a segment boundary,
-        * assume nothing happened.
-        */
-       if ((switchpoint.xrecoff % XLogSegSize) != 0)
-           ereport(DEBUG1,
-               (errmsg("transaction log switch forced (archive_timeout=%d)",
-                       XLogArchiveTimeout)));
-
-       /*
-        * Update state in any case, so we don't retry constantly when the
-        * system is idle.
-        */
-       last_xlog_switch_time = now;
-   }
-}
-
 /*
  * BgWriterNap -- Nap for the configured time or until a signal is received.
  */
     * respond reasonably promptly when someone signals us, break down the
     * sleep into 1-second increments, and check for interrupts after each
     * nap.
-    *
-    * We absorb pending requests after each short sleep.
     */
-   if (bgwriter_lru_maxpages > 0 || ckpt_active)
+   if (bgwriter_lru_maxpages > 0)
        udelay = BgWriterDelay * 1000L;
-   else if (XLogArchiveTimeout > 0)
-       udelay = 1000000L;      /* One second */
    else
        udelay = 10000000L;     /* Ten seconds */
 
    while (udelay > 999999L)
    {
-       if (got_SIGHUP || shutdown_requested ||
-       (ckpt_active ? ImmediateCheckpointRequested() : checkpoint_requested))
+       if (got_SIGHUP || shutdown_requested)
            break;
        pg_usleep(1000000L);
-       AbsorbFsyncRequests();
        udelay -= 1000000L;
    }
 
-   if (!(got_SIGHUP || shutdown_requested ||
-     (ckpt_active ? ImmediateCheckpointRequested() : checkpoint_requested)))
+   if (!(got_SIGHUP || shutdown_requested))
        pg_usleep(udelay);
 }
 
-/*
- * Returns true if an immediate checkpoint request is pending. (Note that
- * this does not check the *current* checkpoint's IMMEDIATE flag, but whether
- * there is one pending behind it.)
- */
-static bool
-ImmediateCheckpointRequested(void)
-{
-   if (checkpoint_requested)
-   {
-       volatile BgWriterShmemStruct *bgs = BgWriterShmem;
-
-       /*
-        * We don't need to acquire the ckpt_lck in this case because we're
-        * only looking at a single flag bit.
-        */
-       if (bgs->ckpt_flags & CHECKPOINT_IMMEDIATE)
-           return true;
-   }
-   return false;
-}
-
-/*
- * CheckpointWriteDelay -- yield control to bgwriter during a checkpoint
- *
- * This function is called after each page write performed by BufferSync().
- * It is responsible for keeping the bgwriter's normal activities in
- * progress during a long checkpoint, and for throttling BufferSync()'s
- * write rate to hit checkpoint_completion_target.
- *
- * The checkpoint request flags should be passed in; currently the only one
- * examined is CHECKPOINT_IMMEDIATE, which disables delays between writes.
- *
- * 'progress' is an estimate of how much of the work has been done, as a
- * fraction between 0.0 meaning none, and 1.0 meaning all done.
- */
-void
-CheckpointWriteDelay(int flags, double progress)
-{
-   static int  absorb_counter = WRITES_PER_ABSORB;
-
-   /* Do nothing if checkpoint is being executed by non-bgwriter process */
-   if (!am_bg_writer)
-       return;
-
-   /*
-    * Perform the usual bgwriter duties and take a nap, unless we're behind
-    * schedule, in which case we just try to catch up as quickly as possible.
-    */
-   if (!(flags & CHECKPOINT_IMMEDIATE) &&
-       !shutdown_requested &&
-       !ImmediateCheckpointRequested() &&
-       IsCheckpointOnSchedule(progress))
-   {
-       if (got_SIGHUP)
-       {
-           got_SIGHUP = false;
-           ProcessConfigFile(PGC_SIGHUP);
-           /* update global shmem state for sync rep */
-           SyncRepUpdateSyncStandbysDefined();
-       }
-
-       AbsorbFsyncRequests();
-       absorb_counter = WRITES_PER_ABSORB;
-
-       BgBufferSync();
-       CheckArchiveTimeout();
-       BgWriterNap();
-   }
-   else if (--absorb_counter <= 0)
-   {
-       /*
-        * Absorb pending fsync requests after each WRITES_PER_ABSORB write
-        * operations even when we don't sleep, to prevent overflow of the
-        * fsync request queue.
-        */
-       AbsorbFsyncRequests();
-       absorb_counter = WRITES_PER_ABSORB;
-   }
-}
-
-/*
- * IsCheckpointOnSchedule -- are we on schedule to finish this checkpoint
- *      in time?
- *
- * Compares the current progress against the time/segments elapsed since last
- * checkpoint, and returns true if the progress we've made this far is greater
- * than the elapsed time/segments.
- */
-static bool
-IsCheckpointOnSchedule(double progress)
-{
-   XLogRecPtr  recptr;
-   struct timeval now;
-   double      elapsed_xlogs,
-               elapsed_time;
-
-   Assert(ckpt_active);
-
-   /* Scale progress according to checkpoint_completion_target. */
-   progress *= CheckPointCompletionTarget;
-
-   /*
-    * Check against the cached value first. Only do the more expensive
-    * calculations once we reach the target previously calculated. Since
-    * neither time or WAL insert pointer moves backwards, a freshly
-    * calculated value can only be greater than or equal to the cached value.
-    */
-   if (progress < ckpt_cached_elapsed)
-       return false;
-
-   /*
-    * Check progress against WAL segments written and checkpoint_segments.
-    *
-    * We compare the current WAL insert location against the location
-    * computed before calling CreateCheckPoint. The code in XLogInsert that
-    * actually triggers a checkpoint when checkpoint_segments is exceeded
-    * compares against RedoRecptr, so this is not completely accurate.
-    * However, it's good enough for our purposes, we're only calculating an
-    * estimate anyway.
-    */
-   if (!RecoveryInProgress())
-   {
-       recptr = GetInsertRecPtr();
-       elapsed_xlogs =
-           (((double) (int32) (recptr.xlogid - ckpt_start_recptr.xlogid)) * XLogSegsPerFile +
-            ((double) recptr.xrecoff - (double) ckpt_start_recptr.xrecoff) / XLogSegSize) /
-           CheckPointSegments;
-
-       if (progress < elapsed_xlogs)
-       {
-           ckpt_cached_elapsed = elapsed_xlogs;
-           return false;
-       }
-   }
-
-   /*
-    * Check progress against time elapsed and checkpoint_timeout.
-    */
-   gettimeofday(&now, NULL);
-   elapsed_time = ((double) ((pg_time_t) now.tv_sec - ckpt_start_time) +
-                   now.tv_usec / 1000000.0) / CheckPointTimeout;
-
-   if (progress < elapsed_time)
-   {
-       ckpt_cached_elapsed = elapsed_time;
-       return false;
-   }
-
-   /* It looks like we're on schedule. */
-   return true;
-}
-
-
 /* --------------------------------
  *     signal handler routines
  * --------------------------------
    got_SIGHUP = true;
 }
 
-/* SIGINT: set flag to run a normal checkpoint right away */
-static void
-ReqCheckpointHandler(SIGNAL_ARGS)
-{
-   checkpoint_requested = true;
-}
-
 /* SIGUSR2: set flag to run a shutdown checkpoint and exit */
 static void
 ReqShutdownHandler(SIGNAL_ARGS)
 {
    shutdown_requested = true;
 }
-
-
-/* --------------------------------
- *     communication with backends
- * --------------------------------
- */
-
-/*
- * BgWriterShmemSize
- *     Compute space needed for bgwriter-related shared memory
- */
-Size
-BgWriterShmemSize(void)
-{
-   Size        size;
-
-   /*
-    * Currently, the size of the requests[] array is arbitrarily set equal to
-    * NBuffers.  This may prove too large or small ...
-    */
-   size = offsetof(BgWriterShmemStruct, requests);
-   size = add_size(size, mul_size(NBuffers, sizeof(BgWriterRequest)));
-
-   return size;
-}
-
-/*
- * BgWriterShmemInit
- *     Allocate and initialize bgwriter-related shared memory
- */
-void
-BgWriterShmemInit(void)
-{
-   bool        found;
-
-   BgWriterShmem = (BgWriterShmemStruct *)
-       ShmemInitStruct("Background Writer Data",
-                       BgWriterShmemSize(),
-                       &found);
-
-   if (!found)
-   {
-       /* First time through, so initialize */
-       MemSet(BgWriterShmem, 0, sizeof(BgWriterShmemStruct));
-       SpinLockInit(&BgWriterShmem->ckpt_lck);
-       BgWriterShmem->max_requests = NBuffers;
-   }
-}
-
-/*
- * RequestCheckpoint
- *     Called in backend processes to request a checkpoint
- *
- * flags is a bitwise OR of the following:
- * CHECKPOINT_IS_SHUTDOWN: checkpoint is for database shutdown.
- * CHECKPOINT_END_OF_RECOVERY: checkpoint is for end of WAL recovery.
- * CHECKPOINT_IMMEDIATE: finish the checkpoint ASAP,
- *     ignoring checkpoint_completion_target parameter.
- * CHECKPOINT_FORCE: force a checkpoint even if no XLOG activity has occured
- *     since the last one (implied by CHECKPOINT_IS_SHUTDOWN or
- *     CHECKPOINT_END_OF_RECOVERY).
- * CHECKPOINT_WAIT: wait for completion before returning (otherwise,
- *     just signal bgwriter to do it, and return).
- * CHECKPOINT_CAUSE_XLOG: checkpoint is requested due to xlog filling.
- *     (This affects logging, and in particular enables CheckPointWarning.)
- */
-void
-RequestCheckpoint(int flags)
-{
-   /* use volatile pointer to prevent code rearrangement */
-   volatile BgWriterShmemStruct *bgs = BgWriterShmem;
-   int         ntries;
-   int         old_failed,
-               old_started;
-
-   /*
-    * If in a standalone backend, just do it ourselves.
-    */
-   if (!IsPostmasterEnvironment)
-   {
-       /*
-        * There's no point in doing slow checkpoints in a standalone backend,
-        * because there's no other backends the checkpoint could disrupt.
-        */
-       CreateCheckPoint(flags | CHECKPOINT_IMMEDIATE);
-
-       /*
-        * After any checkpoint, close all smgr files.  This is so we won't
-        * hang onto smgr references to deleted files indefinitely.
-        */
-       smgrcloseall();
-
-       return;
-   }
-
-   /*
-    * Atomically set the request flags, and take a snapshot of the counters.
-    * When we see ckpt_started > old_started, we know the flags we set here
-    * have been seen by bgwriter.
-    *
-    * Note that we OR the flags with any existing flags, to avoid overriding
-    * a "stronger" request by another backend.  The flag senses must be
-    * chosen to make this work!
-    */
-   SpinLockAcquire(&bgs->ckpt_lck);
-
-   old_failed = bgs->ckpt_failed;
-   old_started = bgs->ckpt_started;
-   bgs->ckpt_flags |= flags;
-
-   SpinLockRelease(&bgs->ckpt_lck);
-
-   /*
-    * Send signal to request checkpoint.  It's possible that the bgwriter
-    * hasn't started yet, or is in process of restarting, so we will retry a
-    * few times if needed.  Also, if not told to wait for the checkpoint to
-    * occur, we consider failure to send the signal to be nonfatal and merely
-    * LOG it.
-    */
-   for (ntries = 0;; ntries++)
-   {
-       if (BgWriterShmem->bgwriter_pid == 0)
-       {
-           if (ntries >= 20)   /* max wait 2.0 sec */
-           {
-               elog((flags & CHECKPOINT_WAIT) ? ERROR : LOG,
-               "could not request checkpoint because bgwriter not running");
-               break;
-           }
-       }
-       else if (kill(BgWriterShmem->bgwriter_pid, SIGINT) != 0)
-       {
-           if (ntries >= 20)   /* max wait 2.0 sec */
-           {
-               elog((flags & CHECKPOINT_WAIT) ? ERROR : LOG,
-                    "could not signal for checkpoint: %m");
-               break;
-           }
-       }
-       else
-           break;              /* signal sent successfully */
-
-       CHECK_FOR_INTERRUPTS();
-       pg_usleep(100000L);     /* wait 0.1 sec, then retry */
-   }
-
-   /*
-    * If requested, wait for completion.  We detect completion according to
-    * the algorithm given above.
-    */
-   if (flags & CHECKPOINT_WAIT)
-   {
-       int         new_started,
-                   new_failed;
-
-       /* Wait for a new checkpoint to start. */
-       for (;;)
-       {
-           SpinLockAcquire(&bgs->ckpt_lck);
-           new_started = bgs->ckpt_started;
-           SpinLockRelease(&bgs->ckpt_lck);
-
-           if (new_started != old_started)
-               break;
-
-           CHECK_FOR_INTERRUPTS();
-           pg_usleep(100000L);
-       }
-
-       /*
-        * We are waiting for ckpt_done >= new_started, in a modulo sense.
-        */
-       for (;;)
-       {
-           int         new_done;
-
-           SpinLockAcquire(&bgs->ckpt_lck);
-           new_done = bgs->ckpt_done;
-           new_failed = bgs->ckpt_failed;
-           SpinLockRelease(&bgs->ckpt_lck);
-
-           if (new_done - new_started >= 0)
-               break;
-
-           CHECK_FOR_INTERRUPTS();
-           pg_usleep(100000L);
-       }
-
-       if (new_failed != old_failed)
-           ereport(ERROR,
-                   (errmsg("checkpoint request failed"),
-                    errhint("Consult recent messages in the server log for details.")));
-   }
-}
-
-/*
- * ForwardFsyncRequest
- *     Forward a file-fsync request from a backend to the bgwriter
- *
- * Whenever a backend is compelled to write directly to a relation
- * (which should be seldom, if the bgwriter is getting its job done),
- * the backend calls this routine to pass over knowledge that the relation
- * is dirty and must be fsync'd before next checkpoint.  We also use this
- * opportunity to count such writes for statistical purposes.
- *
- * segno specifies which segment (not block!) of the relation needs to be
- * fsync'd.  (Since the valid range is much less than BlockNumber, we can
- * use high values for special flags; that's all internal to md.c, which
- * see for details.)
- *
- * To avoid holding the lock for longer than necessary, we normally write
- * to the requests[] queue without checking for duplicates.  The bgwriter
- * will have to eliminate dups internally anyway.  However, if we discover
- * that the queue is full, we make a pass over the entire queue to compact
- * it. This is somewhat expensive, but the alternative is for the backend
- * to perform its own fsync, which is far more expensive in practice.  It
- * is theoretically possible a backend fsync might still be necessary, if
- * the queue is full and contains no duplicate entries.  In that case, we
- * let the backend know by returning false.
- */
-bool
-ForwardFsyncRequest(RelFileNodeBackend rnode, ForkNumber forknum,
-                   BlockNumber segno)
-{
-   BgWriterRequest *request;
-
-   if (!IsUnderPostmaster)
-       return false;           /* probably shouldn't even get here */
-
-   if (am_bg_writer)
-       elog(ERROR, "ForwardFsyncRequest must not be called in bgwriter");
-
-   LWLockAcquire(BgWriterCommLock, LW_EXCLUSIVE);
-
-   /* Count all backend writes regardless of if they fit in the queue */
-   BgWriterShmem->num_backend_writes++;
-
-   /*
-    * If the background writer isn't running or the request queue is full,
-    * the backend will have to perform its own fsync request.  But before
-    * forcing that to happen, we can try to compact the background writer
-    * request queue.
-    */
-   if (BgWriterShmem->bgwriter_pid == 0 ||
-       (BgWriterShmem->num_requests >= BgWriterShmem->max_requests
-        && !CompactBgwriterRequestQueue()))
-   {
-       /*
-        * Count the subset of writes where backends have to do their own
-        * fsync
-        */
-       BgWriterShmem->num_backend_fsync++;
-       LWLockRelease(BgWriterCommLock);
-       return false;
-   }
-   request = &BgWriterShmem->requests[BgWriterShmem->num_requests++];
-   request->rnode = rnode;
-   request->forknum = forknum;
-   request->segno = segno;
-   LWLockRelease(BgWriterCommLock);
-   return true;
-}
-
-/*
- * CompactBgwriterRequestQueue
- *     Remove duplicates from the request queue to avoid backend fsyncs.
- *
- * Although a full fsync request queue is not common, it can lead to severe
- * performance problems when it does happen.  So far, this situation has
- * only been observed to occur when the system is under heavy write load,
- * and especially during the "sync" phase of a checkpoint. Without this
- * logic, each backend begins doing an fsync for every block written, which
- * gets very expensive and can slow down the whole system.
- *
- * Trying to do this every time the queue is full could lose if there
- * aren't any removable entries.  But should be vanishingly rare in
- * practice: there's one queue entry per shared buffer.
- */
-static bool
-CompactBgwriterRequestQueue()
-{
-   struct BgWriterSlotMapping
-   {
-       BgWriterRequest request;
-       int         slot;
-   };
-
-   int         n,
-               preserve_count;
-   int         num_skipped = 0;
-   HASHCTL     ctl;
-   HTAB       *htab;
-   bool       *skip_slot;
-
-   /* must hold BgWriterCommLock in exclusive mode */
-   Assert(LWLockHeldByMe(BgWriterCommLock));
-
-   /* Initialize temporary hash table */
-   MemSet(&ctl, 0, sizeof(ctl));
-   ctl.keysize = sizeof(BgWriterRequest);
-   ctl.entrysize = sizeof(struct BgWriterSlotMapping);
-   ctl.hash = tag_hash;
-   htab = hash_create("CompactBgwriterRequestQueue",
-                      BgWriterShmem->num_requests,
-                      &ctl,
-                      HASH_ELEM | HASH_FUNCTION);
-
-   /* Initialize skip_slot array */
-   skip_slot = palloc0(sizeof(bool) * BgWriterShmem->num_requests);
-
-   /*
-    * The basic idea here is that a request can be skipped if it's followed
-    * by a later, identical request.  It might seem more sensible to work
-    * backwards from the end of the queue and check whether a request is
-    * *preceded* by an earlier, identical request, in the hopes of doing less
-    * copying.  But that might change the semantics, if there's an
-    * intervening FORGET_RELATION_FSYNC or FORGET_DATABASE_FSYNC request, so
-    * we do it this way.  It would be possible to be even smarter if we made
-    * the code below understand the specific semantics of such requests (it
-    * could blow away preceding entries that would end up being canceled
-    * anyhow), but it's not clear that the extra complexity would buy us
-    * anything.
-    */
-   for (n = 0; n < BgWriterShmem->num_requests; ++n)
-   {
-       BgWriterRequest *request;
-       struct BgWriterSlotMapping *slotmap;
-       bool        found;
-
-       request = &BgWriterShmem->requests[n];
-       slotmap = hash_search(htab, request, HASH_ENTER, &found);
-       if (found)
-       {
-           skip_slot[slotmap->slot] = true;
-           ++num_skipped;
-       }
-       slotmap->slot = n;
-   }
-
-   /* Done with the hash table. */
-   hash_destroy(htab);
-
-   /* If no duplicates, we're out of luck. */
-   if (!num_skipped)
-   {
-       pfree(skip_slot);
-       return false;
-   }
-
-   /* We found some duplicates; remove them. */
-   for (n = 0, preserve_count = 0; n < BgWriterShmem->num_requests; ++n)
-   {
-       if (skip_slot[n])
-           continue;
-       BgWriterShmem->requests[preserve_count++] = BgWriterShmem->requests[n];
-   }
-   ereport(DEBUG1,
-      (errmsg("compacted fsync request queue from %d entries to %d entries",
-              BgWriterShmem->num_requests, preserve_count)));
-   BgWriterShmem->num_requests = preserve_count;
-
-   /* Cleanup. */
-   pfree(skip_slot);
-   return true;
-}
-
-/*
- * AbsorbFsyncRequests
- *     Retrieve queued fsync requests and pass them to local smgr.
- *
- * This is exported because it must be called during CreateCheckPoint;
- * we have to be sure we have accepted all pending requests just before
- * we start fsync'ing.  Since CreateCheckPoint sometimes runs in
- * non-bgwriter processes, do nothing if not bgwriter.
- */
-void
-AbsorbFsyncRequests(void)
-{
-   BgWriterRequest *requests = NULL;
-   BgWriterRequest *request;
-   int         n;
-
-   if (!am_bg_writer)
-       return;
-
-   /*
-    * We have to PANIC if we fail to absorb all the pending requests (eg,
-    * because our hashtable runs out of memory).  This is because the system
-    * cannot run safely if we are unable to fsync what we have been told to
-    * fsync.  Fortunately, the hashtable is so small that the problem is
-    * quite unlikely to arise in practice.
-    */
-   START_CRIT_SECTION();
-
-   /*
-    * We try to avoid holding the lock for a long time by copying the request
-    * array.
-    */
-   LWLockAcquire(BgWriterCommLock, LW_EXCLUSIVE);
-
-   /* Transfer write count into pending pgstats message */
-   BgWriterStats.m_buf_written_backend += BgWriterShmem->num_backend_writes;
-   BgWriterStats.m_buf_fsync_backend += BgWriterShmem->num_backend_fsync;
-
-   BgWriterShmem->num_backend_writes = 0;
-   BgWriterShmem->num_backend_fsync = 0;
-
-   n = BgWriterShmem->num_requests;
-   if (n > 0)
-   {
-       requests = (BgWriterRequest *) palloc(n * sizeof(BgWriterRequest));
-       memcpy(requests, BgWriterShmem->requests, n * sizeof(BgWriterRequest));
-   }
-   BgWriterShmem->num_requests = 0;
-
-   LWLockRelease(BgWriterCommLock);
-
-   for (request = requests; n > 0; request++, n--)
-       RememberFsyncRequest(request->rnode, request->forknum, request->segno);
-
-   if (requests)
-       pfree(requests);
-
-   END_CRIT_SECTION();
-}
 
 /* PIDs of special child processes; 0 when not running */
 static pid_t StartupPID = 0,
            BgWriterPID = 0,
+           CheckpointerPID = 0,
            WalWriterPID = 0,
            WalReceiverPID = 0,
            AutoVacPID = 0,
    PM_WAIT_BACKUP,             /* waiting for online backup mode to end */
    PM_WAIT_READONLY,           /* waiting for read only backends to exit */
    PM_WAIT_BACKENDS,           /* waiting for live backends to exit */
-   PM_SHUTDOWN,                /* waiting for bgwriter to do shutdown ckpt */
+   PM_SHUTDOWN,                /* waiting for checkpointer to do shutdown ckpt */
    PM_SHUTDOWN_2,              /* waiting for archiver and walsenders to
                                 * finish */
    PM_WAIT_DEAD_END,           /* waiting for dead_end children to exit */
 
 #define StartupDataBase()      StartChildProcess(StartupProcess)
 #define StartBackgroundWriter() StartChildProcess(BgWriterProcess)
+#define StartCheckpointer()        StartChildProcess(CheckpointerProcess)
 #define StartWalWriter()       StartChildProcess(WalWriterProcess)
 #define StartWalReceiver()     StartChildProcess(WalReceiverProcess)
 
     * CAUTION: when changing this list, check for side-effects on the signal
     * handling setup of child processes.  See tcop/postgres.c,
     * bootstrap/bootstrap.c, postmaster/bgwriter.c, postmaster/walwriter.c,
-    * postmaster/autovacuum.c, postmaster/pgarch.c, postmaster/pgstat.c, and
-    * postmaster/syslogger.c.
+    * postmaster/autovacuum.c, postmaster/pgarch.c, postmaster/pgstat.c,
+    * postmaster/syslogger.c and postmaster/checkpointer.c
     */
    pqinitmask();
    PG_SETMASK(&BlockSig);
         * state that prevents it, start one.  It doesn't matter if this
         * fails, we'll just try again later.
         */
-       if (BgWriterPID == 0 &&
-           (pmState == PM_RUN || pmState == PM_RECOVERY ||
-            pmState == PM_HOT_STANDBY))
-           BgWriterPID = StartBackgroundWriter();
+       if (pmState == PM_RUN || pmState == PM_RECOVERY ||
+            pmState == PM_HOT_STANDBY)
+       {
+           if (BgWriterPID == 0)
+               BgWriterPID = StartBackgroundWriter();
+           if (CheckpointerPID == 0)
+               CheckpointerPID = StartCheckpointer();
+       }
 
        /*
         * Likewise, if we have lost the walwriter process, try to start a new
            signal_child(StartupPID, SIGHUP);
        if (BgWriterPID != 0)
            signal_child(BgWriterPID, SIGHUP);
+       if (CheckpointerPID != 0)
+           signal_child(CheckpointerPID, SIGHUP);
        if (WalWriterPID != 0)
            signal_child(WalWriterPID, SIGHUP);
        if (WalReceiverPID != 0)
                /* and the walwriter too */
                if (WalWriterPID != 0)
                    signal_child(WalWriterPID, SIGTERM);
+               if (BgWriterPID != 0)
+                   signal_child(BgWriterPID, SIGTERM);
 
                /*
                 * If we're in recovery, we can't kill the startup process
                signal_child(StartupPID, SIGTERM);
            if (WalReceiverPID != 0)
                signal_child(WalReceiverPID, SIGTERM);
+           if (BgWriterPID != 0)
+               signal_child(BgWriterPID, SIGTERM);
            if (pmState == PM_RECOVERY)
            {
-               /* only bgwriter is active in this state */
+               /* only checkpointer is active in this state */
                pmState = PM_WAIT_BACKENDS;
            }
            else if (pmState == PM_RUN ||
                signal_child(StartupPID, SIGQUIT);
            if (BgWriterPID != 0)
                signal_child(BgWriterPID, SIGQUIT);
+           if (CheckpointerPID != 0)
+               signal_child(CheckpointerPID, SIGQUIT);
            if (WalWriterPID != 0)
                signal_child(WalWriterPID, SIGQUIT);
            if (WalReceiverPID != 0)
            }
 
            /*
-            * Crank up the background writer, if we didn't do that already
+            * Crank up background tasks, if we didn't do that already
             * when we entered consistent recovery state.  It doesn't matter
             * if this fails, we'll just try again later.
             */
            if (BgWriterPID == 0)
                BgWriterPID = StartBackgroundWriter();
+           if (CheckpointerPID == 0)
+               CheckpointerPID = StartCheckpointer();
 
            /*
             * Likewise, start other special children as needed.  In a restart
        if (pid == BgWriterPID)
        {
            BgWriterPID = 0;
+           if (!EXIT_STATUS_0(exitstatus))
+               HandleChildCrash(pid, exitstatus,
+                                _("background writer process"));
+           continue;
+       }
+
+       /*
+        * Was it the checkpointer?
+        */
+       if (pid == CheckpointerPID)
+       {
+           CheckpointerPID = 0;
            if (EXIT_STATUS_0(exitstatus) && pmState == PM_SHUTDOWN)
            {
                /*
-                * OK, we saw normal exit of the bgwriter after it's been told
+                * OK, we saw normal exit of the checkpointer after it's been told
                 * to shut down.  We expect that it wrote a shutdown
                 * checkpoint.  (If for some reason it didn't, recovery will
                 * occur on next postmaster start.)
            else
            {
                /*
-                * Any unexpected exit of the bgwriter (including FATAL exit)
+                * Any unexpected exit of the checkpointer (including FATAL exit)
                 * is treated as a crash.
                 */
                HandleChildCrash(pid, exitstatus,
-                                _("background writer process"));
+                                _("checkpointer process"));
            }
 
            continue;
 }
 
 /*
- * HandleChildCrash -- cleanup after failed backend, bgwriter, walwriter,
- * or autovacuum.
+ * HandleChildCrash -- cleanup after failed backend, bgwriter, checkpointer,
+ * walwriter or autovacuum.
  *
  * The objectives here are to clean up our local state about the child
  * process, and to signal all other remaining children to quickdie.
        signal_child(BgWriterPID, (SendStop ? SIGSTOP : SIGQUIT));
    }
 
+   /* Take care of the checkpointer too */
+   if (pid == CheckpointerPID)
+       CheckpointerPID = 0;
+   else if (CheckpointerPID != 0 && !FatalError)
+   {
+       ereport(DEBUG2,
+               (errmsg_internal("sending %s to process %d",
+                                (SendStop ? "SIGSTOP" : "SIGQUIT"),
+                                (int) CheckpointerPID)));
+       signal_child(CheckpointerPID, (SendStop ? SIGSTOP : SIGQUIT));
+   }
+
    /* Take care of the walwriter too */
    if (pid == WalWriterPID)
        WalWriterPID = 0;
    {
        /*
         * PM_WAIT_BACKENDS state ends when we have no regular backends
-        * (including autovac workers) and no walwriter or autovac launcher.
-        * If we are doing crash recovery then we expect the bgwriter to exit
-        * too, otherwise not.  The archiver, stats, and syslogger processes
+        * (including autovac workers) and no walwriter, autovac launcher
+        * or bgwriter.  If we are doing crash recovery then we expect the
+        * checkpointer to exit as well, otherwise not.
+        * The archiver, stats, and syslogger processes
         * are disregarded since they are not connected to shared memory; we
         * also disregard dead_end children here. Walsenders are also
         * disregarded, they will be terminated later after writing the
        if (CountChildren(BACKEND_TYPE_NORMAL | BACKEND_TYPE_AUTOVAC) == 0 &&
            StartupPID == 0 &&
            WalReceiverPID == 0 &&
-           (BgWriterPID == 0 || !FatalError) &&
+           BgWriterPID == 0 &&
+           (CheckpointerPID == 0 || !FatalError) &&
            WalWriterPID == 0 &&
            AutoVacPID == 0)
        {
                /*
                 * If we get here, we are proceeding with normal shutdown. All
                 * the regular children are gone, and it's time to tell the
-                * bgwriter to do a shutdown checkpoint.
+                * checkpointer to do a shutdown checkpoint.
                 */
                Assert(Shutdown > NoShutdown);
-               /* Start the bgwriter if not running */
-               if (BgWriterPID == 0)
-                   BgWriterPID = StartBackgroundWriter();
+               /* Start the checkpointer if not running */
+               if (CheckpointerPID == 0)
+                   CheckpointerPID = StartCheckpointer();
                /* And tell it to shut down */
-               if (BgWriterPID != 0)
+               if (CheckpointerPID != 0)
                {
-                   signal_child(BgWriterPID, SIGUSR2);
+                   signal_child(CheckpointerPID, SIGUSR2);
                    pmState = PM_SHUTDOWN;
                }
                else
                {
                    /*
-                    * If we failed to fork a bgwriter, just shut down. Any
+                    * If we failed to fork a checkpointer, just shut down. Any
                     * required cleanup will happen at next restart. We set
                     * FatalError so that an "abnormal shutdown" message gets
                     * logged when we exit.
            Assert(StartupPID == 0);
            Assert(WalReceiverPID == 0);
            Assert(BgWriterPID == 0);
+           Assert(CheckpointerPID == 0);
            Assert(WalWriterPID == 0);
            Assert(AutoVacPID == 0);
            /* syslogger is not considered here */
         */
        Assert(BgWriterPID == 0);
        BgWriterPID = StartBackgroundWriter();
+       Assert(CheckpointerPID == 0);
+       CheckpointerPID = StartCheckpointer();
 
        pmState = PM_RECOVERY;
    }
                ereport(LOG,
                   (errmsg("could not fork background writer process: %m")));
                break;
+           case CheckpointerProcess:
+               ereport(LOG,
+                  (errmsg("could not fork checkpointer process: %m")));
+               break;
            case WalWriterProcess:
                ereport(LOG,
                        (errmsg("could not fork WAL writer process: %m")));