linkend="guc-checkpoint-segments"> log segments, or every <xref
linkend="guc-checkpoint-timeout"> seconds, whichever comes first.
The default settings are 3 segments and 300 seconds (5 minutes), respectively.
- It is also possible to force a checkpoint by using the SQL command
- <command>CHECKPOINT</command>.
+ In cases where there are little or no writes to the WAL, checkpoints will be
+ skipped even if checkpoint_timeout has passed. At least one new WAL segment
+ must have been created before an automatic checkpoint occurs. The time
+ between checkpoints and when new WAL segments are created are not related
+ in any other way. If file-based WAL shipping is being used and you want to
+ bound how often files are sent to standby server, to reduce potential data
+ loss you should adjust archive_timeout parameter rather than the checkpoint
+ parameters. It is also possible to force a checkpoint by using the SQL
+ command <command>CHECKPOINT</command>.
</para>
<para>