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[Feature / Bug]: ERROR: WAL archive check failed for server restore: Expected empty archive #350
Description
During restore tests
...
recovery:
source: restore
database: app
secret:
name: restore-app
# recoveryTarget:
# targetTime: "2025-05-16 10:21:25.723492+02"
externalClusters:
- name: restore
plugin:
name: barman-cloud.cloudnative-pg.io
parameters:
barmanObjectName: restore-c800
serverName: restore
...
I disabled the plugin by setting enabled and isWALArchiver to false
...
plugins:
- name: barman-cloud.cloudnative-pg.io
enabled: false
isWALArchiver: false
parameters:
barmanObjectName: restore-c800
...
apiVersion: barmancloud.cnpg.io/v1
kind: ObjectStore
metadata:
name: restore-c800
spec:
retentionPolicy: "7d"
configuration:
destinationPath: "s3://xxx"
endpointURL: "https://sxxx"
endpointCA:
name: xxx-ca
key: tls.crt
s3Credentials:
accessKeyId:
name: xxx-creds
key: ACCESS_KEY_ID
secretAccessKey:
name: xxx-creds
key: ACCESS_SECRET_KEY
wal:
compression: gzip # bzip2;gzip;snappy
maxParallel: 2
data:
compression: gzip # bzip2;gzip;snappy
immediateCheckpoint: true
jobs: 2
but the plugin still complains about
ERROR: WAL archive check failed for server restore: Expected empty archive
As a workaround, I commented out the plugin
...
# plugins:
# - name: barman-cloud.cloudnative-pg.io
# enabled: false
# isWALArchiver: false
# parameters:
# barmanObjectName: restore-c800
...
After that, the restore is working.
Then comment it in (not enabled)
plugins:
- name: barman-cloud.cloudnative-pg.io
enabled: false
isWALArchiver: false
parameters:
barmanObjectName: restore-c800
no error
enabling it
plugins:
- name: barman-cloud.cloudnative-pg.io
enabled: true
isWALArchiver: true
parameters:
barmanObjectName: restore-c800
no error
select pg_switch_wal();
no error, the not empty archive is being used.
IMO if the plugin is disabled and not used as WALArchiver, it should not check for an empty archive but during enabling it should.
But I the plugin would behave like this, what should be the consequence during enabling on an not empty archive?
Shutting it down the cluster is maybe also not an elegant way...
What do you think?
Activity
sxd commentedon Aug 21, 2025
Closing fixed here #457
magnus-longva-bouvet commentedon Jul 3, 2026
I've read the issue description and the PR which fixes it, and I'm a bit confused. The PR is about correcting the behaviour of the
skipEmptyWalArchiveCheckannotation, but that annotation is not used at all in @smiyc 's example.I can still reproduce the behaviour in this issue in v1.30.0. Even if
isWALArchiveris set to false, creation of the cluster fails with "Expected empty archive".I believe the example in this issue surfaces another bug - or at least, another type of unexpected behaviour. If you create a cluster without barman plugin, and then modify that cluster to have barman plugin, then the
.check-empty-wal-archivefile has already been deleted before we add the plugin, and the plugin'sCheckBackupDestinationis never invoked. This happens regardless of what theskipEmptyWalArchiveCheckannotation is set to.