Enable pgAudit

To enable auditing on an AlloyDB instance, you perform two steps. First, you enable alloydb.enable_pgaudit flag on the instance. Then, you connect to the cluster's primary instance and create the pgaudit extension in the databases.

Note: Enabling the pgAudit extension can lead to increased data storage requirements if a service disruption occurs.

Note: Only users who are members of the alloydbsuperuser role can create extensions. The postgres user role that is created when you create a new cluster is a member of the alloydbsuperuser role.

1. Enable pgAudit on the instance:

   Console

   1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Clusters page.

      Go to Clusters

   2. Click a cluster in the Resource Name column.
   3. In the Overview page, go to Instances in your cluster, select an instance, and then click Edit.
   4. Add the alloydb.enable_pgaudit flag on your instance:
      1. Click Add flag.
      2. Select the alloydb.enable_pgaudit flag from the New database flag list.
      3. Select on from the Value list.
      4. Click Done.
   5. Click Update instance.

   gcloud

   Enable the columnar engine on an instance by setting that instance's alloydb.enable_pgaudit flag to on. For more information on setting an instance's database flags using the Google Cloud CLI, see Configure an instance's database flags.

   Note that AlloyDB automatically restarts the instance after you update this flag.

2. Connect to the primary instance and create the extension in each database. You must perform the following steps on the primary instance even if you are enabling auditing on a read pool instance:
   1. Connect a psql client to the cluster's primary instance, as described in Connect a psql client to an instance.
   2. At the psql command prompt, connect to the database and create the extension:

          \c DB_NAME
          CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS pgaudit;
          

   3. Repeat the previous two steps to connect to other databases and create the extension in each one of them.