Announcing PostgreSQL 17 Preview on Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server: New Features and Enhancements

We are pleased to announce the following: preview release of PostgreSQL 17 to Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server! This release includes many new features and enhancements to enhance your PostgreSQL experience. The goals of this preview are to: Provides early testing opportunities We introduce new features in PostgreSQL 17^ and enable customers to test them before they become generally available.

What’s new in PostgreSQL 17?

PostgreSQL 17 continues the tradition of innovation with several key features aimed at improving database performance, manageability, and developer experience. The main points are as follows:

• Vacuum process improvements: Say goodbye to bloating! The improved vacuum process in PostgreSQL 17 ensures better space management and reduces interference with concurrent transactions, meaning smoother database operations.
• Improved JSON functionality: PostgreSQL 17 introduces new features that simplify how you work with JSON data. JSON_TABLE function. This feature allows you to convert JSON data directly into a relational tabular format, making it easy to query and analyze JSON data using standard SQL without any additional conversion.

  -- For example, say we have a JSON array that lists service regions and their availability:
  SELECT *
  FROM json_table(
    '[
       {"region": "East US", "services": {"compute": "Available", "database": "Limited"}},
       {"region": "West Europe", "services": {"compute": "Available", "database": "Available"}},
       {"region": "Southeast Asia", "services": {"compute": "Limited", "database": "Available"}}
     ]',
    '$[*]'
    COLUMNS (
      region_name TEXT PATH '$.region',
      compute_status TEXT PATH '$.services.compute',
      database_status TEXT PATH '$.services.database'
    )
  ) AS region_info;
  
  -- This query will produce the following output:
  
  | region_name    | compute_status | database_status |
  | -------------- | -------------- | --------------- |
  | East US        | Available      | Limited         |
  | West Europe    | Available      | Available       |
  | Southeast Asia | Limited        | Available       |

• Dynamic logical replication: PostgreSQL 17 supports dynamically changing replica sets without restarting or reconfiguring, simplifying the process of managing logical replication and providing more flexibility in replication strategies.

  -- For instance, you can now use:
  ALTER PUBLICATION my_publication ADD TABLE new_table;

These are just some of the exciting features introduced in PostgreSQL 17, and we look forward to seeing you try them out!

Celebrating Azure Postgres contribution to PostgreSQL 17

Created by the Azure Postgres team 410 commits The PostgreSQL 17 release focuses on the following major improvements:/O combine, Query Planner Optimization, Reduce memory usageand Improved performance of partitioned tables. These contributions help make PostgreSQL 17 faster and more efficient and ensure PostgreSQL delivers the best experience possible with the latest community innovations. To learn more about Microsoft’s contributions to the PostgreSQL open source community, check out these blogs: What’s new in Postgres in Microsoft 2024 edition.

Roadmap and next steps

This preview release is just the beginning. Our team is actively working to deliver. Major version upgrade Supports PostgreSQL 17. Previews are expected to be released early next year and will be available to the public soon after. Our goal is to enable customers to upgrade to PostgreSQL 17 seamlessly and without downtime, taking advantage of the latest features and performance improvements.

We encourage you to try PostgreSQL 17 on Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server and share your feedback. AskAzureDBforPostgreSQL@microsoft.com. Stay tuned for more updates as we get closer to general release!

^ Postgres 17 preview says “East Asia” is launching immediately, with more regions coming soon.