Customize your AlloyDB Omni installation

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This page describes how to customize your AlloyDB Omni installation, which supports different forms of customization. This page shows some common customizations.

Enable and disable AlloyDB Omni telemetry

AlloyDB Omni telemetry implements a lightweight client agent that collects a set of basic, pseudonymous metrics and sends them to a Google-managed endpoint.

Because AlloyDB Omni is a downloadable product that's offered at no charge, this telemetry provides Google with essential, non-personally identifiable information (non-PII) metrics regarding the generic adoption and deployment environments of running instances. This data helps inform product development and support prioritization.

Collected metrics include the following:

  • Unique installation ID (pseudonymized UUID)
  • AlloyDB Omni version and PostgreSQL major version
  • Host system information like CPU count, RAM, and uptime

Disable telemetry reporting

To prevent the telemetry agent from running and reporting usage metrics, set the PostgreSQL configuration parameter omni_enable_telemetry to off. You can disable the telemetry agent by setting the telemetry flag in the postgresql.conf file or by setting the flag at runtime using ALTER SYSTEM.

Set the telemetry flag in the postgresql.conf file

To modify the PostgreSQL configuration file, follow these steps:

  1. Locate the postgresql.conf file in your database's data directory. By default, this is /var/lib/postgresql/MAJOR_VERSION/data.

  2. Disable AlloyDB Omni telemetry.

    omni_enable_telemetry = off

  3. To apply the change, restart the AlloyDB Omni service. The telemetry agent stops collecting and sending usage metrics to Google.

    systemctl restart alloydbomniMAJOR_VERSION

Set the telemetry flag at runtime using ALTER SYSTEM

To set the telemetry flag and persist the change across restarts, follow these steps:

  1. Connect to your AlloyDB Omni instance using psql:

    /usr/lib/postgresql/18/bin/psql -h localhost -U postgres

  2. Run the following command:

    ALTER SYSTEM SET omni_enable_telemetry = 'off';

  3. Restart the database service to ensure the change is fully picked up by the background worker.

    systemctl restart alloydbomni18

    The telemetry agent stops collecting and sending usage metrics to Google.

Enable telemetry reporting

If you previously disabled AlloyDB Omni telemetry, you can re-enable it by setting the omni_enable_telemetry flag to on. You enable the telemetry agent by setting the flag in the postgresql.conf file or by setting the flag at runtime using ALTER SYSTEM.

Set the telemetry flag in the postgresql.conf file

  1. Locate the postgresql.conf file in your database's data directory.

  2. Set the following line:

    omni_enable_telemetry = on

  3. To apply the change, restart the AlloyDB Omni service.

    systemctl restart alloydbomni18

Set the telemetry flag at runtime using ALTER SYSTEM

  1. Connect to your AlloyDB Omni instance using psql.

  2. Run the following command:

    ALTER SYSTEM SET omni_enable_telemetry = 'on';

  3. To apply the change, restart the AlloyDB Omni service.

    systemctl restart alloydbomni18

Check AlloyDB Omni telemetry status

You can check the status of the AlloyDB Omni telemetry agent, including whether it's enabled or disabled. You can also check telemetry agent activity.

Check if the telemetry agent is enabled or disabled

To check the status of the telemetry setting, follow these steps:

  1. Connect to your instance.
  2. Run the following:
SHOW omni_enable_telemetry;

The output returns on or off, depending on whether you disabled or enabled AlloyDB Omni telemetry.

Check if the telemetry agent is running

To check whether the telemetry agent is running, run the following command in the host:

ps -ef | grep "omni telemetry worker"

If telemetry is enabled and running, the output contains a line with the text postgres: omni telemetry worker.

Check telemetry agent activity

To check the activity of the telemetry agent, run the following command in the host:

journalctl -u alloydbomni18 | grep telemetry

If the telemetry agent is running, the logs contain messages similar to the following:

LOG:  [telemetry_agent_worker.cc:143]  Started telemetry worker
LOG:  [telemetry_agent_worker.cc:161]  Running telemetry reporting agent
telemetry_agent: Uploading telemetry data to https://cloud.google.com/log.

Connect to your instance

Depending on your environment, you can connect to your AlloyDB Omni instance either locally or remotely.

Connect locally

To connect to your AlloyDB Omni instance locally, run the following command:

/usr/lib/postgresql/18/bin/psql -U postgres -p HOST_PORT -h localhost

Connect remotely

/usr/lib/postgresql/18/bin/psql -U postgres -p HOST_PORT -h IP_ADDRESS_OR_FQDN

Replace the following variables:

  • HOST_PORT: TCP port you used during installation.
  • IP_ADDRESS_OR_FQDN: IP address or fully-qualified domain name for the host where AlloyDB Omni is running.

Enable extensions

The list of extensions available in AlloyDB Omni is available in Supported database extensions. Although PostGIS and Orafce are not included with AlloyDB Omni, they can both be installed by following instructions:

Installed extensions are enabled using standard PostgreSQL CREATE EXTENSION statements as detailed in Enable an extension.