add_compression_policy()

Allows you to set a policy by which the system compresses a chunk automatically in the background after it reaches a given age.

Note that compression policies can only be created on hypertables or continuous aggregates that already have compression enabled. Use the ALTER TABLE command to set timescaledb.compress and other configuration parameters for hypertables. Use ALTER MATERIALIZED VIEW command to enable compression on continuous aggregates. To view the policies that you set or the policies that already exist, see informational views.

Required arguments

NameTypeDescription
hypertableREGCLASSName of the hypertable or continuous aggregate
compress_afterINTERVAL or INTEGERThe age after which the policy job compresses chunks. compress_after is calculated relative to the current time, so chunks containing data older than now - {compress_after}::interval are compressed.

The compress_after parameter should be specified differently depending on the type of the time column of the hypertable or continuous aggregate:

  • For hypertables with TIMESTAMP, TIMESTAMPTZ, and DATE time columns: the time interval should be an INTERVAL type.
  • For hypertables with integer-based timestamps: the time interval should be an integer type (this requires the integer_now_func to be set).

Optional arguments

NameTypeDescription
if_not_existsBOOLEANSetting to true causes the command to fail with a warning instead of an error if a compression policy already exists on the hypertable. Defaults to false.
important

Compression policies on continuous aggregates should be set up so that they do not overlap with refresh policies on continuous aggregates. This is due to a current TimescaleDB limitation that prevents refresh of compressed regions of continuous aggregates.

Sample usage

Add a policy to compress chunks older than 60 days on the ‘cpu’ hypertable.

  2. SELECT add_compression_policy('cpu', INTERVAL '60d');

Add a compress chunks policy to a hypertable with an integer-based time column:

  2. SELECT add_compression_policy('table_with_bigint_time', BIGINT '600000');

Add a policy to compress chunks of a continuous aggregate called cpu_weekly, that are older than eight weeks:

  2. SELECT add_compression_policy('cpu_weekly', INTERVAL '8 weeks');