Missing extensions or library errors after upgrading to VMware Tanzu for Postgres 18.2.0
Article ID: 436369
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
After installing or upgrading to the VMware Tanzu for Postgres 18.2.0 bundle, several extensions fail to create or load with specific errors.
You may encounter "extension is not available" hints or library loading failures for common extensions such as adminpack, postgis_raster, pg_stat_monitor, and pg_graphql.
Common Error Symptoms:
- ERROR: extension "adminpack" is not available
- ERROR: could not load library .../postgis_raster-3.so: libdeflate.so.0: cannot open shared object file
- ERROR: required extension "postgis_raster" is not installed (when creating h3_postgis)
- ERROR: extension "pg_stat_monitor" is not available
Cause
The issues are caused by a combination of factors:
1. Upstream Deprecation: Several extensions were officially deprecated or removed in the underlying PostgreSQL 17/18 upstream distributions.
2. Unbundled Dependencies: Certain OS-level libraries (like libdeflate) and runtimes (like Python 3.12) are required for specific extensions but cannot be bundled within the legacy Postgres installer. These must be provided by the host environment (e.g., RHEL9).
3. Release Roadmap: Certain extensions were not certified or ready at the time of the 18.2.0 release and were scheduled for subsequent point releases (18.3 and 18.4).
Resolution
The resolution depends on the specific extension, as some have been deprecated upstream, while others require manual host-level dependencies.
1. For PostGIS and H3 Extensions:
1.1 Install OS Dependencies: The library libdeflate.so.0 must be resolvable on the host system. Install the OS-level libdeflate package (e.g., via yum or dnf on RHEL9) before creating the extension.
1.2 PL/Python Support: Ensure Python 3.12 is installed on the host system to support the plpython3u extension.
2. For Missing Monitoring and Hook Extensions:
2.1 Upgrade to 18.3: login_hook, postgis_raster, and h3_postgis are available in version 18.3.0 and later.
2.2 Wait for 18.4: Support for pg_graphql and pg_stat_monitor is scheduled for the 18.4 release (May 2026). If these are critical, users should defer the upgrade until 18.4 is available.
3. For Deprecated Extensions:
3.1 adminpack and old_snapshot were deprecated starting with PostgreSQL 17 and are no longer bundled.
3.2 pgml and pg_strom have been discontinued in the 18.x series.
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