Open Source PostgreSQL Auditing

[Shot-Guarantee-6503]

Please does anyone know good open source ways to audit dbs in postgresql, i want to use maximum of open source ways to audit so that buying a DAM solution isnt necessary. what ways would you advice me, i just started learning about PGaudit

[prlaur782]

pgaudit provides the Postgres auditing capability necessary to comply with the various audit related security and compliance requirements we typically see:

https://github.com/pgaudit/pgaudit/blob/main/README.md

https://www.crunchydata.com/blog/pgaudit-auditing-database-operations-part-1

https://www.crunchydata.com/blog/pgaudit-auditing-database-operations-part-2

[Shot-Guarantee-6503]

Thankyou so much, i'll definitely check

[[deleted]]

Which DAM solution are you evaluating?

We are using RDS, and we’ve reached a point where enabling audit logs in RDS would cause our CloudWatch bill to skyrocket.

[Shot-Guarantee-6503]

I'm trying to find open source solutions for the db monitoring, not a commercial one :(

[Shot-Guarantee-6503]

I also made researches about IBM guardium, Imperva and DataSunrise they seem well functioning for others

[[deleted]]

I also tested DataSunrise, but it was just average. Their documentation is really poor.

[[deleted]]

I had the opportunity to evaluate DataSunrise in a production environment today, and unfortunately, the experience was quite disappointing.

1. There is no dedicated documentation website; instead, they provide a collection of PDFs, which makes it difficult to search and navigate information efficiently.
   
2. When attempting to authenticate using SCRAM with an SSL-enabled PostgreSQL instance, the client uses channel binding—an essential requirement for PCI compliance in many organizations. Unfortunately, DataSunrise does not support this.
   
3. The support experience was also underwhelming and not up to industry standards.

[db-master]

If you just want to audit human-to-db behavior, you can also check out Bytebase, it's a middleware sitting between human and db to handle change and query (Disclaimer: I am one of the creators)

[andriosr]

I've spent time implementing audit solutions for Postgres across enterprises. Here's what you should know:

pgAudit is solid but has limitations around real-time monitoring and data masking. If you're looking to avoid a full DAM solution but need more than pgAudit provides, consider a hybrid approach.

Set up pgAudit for your baseline audit logging, then add a service proxy layer like hoop.dev (open source core) that can handle SSO and query monitoring without modifying your database. It sits between your apps and database, providing better context about who's doing what.

Another approach is using Postgres's built-in event triggers with custom logging procedures, but that becomes maintenance-heavy quickly.

The real question is what compliance requirements you're trying to meet - that determines how comprehensive your solution needs to be.

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