conduktor.io ↗
← All errors
high PostgreSQL Replication

ERROR: replication slot "debezium" is active for PID ...

Root cause

A logical replication slot already has an active consumer. A stale connection may take time to be detected; wal_sender_timeout=0 disables that timeout but does not disable every TCP or process failure detector.

How to fix

  1. Kill the stale WAL sender:
    SELECT pg_terminate_backend(active_pid) FROM pg_replication_slots WHERE slot_name = 'debezium' AND active = true;
  2. Set wal_sender_timeout to a finite value (e.g., 60s) in postgresql.conf so PostgreSQL detects dead clients.
  3. Check for duplicate connector registrations via the Kafka Connect REST API.
  4. Use a unique slot.name per connector instance to avoid conflicts.

Recovery guidance reviewed 2026-10-27 against v3.7.0.Final.

Official Debezium documentation ↗