Unable to receive WAL files with barman

Question

I've been scratching my head to solve the following error, but haven't made much progress:

$ barman switch-wal --force --archive --archive-timeout 180 pg

The WAL file 0000000100000059000000FF has been closed on server 'pg'
Waiting for the WAL file 0000000100000059000000FF from server 'pg' (max: 180 seconds)
ERROR: The WAL file 0000000100000059000000FF has not been received in 180 seconds

I had earlier configured barman on a throwaway VPS and everything worked fine. But when I tried replicating this on our final EC2 instance, I ran into the issue mentioned above. I have ensured the following (even though I don't remember doing this on the VPS):

• SSH from barman => pg is working
• SSH from pg => barman is working
• All firewall rules on 'pg' have been disabled, temporarily

What could be the issue here?

Edit: Adding the output of barman check pg

Server pg:
2017-12-08 05:56:31,841 [14559] barman.server ERROR: Check 'WAL archive' failed for server 'pg'
    WAL archive: FAILED (please make sure WAL shipping is setup)
    PostgreSQL: OK
    is_superuser: OK
    PostgreSQL streaming: OK
    wal_level: OK
2017-12-08 05:56:34,174 [14559] barman.server ERROR: Check 'replication slot' failed for server 'pg'
    replication slot: FAILED (slot 'pgbackup' not active: is 'receive-wal' running?)
    directories: OK
    retention policy settings: OK
2017-12-08 05:56:34,175 [14559] barman.server ERROR: Check 'backup maximum age' failed for server 'pg'
    backup maximum age: FAILED (interval provided: 14 days, latest backup age: No available backups)
    compression settings: OK
    failed backups: OK (there are 0 failed backups)
2017-12-08 05:56:34,175 [14559] barman.server ERROR: Check 'minimum redundancy requirements' failed for server 'pg'
    minimum redundancy requirements: FAILED (have 0 backups, expected at least 3)
    pg_basebackup: OK
    pg_basebackup compatible: OK
    pg_basebackup supports tablespaces mapping: OK
    pg_receivexlog: OK
    pg_receivexlog compatible: OK
2017-12-08 05:56:34,367 [14559] barman.server ERROR: Check 'receive-wal running' failed for server 'pg'
    receive-wal running: FAILED (See the Barman log file for more details)
    archiver errors: OK

Edit: Added output of barman receive-wal pg

$ sudo barman receive-wal pg
2017-12-10 01:48:01,129 [25410] barman.utils WARNING: Failed opening the requested log file. Using standard error instead.
Starting receive-wal for server pg
2017-12-10 01:48:01,138 [25410] barman.server INFO: Starting receive-wal for server pg
2017-12-10 01:48:03,087 [25410] barman.wal_archiver INFO: Activating WAL archiving through streaming protocol
pg: pg_receivexlog: starting log streaming at 5A/A000000 (timeline 1)
2017-12-10 01:48:03,391 [25410] barman.command_wrappers INFO: pg: pg_receivexlog: starting log streaming at 5A/A000000 (timeline 1)

^CSIGINT received. Terminate gracefully.
2017-12-10 01:50:42,512 [25410] barman.wal_archiver INFO: SIGINT received. Terminate gracefully.

Edit: Configuration files --

; --------------------
; Contents of /etc/barman.conf after removing all commented lines.
; --------------------

[barman]
barman_user = ubuntu
path_prefix = /home/ubuntu/pg/bin
configuration_files_directory = /home/ubuntu/barman.conf.d
barman_home = /home/ubuntu/barman
log_file = /var/log/barman/barman.log
log_level = INFO
compression = bzip2
retention_policy = RECOVERY WINDOW OF 1 MONTH
last_backup_maximum_age = 2 WEEKS
minimum_redundancy = 3
retention_policy = RECOVERY WINDOW OF 4 WEEKS

/home/ubuntu/barman.conf.d/pg.conf:

; --------------------
; Contents of /home/ubuntu/barman.conf.d/pg.conf after removing all commented lines.
; --------------------

[pg]
description =  "Postgres DB"
conninfo = host=REDACTED user=REDACTED dbname=REDACTED
backup_method = postgres
archiver = off
streaming_conninfo =  host=REDACTED user=REDACTED dbname=REDACTED
streaming_archiver = on
slot_name = pgbackup

Answer 1

When you run into a problem like this one, be sure to double-check your logs, the barman check command, and make sure you set a barman cron entry to start barman receive-wal. That needs to be running before you can execute barman switch-wal and finish your setup. =)

Answer 2

What versions of PostgreSQL and Barman are you using?

Before PG 9.3, there were no WAL files ending in FF, it went from FE to 00.

It seems likely you are using PG < 9.3, but your version of Barman is not expecting that.