`recovery.conf` file merged into `postgresql.conf` {#recovery-config}
==================================================

recovery.conf

PostgreSQL 11 and below used a configuration file named `recovery.conf`
recovery.conf to manage replicas and standbys. Support for this file was
removed in PostgreSQL 12. See [the release notes for PostgreSQL
12](#release-prior) for details on this change.

On PostgreSQL 12 and above, [archive recovery, streaming replication,
and PITR](#continuous-archiving) are configured using [normal server
configuration parameters](#runtime-config-replication-standby). These
are set in `postgresql.conf` or via [ALTER SYSTEM](#sql-altersystem)
like any other parameter.

The server will not start if a `recovery.conf` exists.

The `trigger_file` trigger\_file promote\_trigger\_file setting has been
renamed to [???](#guc-promote-trigger-file).

The `standby_mode` standby\_mode standby.signal setting has been
removed. A `standby.signal` file in the data directory is used instead.
See [???](#standby-server-operation) for details.
