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Message-ID: <1377186808.57546.YahooMailNeo@web193505.mail.sg3.yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2013 23:53:28 +0800 (SGT)
From: Patrick Dung <patrick_dkt@yahoo.com.hk>
Reply-To: Patrick Dung <patrick_dkt@yahoo.com.hk>
Subject: several questions about pg_dumpall, pg_start_backup,
 pg_basebackup and WAL
To: "pgsql-admin@postgresql.org" <pgsql-admin@postgresql.org>
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Hi all,

I have some questions about backup on PostgreSQL:

1) pg_dumpall
I am sure that this is asked in somewhere: why the pg_dumpall does not support custom or tar format like pg_dump.
I have heard that the custom format could be faster and may generate a smaller dump file.
Is the feature enhancement being developed?

2) pg_start_backup in postgresql 8.4
After issuing pg_start_backup, we can take the file based backup (by tar/snapshot) on the postgresql data directory.
If the use of file system snapshot is not possible.
It is possible that there is file changes (added or file size changed) between the pg_start_backup and pg_stop_backup.
Is the backup consistent?

3) extension of 2): If the postgresql version is 9.2
Is pg_basebackup better than pg_start_backup + file based backup + pg_stop_backup?

4) For the WAL backup in postgresql 8.4
After the archive mode is on and WAL is backup, how do I remove the old WAL files?
How about newer version (for example 9.2?)

Thanks and regards,
Patrick
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<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt">Hi all,<br><br>I have some questions about backup on PostgreSQL:<br><br>1) pg_dumpall<br>I am sure that this is asked in somewhere: why the pg_dumpall does not support custom or tar format like pg_dump.<br>I have heard that the custom format could be faster and may generate a smaller dump file.<br>Is the feature enhancement being developed?<br><br>2) pg_start_backup in postgresql 8.4<br>After issuing pg_start_backup, we can take the file based backup (by tar/snapshot) on the postgresql data directory.<br>If the use of file system snapshot is not possible.<br>It is possible that there is file changes (added or file size changed) between the pg_start_backup and pg_stop_backup.<br>Is the backup consistent?<br><br>3) extension of 2): If the postgresql version is 9.2<br>Is pg_basebackup better than pg_start_backup + file based backup
 + pg_stop_backup?<br><br>4) For the WAL backup in postgresql 8.4<br>After the archive mode is on and WAL is backup, how do I remove the old WAL files?<br>How about newer version (for example 9.2?)<br><br>Thanks and regards,<br>Patrick<br><br><div><br></div></div></body></html>
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