Received: from malur.postgresql.org ([217.196.149.56]) by arkaria.postgresql.org with esmtp (Exim 4.72) (envelope-from ) id 1UOWFw-0002uu-Bf for pgsql-admin@arkaria.postgresql.org; Sat, 06 Apr 2013 16:46:20 +0000 Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=postgresql.org) by malur.postgresql.org with smtp (Exim 4.72) (envelope-from ) id 1UOWFv-0002Sw-Mu for pgsql-admin@arkaria.postgresql.org; Sat, 06 Apr 2013 16:46:19 +0000 Received: from magus.postgresql.org ([2a02:c0:301:0:ffff::29]) by malur.postgresql.org with esmtp (Exim 4.72) (envelope-from ) id 1UOWFv-0002Sr-3U for pgsql-admin@postgresql.org; Sat, 06 Apr 2013 16:46:19 +0000 Received: from mail2.reptiles.org ([198.96.210.226]) by magus.postgresql.org with esmtp (Exim 4.72) (envelope-from ) id 1UOWFj-0003qe-5S for pgsql-admin@postgresql.org; Sat, 06 Apr 2013 16:46:18 +0000 Received: from localhost by mailbox.reptiles.org via sendmail with STDIO (1164 bytes) (sender: ) (ident using UNIX) id for ; Sat, 6 Apr 2013 12:46:05 -0400 (EDT) (Smail-3.2.0.121 2005-Nov-17 #10 built 2010-Jul-16) Date: Sat, 6 Apr 2013 12:46:05 -0400 From: Jim Mercer To: pgsql-admin@postgresql.org Subject: purpose/use of pg_start_backup() pg_stop_backup() Message-ID: <20130406164605.GV24874@reptiles.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.20 (2009-06-14) X-Pg-Spam-Score: -4.3 (----) List-Archive: List-Help: List-ID: List-Owner: List-Post: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Mailing-List: pgsql-admin Precedence: bulk Sender: pgsql-admin-owner@postgresql.org on the surface, the functions pg_start_backup() and pg_stop_backup() seem to indicate something very useful. as i understand it, i could do: psql -c "pg_start_backup('$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S)');" snapshot/dump $PGDATA psql -c "pg_stop_backup();" and this would then create a nice clean snapshot. however, i'm trying to work out what the restore process is. its not clear to me if one needs to do anything after restoring the dump. or, if there is some sort of incremental process that needs to be followed after the dump. can someone provide a walk-through of using these functions both for a backup and a restore? -- Jim Mercer Reptilian Research jim@reptiles.org +1 416 410-5633 "He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless dead" -- Sent via pgsql-admin mailing list (pgsql-admin@postgresql.org) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-admin