Message-ID: <48F4D515.3040902@uvic.ca>
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2008 10:21:25 -0700
From: Evan Rempel <erempel@uvic.ca>
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To: "pgsql-admin@postgresql.org" <pgsql-admin@postgresql.org>
Subject: Re: Upgrade in same major version
References: <5A6C6B35-B5FF-4C4A-B976-A5B4522AB6B3@indiana.edu>
In-Reply-To: <5A6C6B35-B5FF-4C4A-B976-A5B4522AB6B3@indiana.edu>
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What this means is that you do not have to "update" the data repository (wherever your
postgresql database is stored). All that needs to be done is to uninstall the old version,
and install the new version. Start the new version and use the data where it sits.

Now, that all sound fine when I say it fast. There are a number of precautions that
you may prefer to take, and the steps may differ significantly depending on your system.

1. Probably take a complete backup of your database should something go wrong.
2. Ensure that you have a way to "get back" to the previous version, or have
      a very reliable way to move forward, such as taking a pgdump that can be loaded
      back into the database, nearly regardless of version.
3. Your uninstall may be a package management step such as rpm, or you may
      just delete the files if your install was done from source.
4. Your install may be a package management step such as rpm, or you may
      require a "sudo make install" if your install was done from source.

I hope this points you in mostly the right direction without begin to long
winded.

Evan.

Carol Walter wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'm doing an upgrade from 8.2.4 to 8.2.10.  The documentation says,
> "When you update between compatible versions, you can simply replace
> the executables and reuse the data directory on disk."  I guess I
> don't quite understand what this means.  Replace them by running some
> parts of the installation process?  Replace them by copying them.
> Are you talking about those files that usually reside in /usr/local/
> pgsql/bin and include psql and pg_ctl?
>
> I know these may seem like dumb questions to those of you who are old
> hands at this.  I'd be glad to read more documentation if there is
> some that is more explicit than what I quoted above.
>
> Thanks so much,
>
> Carol
>
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--
Evan Rempel                       erempel@uvic.ca
Senior Programmer Analyst            250.721.7691
University Systems,        University of Victoria