Subject: 7.2.x -> 7.3 upgrade docs?

From: Thomas O'Connell <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 14:43:27 -0600

has anyone put together a Sensible Strategies for Upgrading document 
when moving from 7.2.x to 7.3?

for instance, i've read in a few different places that not all 
dependencies will be appropriately created.

as an admin, my biggest questions are:

1. is it necessary, strongly recommended, recommended, or irrelevant to 
run contrib/adddepend?

2. is it necessary, strongly recommended, recommended, or irrelevant to 
upgrade DBD::Pg for people accessing postgres via the Perl DBI? speaking 
of which, are there docs about what changed in the latest DBD::Pg?

3. what is the default environment as far as schemas are concerned for 
databases that have been migrated? is there just a public schema created 
for all objects? is it possible to move existing tables into 
user-created schemas? i didn't see an ALTER TABLE SET SCHEMA...

4. are there other important considerations i might be overlooking?

i've read the new docs, but the upgrade section remains much the same as 
previous versions, despite the fact that there seem to be enough catalog 
changes between 7.2 and 7.3 that admins ought to be paying attention to 
more details than are presented there. so far, the reading i've done has 
provided a varying amount of detail in a variety of places: the new 
version of the docs, the HISTORY file, the mailing lists; but nothing 
i've yet seen gives a complete picture of the important details to be 
considered when upgrading. maybe the details aren't as important as i'm 
guessing? i kind of feel otherwise, though.

thanks!

-tfo

Thomas F. O'Connell
DBA | Systems Programmer
Monster Labs, Inc.
http://www.monsterlabs.com/
110 30th Avenue North, Suite 1
Nashville, TN 37203
phone: 615-301-2600 x132
fax: 615-301-2602

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From: Ian Barwick <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 23:25:56 +0100

Some replies to some of your questions:

> upgrade DBD::Pg for people accessing postgres via the Perl DBI? 

Short answer: no urgent need.
Long answer: Unfortunately DBD::Pg is "out of sync" with the PostgreSQL
release process and hasn't yet been upgraded to take into account of
the changes in 7.3. 

_Basically_ a Perl application using DBD::Pg  with 7.3 should work out of the
box if you retain all objects in the default PUBLIC schema; AFAICS there are
no problems using other schemas; where you may run into problems is with
DBD::Pg functions querying database meta-data (anything that accesses the
system catalogs). Definitively broken is the DBD::Pg-specific function
"table_attributes", though I am in the process of submitting a patch to fix 
that. 

> speaking

The latest DBD::Pg (v1.20) includes a "Changes" file.
I haven't seen anything specific on using it with PostgreSQL 7.3. I've
run into the same issue myself and have a draft commentary and
possibly some further patches which I'll make available ASAP.

On a practical note: I´ve just upgraded a mod_perl/DBD::Pg application to 
PostgreSQL 7.3 and have not encountered any DBD::Pg-related problems. The 
application doesn't know about schemas yet though (all objects are in the 
default PUBLIC schema).

> for all objects? 

A typical dump/restore puts everything in the default PUBLIC schema.

> is it possible to move existing tables into

I don't think so; you may need to manually alter the pg_dump files
before restoring. Maybe someone more knowledgable will come up with
a more qualified answer.

> 4. are there other important considerations i might be overlooking?

I would recommend thorough testing before you commit to an upgrade ;-)

Ian Barwick
[email-masked]

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From: Bruce Momjian <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 19:22:43 -0500 (EST)

> 1. is it necessary, strongly recommended, recommended, or irrelevant to 

Depends if you want that dependency --- I certainly would.

> of which, are there docs about what changed in the latest DBD::Pg?

I would.  The new version has changes from the past 18 months.

> guessing? i kind of feel otherwise, though.

Yes, we aren't great about presenting release information in a 100%
complete way.  FYI, the system catalog changes relate mostly to
interface/tool authors, so it doesn't appear prominently.

-- 
  Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
  [email-masked]               |  (610) 359-1001
  +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  13 Roberts Road
  +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Newtown Square, Pennsylvania 19073

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From: Bruce Momjian <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 19:31:41 -0500 (EST)

> "table_attributes", though I am in the process of submitting a patch to fix 

And we will issue a new release once they are in, with an announcement
to the gborg dbdpg mailing list and a posting to the interfaces list,
and on CPAN.

> I haven't seen anything specific on using it with PostgreSQL 7.3. I've

The DBD:pg regression test passes with 7.3.  That's about as far as I
go. ;-)