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Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2025 14:31:21 -0500
From: Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us>
To: PostgreSQL-documentation <pgsql-docs@lists.postgresql.org>
Subject: Quoting of *_command arguments
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We inconsistently double-quote the "%f" and "%p" arguments of
"archive_command" and "restore_command".  Paths with spaces or special
characters, especially directory names in these cases, would need
double-quotes.

This patch adds double-quotes to all instances.  I can also go the other
way and remove them all, but we should be consistent.

-- 
  Bruce Momjian  <bruce@momjian.us>        https://momjian.us
  EDB                                      https://enterprisedb.com

  Do not let urgent matters crowd out time for investment in the future.

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diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/backup.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/backup.sgml
index 5f7489afbd1..168444eccc5 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/backup.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/backup.sgml
@@ -627,7 +627,7 @@ tar -cf backup.tar /usr/local/pgsql/data
     character in the command.  The simplest useful command is something
     like:
 <programlisting>
-archive_command = 'test ! -f /mnt/server/archivedir/%f &amp;&amp; cp %p /mnt/server/archivedir/%f'  # Unix
+archive_command = 'test ! -f "/mnt/server/archivedir/%f" &amp;&amp; cp "%p" "/mnt/server/archivedir/%f"'  # Unix
 archive_command = 'copy "%p" "C:\\server\\archivedir\\%f"'  # Windows
 </programlisting>
     which will copy archivable WAL segments to the directory
@@ -1294,7 +1294,7 @@ SELECT * FROM pg_backup_stop(wait_for_archive => true);
     character in the command.  The simplest useful command is
     something like:
 <programlisting>
-restore_command = 'cp /mnt/server/archivedir/%f %p'
+restore_command = 'cp "/mnt/server/archivedir/%f" "%p"'
 </programlisting>
     which will copy previously archived WAL segments from the directory
     <filename>/mnt/server/archivedir</filename>.  Of course, you can use something
@@ -1493,11 +1493,11 @@ restore_command = 'cp /mnt/server/archivedir/%f %p'
       If archive storage size is a concern, you can use
       <application>gzip</application> to compress the archive files:
 <programlisting>
-archive_command = 'gzip &lt; %p &gt; /mnt/server/archivedir/%f.gz'
+archive_command = 'gzip &lt; "%p" &gt; "/mnt/server/archivedir/%f.gz"'
 </programlisting>
       You will then need to use <application>gunzip</application> during recovery:
 <programlisting>
-restore_command = 'gunzip &lt; /mnt/server/archivedir/%f.gz &gt; %p'
+restore_command = 'gunzip &lt; "/mnt/server/archivedir/%f.gz" &gt; "%p"'
 </programlisting>
      </para>
     </sect3>
diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/config.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/config.sgml
index 683f7c36f46..bd925e027b9 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/config.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/config.sgml
@@ -4059,7 +4059,7 @@ include_dir 'conf.d'
         names that are not present in the archive; it must return nonzero
         when so asked.  Examples:
 <programlisting>
-restore_command = 'cp /mnt/server/archivedir/%f "%p"'
+restore_command = 'cp "/mnt/server/archivedir/%f" "%p"'
 restore_command = 'copy "C:\\server\\archivedir\\%f" "%p"'  # Windows
 </programlisting>
         An exception is that if the command was terminated by a signal (other
diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/high-availability.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/high-availability.sgml
index 742deb037b7..ade5995dd7a 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/high-availability.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/high-availability.sgml
@@ -745,7 +745,7 @@ protocol to make nodes agree on a serializable transactional order.
     A simple example of configuration is:
 <programlisting>
 primary_conninfo = 'host=192.168.1.50 port=5432 user=foo password=foopass options=''-c wal_sender_timeout=5000'''
-restore_command = 'cp /path/to/archive/%f %p'
+restore_command = 'cp "/path/to/archive/%f" "%p"'
 archive_cleanup_command = 'pg_archivecleanup /path/to/archive %r'
 </programlisting>
    </para>
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/misc/postgresql.conf.sample b/src/backend/utils/misc/postgresql.conf.sample
index f62b61967ef..0161ad2feda 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/misc/postgresql.conf.sample
+++ b/src/backend/utils/misc/postgresql.conf.sample
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@
 #archive_command = ''		# command to use to archive a WAL file
 				# placeholders: %p = path of file to archive
 				#               %f = file name only
-				# e.g. 'test ! -f /mnt/server/archivedir/%f && cp %p /mnt/server/archivedir/%f'
+				# e.g. 'test ! -f "/mnt/server/archivedir/%f" && cp "%p" "/mnt/server/archivedir/%f"'
 #archive_timeout = 0		# force a WAL file switch after this
 				# number of seconds; 0 disables
 
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@
 #restore_command = ''		# command to use to restore an archived WAL file
 				# placeholders: %p = path of file to restore
 				#               %f = file name only
-				# e.g. 'cp /mnt/server/archivedir/%f %p'
+				# e.g. 'cp "/mnt/server/archivedir/%f" "%p"'
 #archive_cleanup_command = ''	# command to execute at every restartpoint
 #recovery_end_command = ''	# command to execute at completion of recovery
 

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