Chapter 25. Backup and Restore

Table of Contents

25.1. SQL Dump
25.1.1. Restoring the Dump
25.1.2. Using pg_dumpall
25.1.3. Handling Large Databases
25.2. File System Level Backup
25.3. Continuous Archiving and Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR)
25.3.1. Setting Up WAL Archiving
25.3.2. Making a Base Backup
25.3.3. Making a Base Backup Using the Low Level API
25.3.4. Recovering Using a Continuous Archive Backup
25.3.5. Timelines
25.3.6. Tips and Examples
25.3.7. Caveats

As with everything that contains valuable data, PostgreSQL™ databases should be backed up regularly. While the procedure is essentially simple, it is important to have a clear understanding of the underlying techniques and assumptions.

There are three fundamentally different approaches to backing up PostgreSQL™ data:

Each has its own strengths and weaknesses; each is discussed in turn in the following sections.