Robert Haas wrote: > At least as I understand it, even when not using > archive_mode, streaming replication, or hot standby, it's still > perfectly legal to use pg_start_backup() to take a hot backup.
Nope. The correct procedure to take a hot backup is described in http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.4/interactive/continuous-archiving.html#BACKUP-TIPS. It involves setting archive_mode=on, and archive_command to a shell command that normally just returns true, except when backup is in progress. You can't take a hot backup without archiving (or streaming) at least temporarily. (except with filesystem-level snapshot capabilities). Which is unfortunate, really. I wish we had a mode where the server simply refrained from removing/recycling WAL segments while the backup is running. You could then just: 1. pg_start_backup() 2. tar the data directory, except for pg_xlog 3. tar pg_xlog 4. pg_stop_backup(). -- Heikki Linnakangas EnterpriseDB http://www.enterprisedb.com -- Sent via pgsql-hackers mailing list (pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-hackers
