From bcbe19855f9f94eadf9e47a7f3b9a920a7f2a616 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Michael Banck <michael.banck@credativ.de>
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2017 18:06:40 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] Documentation updates regarding checkpoints for
 basebackups.

Mention that fast and immediate checkpoints are the same, and add a paragraph to
the pg_basebackup documentation about the checkpoint taken on the remote server.
---
 doc/src/sgml/backup.sgml            |  3 ++-
 doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_basebackup.sgml | 10 +++++++++-
 2 files changed, 11 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/backup.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/backup.sgml
index 5f009ee..9485d87 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/backup.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/backup.sgml
@@ -862,7 +862,8 @@ SELECT pg_start_backup('label', false, false);
      <xref linkend="guc-checkpoint-completion-target">).  This is
      usually what you want, because it minimizes the impact on query
      processing.  If you want to start the backup as soon as
-     possible, change the second parameter to <literal>true</>.
+     possible, change the second parameter to <literal>true</>, which will
+     issue an immediate checkpoint using as much I/O as possible.
     </para>
 
     <para>
diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_basebackup.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_basebackup.sgml
index c9dd62c..c197630 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_basebackup.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_basebackup.sgml
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@ PostgreSQL documentation
       <term><option>--checkpoint=<replaceable class="parameter">fast|spread</replaceable></option></term>
       <listitem>
        <para>
-        Sets checkpoint mode to fast or spread (default) (see <xref linkend="backup-lowlevel-base-backup">).
+        Sets checkpoint mode to fast (immediate) or spread (default) (see <xref linkend="backup-lowlevel-base-backup">).
        </para>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
@@ -660,6 +660,14 @@ PostgreSQL documentation
   <title>Notes</title>
 
   <para>
+   At the beginning of the backup, a checkpoint needs to be written on the
+   server the backup is taken from.  Especially if the option
+   <literal>--checkpoint=fast</literal> is not used, this can take some time
+   during which <application>pg_basebackup</application> will be idle on the
+   server it is running on.
+  </para>
+
+  <para>
    The backup will include all files in the data directory and tablespaces,
    including the configuration files and any additional files placed in the
    directory by third parties, except certain temporary files managed by
-- 
2.1.4