Online Backups PostGre

On Fri, 1 May 2009, PostGre Newbie wrote:

I know that taking the backup of the whole database every 10 minutes
is a very bad way to go about it but until I find a better way to do
it, it will have to do for now. Any suggestions/tips/articles on how
to do the backup would be appreciated very much.

The postgres manual tends to be a great source of information. See, for
example:

http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.1/interactive/backup.html

On Friday 01 May 2009, PostGre Newbie <garbagegigo@gmail.com> wrote:

I do not know of any open source backup utilities
that can take snapshots of the filesystem. I get the overall concept
of online backups but I am still unclear EXACTLY how the system works.
I would be grateful if anyone could explain it to me. I have already
gone through the postgresql document on online backups.

rsync or tar. One of the really nice things about PITR is that the base
backup source can change while it's being backed up and it still works.

PITR is really just as simple as it sounds. Call start_backup(). Copy the
PostgreSQL data directory. Call stop_backup(). Keep all the WAL logs
generated during and after the base backup.

--
Even a sixth-grader can figure out that you can’t borrow money to pay off
your debt

On Fri, 2009-05-01 at 09:22 -0700, PostGre Newbie wrote:

Hi everyone,

I searched the web and I know I should get a snapshot of the
filesystem and then backup the WAL archive logs but this is the part
where I am confused. I do not know of any open source backup utilities
that can take snapshots of the filesystem. I get the overall concept
of online backups but I am still unclear EXACTLY how the system works.
I would be grateful if anyone could explain it to me. I have already
gone through the postgresql document on online backups.

Well that's just it. Out of the box it doesn't actually work. PostgreSQL
only gives you the facilities to roll your own PITR solution. You can
look at PITR Tools:

https://projects.commandprompt.com/public/pitrtools

It doesn't quite work on Windows due to lack of rsync and signaling
differences but could give you an idea of how to move forward with your
own implementation.

I would also note that Win32 8.1 is deprecated and unsupported. You need
to update to at least 8.2.

Sincerely,

Joshua D. Drake

--
PostgreSQL - XMPP: jdrake@jabber.postgresql.org
Consulting, Development, Support, Training
503-667-4564 - http://www.commandprompt.com/
The PostgreSQL Company, serving since 1997

On Fri, 2009-05-01 at 09:47 -0700, Ben Chobot wrote:

On Fri, 1 May 2009, PostGre Newbie wrote:

I know that taking the backup of the whole database every 10 minutes
is a very bad way to go about it but until I find a better way to do
it, it will have to do for now. Any suggestions/tips/articles on how
to do the backup would be appreciated very much.

The postgres manual tends to be a great source of information. See, for
example:

http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.1/interactive/backup.html

Not for Windows it isn't.

Joshua D. Drake

--
PostgreSQL - XMPP: jdrake@jabber.postgresql.org
Consulting, Development, Support, Training
503-667-4564 - http://www.commandprompt.com/
The PostgreSQL Company, serving since 1997

Joshua D. Drake wrote:

Well that's just it. Out of the box it doesn't actually work. PostgreSQL
only gives you the facilities to roll your own PITR solution. You can
look at PITR Tools:

https://projects.commandprompt.com/public/pitrtools

It doesn't quite work on Windows due to lack of rsync and signaling
differences but could give you an idea of how to move forward with your
own implementation.

Quite possibly 'robocopy' from Microsoft somewhere (doesn't come with
windows, but was part of an admin kit or something) would be a workable
replacement for the rsync part.

On Fri, May 1, 2009 at 12:06 PM, John R Pierce <pierce@hogranch.com> wrote:

Joshua D. Drake wrote:

Well that's just it. Out of the box it doesn't actually work. PostgreSQL
only gives you the facilities to roll your own PITR solution. You can
look at PITR Tools:

https://projects.commandprompt.com/public/pitrtools

It doesn't quite work on Windows due to lack of rsync and signaling
differences but could give you an idea of how to move forward with your
own implementation.

Quite possibly 'robocopy' from Microsoft somewhere (doesn't come with
windows, but was part of an admin kit or something) would be a workable
replacement for the rsync part.

There is an rsync for windows, called delta copy:

http://www.aboutmyip.com/AboutMyXApp/DeltaCopy.jsp

----- "Joshua D. Drake" <jd@commandprompt.com> wrote:

On Fri, 2009-05-01 at 09:22 -0700, PostGre Newbie wrote:

Hi everyone,

I searched the web and I know I should get a snapshot of the
filesystem and then backup the WAL archive logs but this is the

part

where I am confused. I do not know of any open source backup

utilities

that can take snapshots of the filesystem. I get the overall

concept

of online backups but I am still unclear EXACTLY how the system

works.

I would be grateful if anyone could explain it to me. I have

already

gone through the postgresql document on online backups.

Well that's just it. Out of the box it doesn't actually work.
PostgreSQL
only gives you the facilities to roll your own PITR solution. You can
look at PITR Tools:

https://projects.commandprompt.com/public/pitrtools

It doesn't quite work on Windows due to lack of rsync and signaling
differences but could give you an idea of how to move forward with
your
own implementation.

I would also note that Win32 8.1 is deprecated and unsupported. You
need
to update to at least 8.2.

Sincerely,

Joshua D. Drake

For the rsync requirement you want to take a look at:
DeltaCopy
http://www.aboutmyip.com/AboutMyXApp/DeltaCopy.jsp

Adrian Klaver
aklaver@comcast.net

Cygwin comes with rsync on Windows.

On 02/05/2009, at 4:06 AM, John R Pierce wrote:

Thanks everyone for replying. I will definitely try out the methods
outlined.

Thanks once again :)

Thanks everyone for replying. I will definitely try out the methods
outlined.

Thanks once again :)