orphaned PGDATA/base/ subdirectories - Mailing list pgsql-general

setup: postgresql 8.1.8, x86_64, gnu/linux

I recently used createdb -T to copy a large database and the process
failed due to disk full, but the space wasn't freed after that failure.
That led me to wonder how much of my disk usage was from failed or
interrupted operations.

In the 8.1.8 manual, Chapter 50, I read:
        For each database in the cluster there is a subdirectory within
        PGDATA/base, named after the database's OID in pg_database. This
        subdirectory is the default location for the database's files;
        in particular, its system catalogs are stored there.

So, in pg_database I see:
        rkh@csb-dev=> select oid,datname from pg_database order by 1;
           oid   |           datname
        ---------+-----------------------------
               1 | template1
           10792 | template0
           10793 | postgres
         1235174 | csb_02_02_2007
         1379984 | csb-dev
         2121234 | csb
         2296808 | csb-dev-snapshot-2007-03-07
         2422198 | csb-dev-snapshot-2007-03-08
         2558026 | csb-dev-snapshot-2007-03-13
        (9 rows)

And in PGDATA/base:
        postgres@csb:/srv/postgresql/base> ls -l
        total 207
        drwx------  3 postgres postgres  2640 2007-03-12 22:07 1
        drwx------  2 postgres postgres  2576 2007-02-16 17:21 10792
        drwx------  3 postgres postgres  2640 2007-03-12 20:48 10793
        drwx------  3 postgres Bioinfo  21472 2007-03-12 20:47 1235174
        drwx------  2 postgres Bioinfo   3872 2006-10-19 21:25 1363637 ?
        drwx------  2 postgres Bioinfo   1888 2006-10-20 08:32 1371793 ?
        drwx------  3 postgres Bioinfo  31336 2007-03-12 20:48 1379984
        drwx------  3 postgres Bioinfo  21336 2007-03-12 20:51 2121234
        drwx------  3 postgres Bioinfo  30720 2007-03-13 08:57 2296808
        drwx------  3 postgres Bioinfo  30680 2007-03-12 20:47 2422198
        drwx------  2 postgres Bioinfo  21304 2007-03-12 18:50 2549963 ?
        drwx------  2 postgres Bioinfo  20504 2007-03-12 20:47 2549977 ?
        drwx------  2 postgres Bioinfo   4320 2007-03-12 20:47 2550014 ?
        drwx------  2 postgres Bioinfo  18448 2007-03-13 03:57 2558026

I've put ? after the base/ subdirs that have no correspondent in
pg_database.

The manual clearly says that a each row in pg_database will have a
corresponding subdirectory in base/.  Is the converse also true, ie,
should every subdir in base/ also have a row in pg_database?  If so, am
I safe to rm the unreferenced subdirectories?

FWIW, I know that I've interrupted (^C) a few createdb -T operations
during the course of this installation, and I recently had the disk full
error. My best guess is that these orphaned directories result from
those interruptions and failure.

Thanks,
Reece

--
Reece Hart, http://harts.net/reece/, GPG:0x25EC91A0
./universe -G 6.672e-11 -e 1.602e-19 -protonmass 1.673e-27 -uspres bush
kernel warning: universe consuming too many resources. Killing.
universe killed due to catastrophic leadership. Try -uspres carter.