Knowing that pg_basebackup always creates an empty directory for pg_stat_tmp and pg_replslot in backup location, even i think it would be better to handle these directories in such a way that pg_basebackup generates an empty directory for pg_replslot and pg_stat_tmp if they are symbolic link.
I was just curious to know how would "pg_basebackup" behave if we do create a symbolic link for directories other than pg_xlog/pg_tblspc. However it is clearly mentioned in the documentation of pg_basebackup that if a Symbolic link for the directories other than pg_tblspc and pg_xlog is created then it would be skipped. But, that is not the case for pg_replslot and pg_stat_tmp. Is this not an issue. Should these directories not be skipped. Please let me know your thoughts on this. Thanks.
I agree that actually generating a corrupt tarfile is not good. But I think the correct fix is to actually generate an empty placeholder directory rather than skipping it - thereby making the backup look the same as it would if it was a correct directory where we just skipped the contents.
