Re: Are file system level differential/incremental backups possible? - Mailing list pgsql-general

From Julien Rouhaud
Subject Re: Are file system level differential/incremental backups possible?
Date
Msg-id CAOBaU_aq3QSbVSk6=t6ZXtGeet884KPQ2gtEuQAxwhHp2LgYCw@mail.gmail.com
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In response to Re: Are file system level differential/incremental backups possible?  (Bob Hatfield <bobhatfield@gmail.com>)
List pgsql-general
On Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 12:04 AM, Bob Hatfield <bobhatfield@gmail.com> wrote:
> Anyway, a better way for you would be to do a regular backup (with pg_start_backup, copy and pg_stop_backup) and then use wal archive_command to keep the xlogs between 2 full backups.

Thanks Julien.  Can pg_start/stop_backup() be used for regular full
file system backups?   All of the documentation I've read only refers
to using those for warm standby/wal shipping methods.

Yes, and it's the only way to do a file backup without stopping the server. Careful, the command can last a while as it forces a checkpoint (see the doc for more details).

It's used for warm standby to create a copy of the server, before the wals that'll be generated can continue to restore it.

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