Thread: 7.2.x -> 7.3 upgrade docs?

7.2.x -> 7.3 upgrade docs?

From
Thomas O'Connell
Date:
has anyone put together a Sensible Strategies for Upgrading document
when moving from 7.2.x to 7.3?

for instance, i've read in a few different places that not all
dependencies will be appropriately created.

as an admin, my biggest questions are:

1. is it necessary, strongly recommended, recommended, or irrelevant to
run contrib/adddepend?

2. is it necessary, strongly recommended, recommended, or irrelevant to
upgrade DBD::Pg for people accessing postgres via the Perl DBI? speaking
of which, are there docs about what changed in the latest DBD::Pg?

3. what is the default environment as far as schemas are concerned for
databases that have been migrated? is there just a public schema created
for all objects? is it possible to move existing tables into
user-created schemas? i didn't see an ALTER TABLE SET SCHEMA...

4. are there other important considerations i might be overlooking?

i've read the new docs, but the upgrade section remains much the same as
previous versions, despite the fact that there seem to be enough catalog
changes between 7.2 and 7.3 that admins ought to be paying attention to
more details than are presented there. so far, the reading i've done has
provided a varying amount of detail in a variety of places: the new
version of the docs, the HISTORY file, the mailing lists; but nothing
i've yet seen gives a complete picture of the important details to be
considered when upgrading. maybe the details aren't as important as i'm
guessing? i kind of feel otherwise, though.

thanks!

-tfo

Thomas F. O'Connell
DBA | Systems Programmer
Monster Labs, Inc.
http://www.monsterlabs.com/
110 30th Avenue North, Suite 1
Nashville, TN 37203
phone: 615-301-2600 x132
fax: 615-301-2602

Re: 7.2.x -> 7.3 upgrade docs?

From
Ian Barwick
Date:
On Wednesday 11 December 2002 21:43, Thomas O'Connell wrote:
> has anyone put together a Sensible Strategies for Upgrading document
> when moving from 7.2.x to 7.3?

Some replies to some of your questions:

> 2. is it necessary, strongly recommended, recommended, or irrelevant to
> upgrade DBD::Pg for people accessing postgres via the Perl DBI?

Short answer: no urgent need.
Long answer: Unfortunately DBD::Pg is "out of sync" with the PostgreSQL
release process and hasn't yet been upgraded to take into account of
the changes in 7.3.

_Basically_ a Perl application using DBD::Pg  with 7.3 should work out of the
box if you retain all objects in the default PUBLIC schema; AFAICS there are
no problems using other schemas; where you may run into problems is with
DBD::Pg functions querying database meta-data (anything that accesses the
system catalogs). Definitively broken is the DBD::Pg-specific function
"table_attributes", though I am in the process of submitting a patch to fix
that.

> speaking
> of which, are there docs about what changed in the latest DBD::Pg?

The latest DBD::Pg (v1.20) includes a "Changes" file.
I haven't seen anything specific on using it with PostgreSQL 7.3. I've
run into the same issue myself and have a draft commentary and
possibly some further patches which I'll make available ASAP.

On a practical note: I´ve just upgraded a mod_perl/DBD::Pg application to
PostgreSQL 7.3 and have not encountered any DBD::Pg-related problems. The
application doesn't know about schemas yet though (all objects are in the
default PUBLIC schema).

> 3. what is the default environment as far as schemas are concerned for
> databases that have been migrated? is there just a public schema created
> for all objects?

A typical dump/restore puts everything in the default PUBLIC schema.

> is it possible to move existing tables into
> user-created schemas? i didn't see an ALTER TABLE SET SCHEMA...

I don't think so; you may need to manually alter the pg_dump files
before restoring. Maybe someone more knowledgable will come up with
a more qualified answer.

> 4. are there other important considerations i might be overlooking?

I would recommend thorough testing before you commit to an upgrade ;-)

Ian Barwick
barwick@gmx.net


Re: 7.2.x -> 7.3 upgrade docs?

From
Bruce Momjian
Date:
Thomas O'Connell wrote:
> has anyone put together a Sensible Strategies for Upgrading document
> when moving from 7.2.x to 7.3?
>
> for instance, i've read in a few different places that not all
> dependencies will be appropriately created.
>
> as an admin, my biggest questions are:
>
> 1. is it necessary, strongly recommended, recommended, or irrelevant to
> run contrib/adddepend?

Depends if you want that dependency --- I certainly would.

> 2. is it necessary, strongly recommended, recommended, or irrelevant to
> upgrade DBD::Pg for people accessing postgres via the Perl DBI? speaking
> of which, are there docs about what changed in the latest DBD::Pg?

I would.  The new version has changes from the past 18 months.

> 3. what is the default environment as far as schemas are concerned for
> databases that have been migrated? is there just a public schema created
> for all objects? is it possible to move existing tables into
> user-created schemas? i didn't see an ALTER TABLE SET SCHEMA...
>
> 4. are there other important considerations i might be overlooking?
>
> i've read the new docs, but the upgrade section remains much the same as
> previous versions, despite the fact that there seem to be enough catalog
> changes between 7.2 and 7.3 that admins ought to be paying attention to
> more details than are presented there. so far, the reading i've done has
> provided a varying amount of detail in a variety of places: the new
> version of the docs, the HISTORY file, the mailing lists; but nothing
> i've yet seen gives a complete picture of the important details to be
> considered when upgrading. maybe the details aren't as important as i'm
> guessing? i kind of feel otherwise, though.

Yes, we aren't great about presenting release information in a 100%
complete way.  FYI, the system catalog changes relate mostly to
interface/tool authors, so it doesn't appear prominently.

--
  Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
  pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 359-1001
  +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  13 Roberts Road
  +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Newtown Square, Pennsylvania 19073

Re: [GENERAL] 7.2.x -> 7.3 upgrade docs?

From
Bruce Momjian
Date:
Ian Barwick wrote:
> Short answer: no urgent need.
> Long answer: Unfortunately DBD::Pg is "out of sync" with the PostgreSQL
> release process and hasn't yet been upgraded to take into account of
> the changes in 7.3.
>
> _Basically_ a Perl application using DBD::Pg  with 7.3 should work out of the
> box if you retain all objects in the default PUBLIC schema; AFAICS there are
> no problems using other schemas; where you may run into problems is with
> DBD::Pg functions querying database meta-data (anything that accesses the
> system catalogs). Definitively broken is the DBD::Pg-specific function
> "table_attributes", though I am in the process of submitting a patch to fix
> that.

And we will issue a new release once they are in, with an announcement
to the gborg dbdpg mailing list and a posting to the interfaces list,
and on CPAN.

> > speaking
> > of which, are there docs about what changed in the latest DBD::Pg?
>
> The latest DBD::Pg (v1.20) includes a "Changes" file.
> I haven't seen anything specific on using it with PostgreSQL 7.3. I've

The DBD:pg regression test passes with 7.3.  That's about as far as I
go. ;-)


--
  Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
  pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 359-1001
  +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  13 Roberts Road
  +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Newtown Square, Pennsylvania 19073