Thread: Online backups and WAL
Hi, I'm currently testing online backups, and I'm facing the problem of a missing WAL when I do the backup : the current WAL isn't archived when I save the archives, and is required to recover... I've read in the mailing list archives that it can be solved by copying the current WAL from pg_xlog. Even if this solution works, it looks to me to be more of a workaround than anything else, and adds some complexity to an operation that is allready not that simple. I'd like to know if there is a way to force the switch from a WAL to the next one, like with an 'alter system archive log current' in Oracle. Cheers. Marc Cousin
Marc Cousin wrote: > Hi, > > I'm currently testing online backups, and I'm facing the problem of a missing > WAL when I do the backup : the current WAL isn't archived when I save the > archives, and is required to recover... > I've read in the mailing list archives that it can be solved by copying the > current WAL from pg_xlog. Even if this solution works, it looks to me to be > more of a workaround than anything else, and adds some complexity to an > operation that is allready not that simple. > I'd like to know if there is a way to force the switch from a WAL to the next > one, like with an 'alter system archive log current' in Oracle. No, there is no way to force a switch. It is on our TODO list as something to fix for 8.1. The development version of the docs make it much clearer: http://candle.pha.pa.us/main/writings/pgsql/sgml/backup-online.html This documentation update will be in 8.0.X. Sorry the system is currently confusing. -- 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