Thread: Backup / restore procedure documentation

Hi,

I'm a postresql novice but otherwise a Unix system administrator.  I
recently upgraded one of my postgresql installations from 7.2.2 to
7.3.3, and saved the pg_dumpall output for reload after the upgrade.

However, I find that the documentation of the restore procedure as
found in sections 9.1.1 and 9.1.2 in and of itself to be inadequate.
The procedure in 9.1.2 says "can be restored with psql as described
above", referring to section 9.1.1, which says:

 psql dbname < infile

The text in 9.1.2 fails to mention where "dbname" is to be taken from
in this context.

The exact procedure one need to follow is however documented in
section 1.4, where it is specified that you need to use the
"template1" database when restoring a full database dump, like so:

 /usr/local/pgsql/bin/psql -d template1 -f outputfile

Attempts at doing

  psql < outputfile

(which I incorrectly assumed would do the right thing) with a
newly-initialized database system just stonewalled me with

psql: FATAL:  Database "pgsql" does not exist in the system catalog.

I think the documentation in section 9.1.2 should be improved to
better reflect the required procedure as described in section 1.4,
and/or a cross reference should be given, so that this information
can be more easily found.

Regards,

- Håvard

Havard Eidnes <he@uninett.no> writes:
> However, I find that the documentation of the restore procedure as
> found in sections 9.1.1 and 9.1.2 in and of itself to be inadequate.

Fair enough.  I've tried to address this --- see CVS-tip docs at
http://developer.postgresql.org/docs/postgres/backup.html

            regards, tom lane

> Havard Eidnes <he@uninett.no> writes:
> > However, I find that the documentation of the restore procedure as
> > found in sections 9.1.1 and 9.1.2 in and of itself to be inadequate.
>
> Fair enough.  I've tried to address this --- see CVS-tip docs at
> http://developer.postgresql.org/docs/postgres/backup.html

Thanks, this adresses my concern exactly.

Best regaqrds,

- Håvard