Re: Versioning policy and pg_upgrade

On Mon, 2010-08-16 at 13:59 +0100, Thom Brown wrote:

> But I propose expanding it to read:
>
> "Major releases usually change the internal format of system tables
> and data files. These changes are often complex, so we don't maintain
> backward compatibility for data files. A dump/reload of the database
> cluster is required for major upgrades for upgrading from 8.2 or
> earlier.  For upgrading from version 8.3 and later, there is the
> option to use pg_upgrade (also known as pg_migrator prior to version
> 9.0), capable of in-place upgrades.  This means, for example, you can
> upgrade any minor version of 8.3 to 8.4 without having to perform a
> full backup and restore, resulting in a significantly faster upgrade."
>
> Too wordy?

Yes :D (well I think so):

"A Major release changes the internal data format of the cluster.
Due to this change a dump/reload of the cluster is required for major
upgrades for upgrading from 8.2 or earlier.

If upgrading from version 8.3 and later, certain installs may be able to
use pg_upgrade (previously named pg_migrator). If pg_upgrade is
compatible with your cluster (see the docs) you will able to perform an
in-place upgrades. Although downtime is still required, this is much
quicker than a dump/restore."

JD

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