Re: Re: Would a PostgreSQL database on a DVD be usable?

Thank you all for your help!

Am I understanding this correctly that it can (should)
work if:

1. I burn the database directory to the CD/DVD; and

2. The user mounts the CD/DVD and creates a symbolic
link in /usr/local/pgsql/data/base/ to the database
directory on the CD/DVD; and uses the existing log
directory; and

3. Restarts the postmaster daemon?

Andrew Gould


--- Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> wrote:
> Allan Engelhardt <allane@cybaea.com> writes:
> > Peter Eisentraut wrote:
> >> This won't work.  You need to be able to write to
> the medium for a number
> >> of reasons.
>
> > Is the reason that PostgreSQL must have log files
> etc. in the same
> > directory as the data files
>
> Look again --- they're *not* in the same directory
> as the data files.
>
> I had interpreted Andrew's question as being about a
> read-mostly
> storage medium, but you're probably right that he
> wanted it to be
> read-only.
>
> I believe it would work to copy individual table
> files to a read-only
> medium after VACUUMing them.  You could copy a whole
> database directory
> that way too, but only if you were willing to put up
> with a completely
> read-only database (including no temp tables, for
> example).  It'd
> probably make more sense to copy over just the
> biggest user tables to a
> DVD, keeping the system tables on regular read/write
> media.  Right now
> this requires hand mucking-about with symlinks for
> the moved-over
> tables, but it's quite doable.  We have a TODO item
> to support
> tablespaces, which'd make the bookkeeping a lot
> easier.
>
> What definitely won't work is to put pg_log or the
> WAL files on
> read-only media ...
>
>             regards, tom lane
>
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