Re: pg_xlog symlink

Tore Halset wrote:
> Hello.
>
> I have just moved our database from one server to another using warm
> standby. It worked very well.
>
> The setup: PostgreSQL 8.2.5 on Ubuntu. One partition for OS, one for
> backup including wal archiving, one for base and one for pg_xlog. It
> is set up to archive wals to /backup/masterhostname/wal
>
> There is something strange in the pg_xlog directory of our new master.
>
> %:/usr/local/postgresql-8.2.5/data/pg_xlog# ls -l
> total 49220
> -rw------- 1 postgres postgres      257 2008-02-15 00:35
> 000000010000003A00000046.00004D60.backup
> -rw------- 1 postgres postgres 16777216 2008-02-15 10:04
> 000000010000003A0000006C
> -rw------- 1 postgres postgres 16777216 2008-02-15 10:04
> 000000010000003A0000006D
> lrwxrwxrwx 1 postgres postgres       45 2008-02-14 21:56
> 000000010000003A0000006E -> /backup/oldmasterhostname/wal/
> 000000010000003A0000003B
> -rw------- 1 postgres postgres 16777216 2008-02-15 10:08
> 000000010000003A0000006F
> drwx------ 2 postgres root         4096 2008-02-15 10:08 archive_status
>
> As you see, one of the wal files is a symlink to a file on the backup
> partition. I would like all the wal files to exist on the pg_xlog for
> performance and clarity. Can I safely fix this situation without
> restarting the database? Why did not PostgreSQL fix this automatically?

Having a symlink in pg_xlog is very odd and we have no idea how that
happened.

--
  Bruce Momjian  <bruce@momjian.us>        http://momjian.us
  EnterpriseDB                             http://postgres.enterprisedb.com

  + If your life is a hard drive, Christ can be your backup. +