Re: pg_stop_backup does not complete

Josh Berkus <josh@agliodbs.com> writes:
>> pg_stop_backup() doesn't complete until all the WAL segments needed to
>> restore from the backup are archived. If archive_command is failing,
>> that never happens.

> OK, so we need a way out of that cycle if the user is issuing
> pg_stop_backup because they *already know* that archive_command is
> failing.  Right now, there's no way out other than a fast shutdown,
> which is a bit user-hostile.

The pg_abort_backup() operation previously proposed seems like the only
workable compromise.  Simon is quite right to not want pg_stop_backup()
to behave in a way that could contribute to data loss; but on the other
hand there needs to be some clear way to get the system out of that
state at need.
        regards, tom lane