Re: Emergency backup question.

Danni Coy <rgcoy@midcoast.com.au> writes:
> Greetings Basically I have a problem here. I lost my linux system due to
> hard drive corruption I managed to back up my /var/lib/pgsql/data/base
> directory to an ordinary tarball before I redid the system. Is there any
> way to use this data as a backup?

If you only backed up that subdirectory, and not all of
/var/lib/pgsql/data, I'm afraid you're out of luck.  You needed the
pg_log files too.

> and what is the proceedure for a proper backup?

Routine pg_dump runs are recommended.  You might care to consult the
discussion of backup procedures in the Administrator's Guide,
http://www.ca.postgresql.org/users-lounge/docs/7.1/postgres/backup.html
or the updated version in development docs,
http://candle.pha.pa.us/main/writings/pgsql/sgml/backup.html

            regards, tom lane