PostgreSQL data folder backup and restore in Ubuntu Linux

To backup the entire PostgreSQL database directory


Just copy the '/var/lib/postgres/8.x/main' folder to some safe place (backup drive) using the command of

$ cp -rp /var/lib/postgresql/8.4/main /Data/postgres
(or)
$ rsync -avz /var/lib/postgresql/8.4/main /Data/postgres


This will backup the entire PostgreSQL data into the folder path called '/Data/postgres'




To restore the backed-up Data folder

Backed-up data folder of PostgreSQl can be restored in any system and also the target PostgreSQL instance could be a new or old one.

1. Just edit '/etc/postgresql/8.4/main/postgresql.conf' and change the 'data_directory' to our new path called '/Data/postgres/main'.
2. Restart the postgres once. (If it shows 'its already running' error, then kill the postgres process and do the start again)

Note: This is tested under Ubuntu 10.04 and 11.04 with PostgreSQL 8.x