PG_RESTORE(1) PostgreSQL Client Applications PG_RESTORE(1)NAMEpg_restore - Restore a Postgres database from an archive file created
bypg_dump
SYNOPSISpg_restore [ -a ] [ -c ] [ -C ] [ -d dbname ] [ -f archive-
file ] [ -F format ] [ -i index ] [ -l ] [ -L contents-file ]
[ -N | -o | -r ] [ -O ] [ -P function-name ] [ -R ] [ -s
] [ -S ] [ -t table ] [ -T trigger ] [ -v ] [ -x ] [ -h host
] [ -p port ] [ -u ] [ archive-file ]
DESCRIPTIONpg_restore is a utility for restoring a Postgres database dumped by
pg_dump(1) in one of the non-plain-text formats.
The archive files, new with the 7.1 release, contain enough information
for pg_restore to rebuild the database, but also allow pg_restore to be
selective about what is restored, or even to reorder the items prior to
being restored. The archive files are designed to be portable across
architectures. pg_dump will produce the queries necessary to re-gener‐
ate all user-defined types, functions, tables, indices, aggregates, and
operators. In addition, all the data is copied out (in text format for
scripts) so that it can be readily copied in again.
pg_restore reads the archive file and outputs the appropriate SQL in
the required order based on the command parameters. Obviously, it can
not restore information that is not present in the dump file; so if the
dump is made using the ``dump data as INSERTs'' option, pg_restore will
not be able to load the data using COPY statements.
The most flexible output file format is the ``custom'' format (-Fc). It
allows for selection and reordering of all archived items, and is com‐
pressed by default. The tar format (-Ft) is not compressed and it is
not possible to reorder data when loading, but it is otherwise quite
flexible.
To reorder the items, it is first necessary to dump the contents of the
archive:
$ pg_restore archive.file -l > archive.list
This file consists of a header and one line for each item, e.g.,
;
; Archive created at Fri Jul 28 22:28:36 2000
; dbname: birds
; TOC Entries: 74
; Compression: 0
; Dump Version: 1.4-0
; Format: CUSTOM
;
;
; Selected TOC Entries:
;
2; 145344 TABLE species postgres
3; 145344 ACL species
4; 145359 TABLE nt_header postgres
5; 145359 ACL nt_header
6; 145402 TABLE species_records postgres
7; 145402 ACL species_records
8; 145416 TABLE ss_old postgres
9; 145416 ACL ss_old
10; 145433 TABLE map_resolutions postgres
11; 145433 ACL map_resolutions
12; 145443 TABLE hs_old postgres
13; 145443 ACL hs_old
Semi-colons are comment delimiters, and the numbers at the start of
lines refer to the internal archive ID assigned to each item.
Lines in the file can be commented out, deleted, and reordered. For
example,
10; 145433 TABLE map_resolutions postgres
;2; 145344 TABLE species postgres
;4; 145359 TABLE nt_header postgres
6; 145402 TABLE species_records postgres
;8; 145416 TABLE ss_old postgres
could be used as input to pg_restore and would only restore items 10
and 6, in that order.
$ pg_restore archive.file -L archive.list
OPTIONS
pg_restore accepts the following command line arguments. (Long option
forms are only available on some platforms.)
archive-name
Specifies the location of the archive file to be restored. If
not specified, and no -f option is specified, then the standard
input is used.
-a
--data-only
Restore only the data, no schema (definitions).
-c
--clean
Clean (drop) schema prior to create.
-C
--create
Include SQL to create the schema.
-d dbname
--dbname=dbname
Connect to database dbname and restore directly into the data‐
base. BLOBs can only be restored by using a direct database con‐
nection.
-f filename
--file=filename
Specify output file for generated script. (Use with the -l
option.) Default is the standard output.
-F format
--format=format
Specify format of the archive. It is not necessary to specify
the format, since pg_restore will determine the format automati‐
cally. If specified, it can be one of the following:
t Archive is a tar archive. Using this archive format
allows reordering and/or exclusion of schema elements at
the time the database is restored. It is also possible to
limit which data is reloaded at restore time.
c Archive is in the custom format of pg_dump. This is the
most flexible format in that it allows reordering of data
load as well as schema elements. This format is also
compressed by default.
-i index
--index=index
Restore definition for named index only.
-l
--list List the contents of the archive. The output of this command can
be used with the -L option to restrict and reorder the items
that are restored.
-L list-file
--use-list=list-file
Restore elements in list-file only, and in the order they appear
in the file. Lines can be moved and may also be commented out by
placing a ';' at the start of the line.
-N
--orig-order
Restore items in the original dump order. By default pg_dump
will dump items in an order convenient to pg_dump, then save the
archive in a modified OID order. This option overrides the OID
ordering.
-o
--oid-order
Restore items in the OID order. By default pg_dump will dump
items in an order convenient to pg_dump, then save the archive
in a modified OID order. This option enforces strict OID order‐
ing.
-O
--no-owner
Prevent any attempt to restore original object ownership.
Objects will be owned by the user name used to attach to the
database.
-P function-name
--function=function-name
Specify a procedure or function to be restored.
-r
--rearrange
Restore items in modified OID order. By default pg_dump will
dump items in an order convenient to pg_dump, then save the ar‐
chive in a modified OID order. Most objects will be restored in
OID order, but some things (e.g., rules and indices) will be
restored at the end of the process irrespective of their OIDs.
This option is the default.
-R
--no-reconnect
Prohibit pg_restore from issuing any
\connect
statements or reconnecting to the database if directly con‐
nected.
-s
--schema-only
Restore the schema (definitions), no data. Sequence values will
be reset.
-S username
--superuser=username
Specify the superuser user name to use when disabling triggers
and/or setting ownership of schema elements. By default,
pg_restore will use the current user name if it is a superuser.
-t table
--table=table
Restore schema/data for table only.
-T trigger
--trigger=trigger
Restore definition of trigger only.
-v
--verbose
Specifies verbose mode.
-x
--no-acl
Prevent restoration of ACLs (grant/revoke commands).
pg_restore also accepts the following command line arguments for con‐
nection parameters:
-h host
--host=host
Specifies the host name of the machine on which the postmaster
is running. If host begins with a slash, it is used as the
directory for the Unix domain socket.
-p port
--port=port
Specifies the Internet TCP/IP port or local Unix domain socket
file extension on which the postmaster is listening for connec‐
tions. The port number defaults to 5432, or the value of the
PGPORT environment variable (if set).
-u Use password authentication. Prompts for user name and password.
DIAGNOSTICS
Connection to database 'template1' failed.
connectDBStart()--connect() failed: No such file or directory
Is the postmaster running locally
and accepting connections on Unix socket '/tmp/.s.PGSQL.5432'?
pg_restore could not attach to the postmaster process on the specified
host and port. If you see this message, ensure that the postmaster is
running on the proper host and that you have specified the proper port.
If your site uses an authentication system, ensure that you have
obtained the required authentication credentials.
Note: When a direct database connection is specified using the
-d option, pg_restore internally executes SQL statements. If you
have problems running pg_restore, make sure you are able to
select information from the database using, for example, psql.
NOTES
The limitations of pg_restore are detailed below.
· When restoring data to a table, pg_restore emits queries to disable
triggers on user tables before inserting the data then emits queries
to re-enable them after the data has been inserted. If the restore is
stopped in the middle, the system catalogs may be left in the wrong
state.
· pg_restore will not restore BLOBs for a single table. If an archive
contains BLOBs, then all BLOBs will be restored.
See the pg_dump(1) documentation for details on limitation of pg_dump.
EXAMPLES
To dump a database:
$ pg_dump mydb > db.out
To reload this database:
$ psql -d database -f db.out
To dump a database called mydb that contains BLOBs to a tar file:
$ pg_dump -Ft -b mydb > db.tar
To reload this database (with BLOBs) to an existing database called
newdb:
$ pg_restore-d newdb db.tar
SEE ALSOpg_dump(1), pg_dumpall(1), psql(1), PostgreSQL Administrator's Guide
Application 2001-03-06 PG_RESTORE(1)