Introducing NetVault Backup Plug-in for PostgreSQL
NetVault Backup Plug-in for PostgreSQL: at a glance
Key benefits
Feature summary
Target audience
Recommended additional reading
Installing and removing the plug-in
Installation prerequisites
Reviewing the recommended configuration
Installing or upgrading the plug-in
Removing the plug-in
Configuring the plug-in
Verifying installation of libpq library
Preparing the PostgreSQL Server to support continuous archiving and PITR
Adding a database cluster
Backing up data
Correcting invalid parameters
Reconfiguring an added database cluster
Removing an added database cluster
Configuring default settings
Setting default actions for error conditions (optional)
Defining a backup strategy
Restoring data
Reviewing the available backup methods
Supported backup formats for the SQL Logical Data Dump backup method
Available backup types for the SQL Logical Data Dump backup method
Backup strategy considerations
Examples of backup sequences
Performing a backup
Backing up Global Objects only
Backing up configuration files
Selecting data for a restore
Setting restore options
Finalizing and submitting the job
Performing advanced restore procedures
Troubleshooting
Backing up data
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IMPORTANT: On Windows, use appropriate encoding during database cluster initialization; that is, when you run initdb. Backups fail if you use UTF-8 encoding and the database or table names contain non-ASCII characters. |
Defining a backup strategy
Reviewing the available backup methods
The plug-in offers the following backup methods:
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SQL Logical Data Dump: Selecting this method performs logical data dumps composed of SQL commands that are used to reconstruct the PostgreSQL data. The PostgreSQL Server utilities pg_dump and pg_dumpall are used to perform SQL Logical Data Dump Backups. This option supports database-cluster backups and individual database and table backups in different backup formats. |
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File Level Data Copy: If you are using PostgreSQL Server 9.6 or later, this option supports archive-based backups and restores of the complete PostgreSQL database cluster. This option performs a physical backup of the PostgreSQL Server data files and works in combination with the pg_start_backup and pg_stop_backup utilities. |
Supported backup formats for the SQL Logical Data Dump backup method
The plug-in supports backups in Plain-text SQL Script File, TAR Archive, and Custom Archive (Linux only) backup formats, which can be used to back up an entire database cluster or individual databases and tables.
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Plain-text SQL Script File: This format generates a plain-text file that contains the SQL commands required to reconstruct the database to the state it was in at the time of backup. |
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TAR Archive File: This format generates a tape archive (TAR) file that is not compressed. |
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Custom Archive File (Linux only): This format generates an archive file that is compressed by default. It lets you select the compression level and can be used for tables that are larger than the maximum file size supported by the OS. |
The custom archive format requires the zlib compression library and can be used only on PostgreSQL installations built with this library. This library is included by default during PostgreSQL installation unless you use the ‑‑without‑zlib option to disable support for Custom Archive.