Chat now with support
Chat with Support

NetVault Plug-in for PostgreSQL 12.3 - User Guide

Introducing NetVault Backup Plug-in for PostgreSQL Installing and removing the plug-in Configuring the plug-in Backing up data Restoring data Troubleshooting

Setting backup options

The next step involves creating the Backup Options Set or selecting an existing one. The backup options that are available depend on the backup method that you select.

 
* 
TIP: To use an existing set, in the Plugin Options list, select the set that you want to use.
•
Setting backup options for a SQL Logical Data Dump
•
Setting backup options for a File Level Data Copy
Setting backup options for a SQL Logical Data Dump
1
Next to the Plugin Options list, click Create New.
2
In the Backup Method section on the PostgreSQL Backup Options tab, select SQL Logical Data Dump.
3
In the Backup Type section, select the applicable option:
•
Full Database Cluster
•
Individual Database/Table
For more information, see Available backup types for the SQL Logical Data Dump backup method.
4
In the Backup Format section, select the applicable option:
•
Plain-Text SQL Script File
•
TAR Archive File (Uncompressed)
•
Custom Archive File (Compressed)
For more information, see Supported backup formats for the SQL Logical Data Dump backup method.
 
* 
IMPORTANT: NetVault Backup limitation on Windows: NetVault Backup resets the selection in Backup Format to the default (Plain Text SQL Script) if you change the Backup Type after selecting the file format. To avoid this issue, select the applicable Backup Format explicitly after selecting the Backup Type.

A similar problem also occurs when you save a Backup Options set. NetVault Backup resets the Backup Format to the default after you click OK. However, the saved Backup Options set contains your actual selection. Similarly, when you try to load a Backup Options set, the Plain Text SQL Script format is displayed as selected, which is incorrect. Internally, the plug-in uses the actual selected Backup Format.
5
If you selected a Backup Format of Plain-Text SQL Script File, select the applicable Backup Options:
•
Include Data Only (No Schema Definitions): To back up only the data without the schema, select this option. Data-only restores can only be performed for backups performed with this option selected.
 
* 
IMPORTANT: Template Databases are not included if you select this option.
•
Disable Triggers: This option is only relevant when creating a data-only dump. Select this option if there are referential integrity checks or other triggers on the tables. This option temporarily disables triggers on the target tables during restore. After a successful restore, the triggers are enabled.
•
Include BLOBs: To back up binary large objects (BLOBs), select this option. When this option is selected, all BLOBs within the selected database are backed up regardless of whether the associated table is included.
•
Include Object Identifiers: This option dumps object identifiers (OIDs) as part of the data for every table. Use this option if the OID columns are referenced, for example, in a foreign key constraint. Otherwise, do not select this option.
•
Include Drop Object Commands: To drop and re-create objects during the restore process, select this option.
•
Exclude Access Privileges: To prevent dumping of access privileges, grant and revoke commands, select this option.
•
Disable $ Quoting for Function Bodies: To disable the use of dollar quoting for function bodies and force them to be quoted using SQL-standard string syntax, select this option.
•
Dump Data as Copy Data: To dump data using COPY commands instead of INSERT commands during a restore, select this option. Dumping data as INSERT commands generates a separate command for each row of data. This method is safer because any errors that occur result only in the loss of a row of data instead of losing the whole table. Dumping data as COPY commands might result in the loss of the whole table if an error occurs in one of the rows of data.
6
If you selected a Backup Format of TAR Archive File, select the applicable Backup Options:
•
Include BLOBs: To back up BLOBs, select this option. When this option is selected, all BLOBs within the selected database are backed up regardless of whether the associated table is included.
•
Disable $ Quoting for Function Bodies: To disable the use of dollar quoting for function bodies and force them to be quoted using SQL-standard string syntax, select this option.
•
Dump Data as Copy Data: To dump data using COPY commands instead of INSERT commands during a restore, select this option. Dumping data as INSERT commands generates a separate command for each row of data. This method is safer because any errors that occur result only in the loss of a row of data instead of losing the whole table. Dumping data as COPY commands might result in the loss of the whole table if an error occurs in one of the rows of data.
7
If you selected a Backup Format of Custom Archive File, select the applicable Backup Options:
•
Include BLOBs: To back up BLOBs, select this option. When this option is selected, all BLOBs within the selected database are backed up regardless of whether the associated table is included.
•
Disable $ Quoting for Function Bodies: To disable the use of dollar quoting for function bodies and force them to be quoted using SQL-standard string syntax, select this option.
•
Compression Level: Set the compression level between 0 and 9 to use for the custom archive format.
8
If you want to override the default action for an error condition, select the applicable options:
A default action for all backup jobs can be set as outlined in Setting default actions for error conditions (optional).
•
For a Full Database Cluster backup, the action can be set for the following scenario: Failed to Backup Configuration Files. This issue occurs when a configuration file is not found or cannot be backed up for any other reason. The “pg_hba.conf” file is used for user authentication; if this file is missing during job execution, the backup fails because of login failure, regardless of the action set for the Failed to Backup Configuration Files error condition.
•
For an Individual Database/Table backup, the action can be set for the following additional scenarios:
•
Manually Selected Database Unavailable: This issue occurs when an individual database that was manually selected for inclusion in the backup is unavailable for backup for any reason.
•
Manually Selected Table Unavailable: This issue occurs when an individual table that was manually selected for inclusion in the backup is unavailable for backup for any reason.
The plug-in can be configured to take one of following possible courses of action when any of the preceding error conditions occur during the job execution:
•
Complete with Warnings — Saveset Retained: The job returns a status of “Backup Completed with warnings” and a backup saveset is created that includes the items that were successfully backed up.
•
Complete without Warnings — Saveset Retained: The job completes and returns a status of “Backup Completed.” The errors are logged in the NetVault Backup binary logs and ignored on the Job Status page. A backup saveset is created that includes the items that were backed up.
•
Fail — Saveset Retained: The job returns a status of “Backup Failed.” However, a backup saveset is generated that includes the items that were successfully backed up.
•
Fail — No Saveset Retained: The job returns a status of “Backup Failed” and no saveset of backed-up objects is kept. That is, even if some of the objects were successfully backed up, the saveset is discarded.
9
Click Save.
10
In the Create New Set dialog box, specify a name for the set, and click Save.
The name can contain alphanumeric and nonalphanumeric characters, but it cannot contain non-Latin characters. On Linux, the name can have a maximum of 200 characters. On Windows, there is no length restriction. However, a maximum of 40 characters is recommended on all platforms.
Setting backup options for a File Level Data Copy

If you are using PostgreSQL Server 9.6 or later and you selected the File Level Data Copy method, complete the following steps:

1
Next to the Plugin Options list, click Create New.
2
In the Backup Method section on the PostgreSQL Backup Options tab, select File Level Data Copy.
3
Select the applicable Backup Level.
•
Base (Backs Up PostgreSQL Data Directory): If you are creating a baseline backup of the PostgreSQL database cluster Data directory, $PGDATA, select this option. Selecting this option backs up the physical files located in the Data directory, $PGDATA. This option performs a non-exclusive backup. Read and write operations are allowed during Base Backups.
•
Incremental (Backs Up Log Files Changed): If you are backing up the WAL logs that are stored in the staging directory prior to backing them up to NetVault Media, select this option. This option backs up only the WAL files located in the staging directory.
 
* 
IMPORTANT: PostgreSQL maintains a WAL file in the pg_wal subdirectory of the cluster’s data directory (For PostgreSQL 9.x and earlier, the WAL file is located in the pg_xlog subdirectory of the data directory.) The log records every change to the data files of the cluster databases. Incremental Backups are based on backing up the WAL files. If needed, you can use a sequence of Base and Incremental Backups to reconstruct the database cluster data.
IMPORTANT: Changes to the physical view of the database cluster — for example, adding a new database, adding a new table to a database, and so on) — result in changes to the physical file structure of the database cluster. These changes are not included in the WAL files, and thus are not part of Incremental Backups. Whenever you add new objects to the physical view of the Database Cluster, make sure that you run a Base Backup.
4
Select any additional options.
•
Include Tablespaces Outside Default Data Directory: If you want to include PostgreSQL tablespaces that reside outside the default PostgreSQL Data directory, select this option. You can enter a comma-separated list of directories.
•
Perform Offline Backup: If you want to omit the PostgreSQL start and stop commands to ensure that a copy of the existing files are retained in the database cluster, select this option. Selecting this option before starting disaster recovery procedures retains a copy of the existing files in the database cluster as they existed before the disaster recovery procedure was performed.
 
* 
IMPORTANT: Before starting a disaster recovery procedure, Quest recommends that you perform an Offline Backup to keep a copy of the existing files in the data directory. During the disaster recovery, if one or more of the existing files are required or might be useful, the Offline Backup ensures that you have access to them.
•
Remove Backed Up Log Files from Logs Backup Directory: If you do not want to retain log files in the staging directory between backups, select this option. If you want to retain log files in the staging directory between Base Backups, clear this option. Consider creating Base Backup jobs with this option cleared and Incremental Backups jobs with this option selected.
 
* 
NOTE: If you edit the PostgreSQL Backup Options for an existing File Level Data Copy job, the Backup Format and Backup Options sections erroneously appear on the page. These options do not apply and cannot be changed.
5
If you want to override the default action for an error condition, select the applicable options:
A default action for all backup jobs can be set as outlined in Setting default actions for error conditions (optional).
6
Click Save.
7
In the Create New Set dialog box, specify a name for the set, and click Save.
The name can contain alphanumeric and nonalphanumeric characters, but it cannot contain non-Latin characters. On Linux, the name can have a maximum of 200 characters. On Windows, there is no length restriction. However, a maximum of 40 characters is recommended on all platforms.

Finalizing and submitting the job

1
Use the Schedule, Target Storage, and Advanced Options lists to configure any additional required options.
2
Click Save or Save & Submit, whichever is applicable.
 
* 
TIP: To run a job that you have already created and saved, select Manage Job Definitions in the Navigation pane, select the applicable job, and click Run Now.
You can monitor progress on the Job Status page and view the logs on the View Logs page. For more information, see the Quest NetVault Backup Administrator’s Guide.
 
* 
IMPORTANT: If you enabled the Dump Data as Copy Data option, Quest recommends that you also set up additional regular backup jobs, such as weekly or every other week, that do not use the Dump Data as Copy option.

Backing up Global Objects only

You can back up Global Objects in two ways:

•
By using the Full Database Cluster backup type: A Full Database Cluster backup performed in any format includes the Global Objects. Because these objects are cluster-wide and not specific to any individual database, backups of type Individual Database/Table do not include Global Objects.
•
By using the Global Objects Only backup type: You can also back up the Global Objects separately using the Global Objects Only backup type provided by the plug-in.

To create a Global Object Only backup, complete the following steps

1
Following the steps outlined in Selecting data for a backup, select the target database-cluster node.
2
If you want to exclude the configuration files, which are automatically selected when you select the database-cluster node, clear the Configuration Files node in the selection tree.
3
Following the steps outlined in Setting backup options, select Global Objects Only in the Backup Type section.
4
If you included the configuration files, select the required action to take if an error occurs during the backup:
•
Complete with Warnings — Saveset Retained
•
Complete without Warnings — Saveset Retained
•
Fail — Saveset Retained
•
Fail — No Saveset Retained
Because the “pg_hba.conf” file is used for user authentication, backup fails if this file is missing during job execution. This login failure causes the backup to fail regardless of the action set for the Failed to Backup Configuration Files error condition.
5
Following the steps outlined in Finalizing and submitting the job, complete and submit the job.

Backing up configuration files

You can select configuration files for backup with any of the backup types. Regardless of the format selected, the plug-in performs a file-system backup of the following files:

•
postgresql.conf
•
pg_hba.conf
•
pg_ident.conf

To back up these files separately, complete the following steps.

1
Following the steps outlined in Selecting data for a backup, select the Configuration Files node in the selection tree.
2
Because the Backup Type and Backup Format are not considered, select any of the options in Backup Options when you create the Backup Options Set by following the steps outlined in Setting backup options.
3
Following the steps outlined in Finalizing and submitting the job, complete and submit the job.
Related Documents

The document was helpful.

Select Rating

I easily found the information I needed.

Select Rating