Re: BUG #15589: Due to missing wal, restore ends prematurely and opens database for read/write

On Fri, Jan 11, 2019 at 4:08 AM PG Bug reporting form <
noreply(at)postgresql(dot)org> wrote:

>
> PostgreSQL should have paused recovery also on the first scenario. Then I
> could have added missing wal and continued with restore.
>

I agree with you that something here is not very user friendly. But the
counter argument is that you should not be hiding WAL files from the system
in the first place. Once it is told that the file doesn't exist, it
doesn't make sense to pause because non-existence is usually permanent, so
there is nothing to be done after a pause. Or in other words, the pause
feature is to let you change your mind about what time point you want to
recover to (moving it only forward), not to let you change your mind about
what WAL files exist in the first place. So I don't think this is a bug,
but perhaps there is room for improvement.

At the least, I think we should log an explicit WARNING if the WAL stream
ends before the specified PIT is reached.

Cheers,

Jeff