Re: Out of space making backup

Farhan Malik <malikpiano(at)gmail(dot)com> writes:
> When making a backup of my database I run out of space. I tell it to
> put the backup file on my K: drive, which has tons of free space, but
> during the backup postgresql creates a temporary folder on my C: Drive
> where it initially writes data. I don't have enough space on my C:
> drive for all the data and so I get an out of space error. Is there a
> way to have postgre use one my drives with lots of free space for the
> temporary folder? I'm using version 8.3.9-1.

Reading between the lines, I suspect you are trying to use 'tar' output
format, which does have a need to make temp files that can be large.
If I guessed right, I'd suggest using 'custom' format instead. There
really is no advantage to tar format, and several disadvantages besides
this one.

regards, tom lane