Re: Restoring from pg_data

Rafael Enrique Ortiz Guerrero <dirakx(at)gmail(dot)com> writes:
> I'm trying to restore a BD from pg_data, (i don't have a dump).
> I only have the physical files, googling around have not give useful
> results.

> how can i restore my db from files?

If you have a complete undamaged copy of the $PGDATA directory tree,
then what you do is install a server executable that matches the version
that built the database originally, fire it up, and you have a working
database. From there you can either dump, or just use it as-is.

If you're not sure which version generated the database, looking into
the PG_VERSION file found at the top level of the tree would be a good
first step. You also have to match the hardware architecture and
certain configuration properties (such as whether timestamps are
float-based or int-based), but the server should complain if you try to
start it against an incompatible database. Generally you *don't* need
to worry about minor version, eg, any 8.4.x release will do for an 8.4
database.

regards, tom lane