Re: Server Backup: pg_dump vs pg_dumpall

On Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 4:23 PM, APseudoUtopia<apseudoutopia(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
> Hey,
>
> I'm writing a backup script. Right now, I only have one database on my
> postgresql server. I'm deciding if I should use pg_dump or pg_dumpall when
> backing up the server. As far as I can tell, pg_dumpall cannot compress the
> dumps automatically and it only dumps data in the standard SQL text file
> format. This means that I would not be able to use pg_restore to selectively
> restore the database, correct?
>
> What is *NOT* included in a pg_dump that IS in pg_dumpall (Other than all
> the databases)? Things like user-defined functions and datatypes? Roles?
> Views?
>
> I was leaning towards pg_dumpall, but then I realized that it only dumps in
> the standard SQL text file format, and it cannot be compressed
> automatically.

I use pg_dump on databases and pg_dumpall --globals to get the user
accounts and such.