pb_basebackup process not working

PostgreSQL - 9.5.4

I read the PostgreSQL directions on how to do a point in time base back. When I execute this command I get an error:

pg_basebackup --host=localhost --xlog --gzip --write-recovery-conf --format=t --pgdata=${BACKUPS_HOME}/${BACKUP_DATE_TIME}

Error message:

pg_basebackup: could not get transaction log end position from server:

ERROR: requested WAL segment 00000001000001CD00000055 has already been removed

The PostgreSQL listserv recommend using the -xlog-method=stream.

So I tried this:

pg_basebackup --host=localhost --xlog-method=stream --gzip --write-recovery-conf --format=t --pgdata=${BACKUPS_HOME}/${BACKUP_DATE_TIME}

Error message:

pg_basebackup: WAL streaming can only be used in plain mode

So I changed it to use the plain format. I now found that I cannot tar or gzip the output. So my next try was to pipe it through gzip.

pg_basebackup --host=localhost --xlog-method=stream --write-recovery-conf | gzip ${BACKUPS_HOME}/${BACKUP_DATE_TIME}.gz

Now I get the error:

pg_basebackup: no target directory specified

What do I do next?

1) Now what should I try? I don't want to have to write out the entire backup of my database files in an uncompressed format. That is just crazy and silly.

2) Why offer tar and gzip as an option in my first attempt if it won't work? Is there something I am missing?

Any help would be appreciated.

Lance Campbell