Re: PostgreSQL Service Unable to Start After Archive Log delete

On Thu, Sep 10, 2026 at 11:02 AM Oli Sennhauser <oli(dot)sennhauser(at)fromdual(dot)com>
wrote:

> Hi Loganathan
>
>
> I am a complete PostgreSQL noob! Reading the manual (after googling) I
> found this: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/app-pgresetwal.html
>
> When I tried to simulate your situation I ended up with this:
>
>
>
>
Loganathan, and Oli.
Yes you can use pg_resetwal to get PG to start to get more records that
would be lost otherwise.

CAN NOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH using pg_resetwal is the last ditch option
after exploring all other options. Use this to fetch what data can be
fetched. DO NOT USE a database that has used pg_resetwal for any other
activity other than getting missing records.

make a backup of the database before executing pg_walreset. There are
other options to get the data out of the PostgreSQL tables but the catalog
has to be intact. pg_class, pg_attribute, pg_type. loose those tables
the database is toast

Would like to see the DR and backup methods that was being used. If normal
housekeeping included purging WAL directories there is a very big
disconnect between the sysadmins and dbas

Best of luck