Re: [PATCH] Allow usage of archive .backup files as backup_label

On Mon, Aug 22, 2022 at 05:16:58PM +0200, Michael Banck wrote:
> The .backup files written to the archive (if archiving is on) are very
> similar to the backup_label that's written/returned by
> pg_stop_backup()/pg_backup_stop(), they just have a few extra lines
> about the end of backup process that are missing from backup_label.

Historically, there is "STOP WAL LOCATION" after "START WAL LOCATION",
and "STOP TIME"/"STOP TIMELINE" at the end.

> The parser in xlogrecovery.c however barfs on them because it does not
> expect the additional STOP WAL LOCATION on line 2.

Hm, no. I don't think that I'd want to expand the use of the backup
history file in the context of recovery, so as we are free to add any
extra information into it if necessary without impacting the
compatibility of the recovery code. This file is primarily here for
debugging, so I'd rather let it be used only for this purpose.
Opinions of others are welcome, of course.
--
Michael