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pg_probackup

Postgres Professional utility for PostgreSQL backup and recovery with incremental backups and PITR

CLIHigh risk

postgrespro/pg_probackupAuthor: Postgres Professional

Install

Install pg_probackup following the Installation section at https://postgrespro.github.io/pg_probackup and complete the setup section. Run restore and delete commands only after my confirmation.

This is third-party code. Review the repository files before installing.

What it does

pg_probackup takes full and incremental backups of PostgreSQL clusters in PAGE, DELTA and PTRACK modes and restores them, including incremental and partial restores. It maintains a backup catalog and WAL archive for point-in-time recovery, applies retention policies, validates backups and checks the instance with checkdb. It supports compression, parallel threads, backups from a standby and remote operations over ssh.

Who it is for. DBAs and DevOps engineers responsible for PostgreSQL backups.

Good fit when

  • You set up regular incremental backups of a large database
  • You need point-in-time recovery from a WAL archive
  • You want to offload the primary by backing up from a standby
  • An agent prepares backup scripts and a retention policy

Not a fit when

  • You need a logical dump of specific tables: use pg_dump
  • You need remote backup over ssh on Windows: not supported

Example request

Draft a backup plan for our PostgreSQL 16: weekly full, daily DELTA and 14-day retention using pg_probackup

Limitations

Supports PostgreSQL 13 through 18. The source and restored servers must match in block_size, wal_block_size and major version. For remote operations, pg_probackup versions must match on both sides. Building for PostgreSQL 18 requires a core patch.

How to disable. Disable backup jobs in cron or your scheduler and remove the pg_probackup package.

Security check

  • Operates on data files and WAL of a production database
  • Restore and backup deletion change data irreversibly

README in short

pg_probackup manages backup and recovery of PostgreSQL clusters. The README lists incremental backup and restore, merge, validation, retention, compression and partial restore. It describes three incremental modes and two WAL delivery strategies. Windows installers are provided, Linux instructions are in the docs, and building from source is covered.

FAQ

Is continuous WAL archiving required?

For PAGE mode, yes. DELTA and PTRACK work without it, and autonomous backups stream the required WAL segments over the replication protocol.

Where do I get PTRACK?

Vanilla PostgreSQL 13-17 needs the ptrack extension; Postgres Pro Standard and Enterprise support it natively.

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