User Guide for PostgreSQL#
This guide introduces how to install and configure the ADPS agent, and how to properly use ADPS to back up and restore PostgreSQL.
The backup and restore features supported by ADPS include:
Backup sources
Database, schema, and table
Backup types
Full backup, incremental backup, log backup, and logical backup
Backup targets
Standard storage pool, deduplication storage pool, local storage pool, tape library pool, object storage service pool, and LAN-free pool
Backup schedules
Immediate, one-time, hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly.
Data processing
Data compression, data encryption, multiple channels, reconnection, speed limit, and replication
Restore types
Point-in-time restore, logical recovery, log restore, and recovery testing
Restore targets
Original host and different host (ADPS supports cross-machine restore of PostgreSQL with varying minor versions.)
Restore options
Channels, restore database (origin or new), open database after restore, archive log destination, database configuration file
Planning and preparation#
Before you install the agent, check the following prerequisites:
You have already installed and configured other backup components, including the backup server and the storage server.
You have created a user with roles of operator and administrator on the ADPS console. Log in to the console with this user to back up and restore the resource.
Note
The administrator role can install and configure agents, activate licenses, and authorize users. The operator role can create backup/restore jobs and conduct copy data management (CDM).
Install and configure the agent#
To back up and restore PostgreSQL, first install the ADPS agent on the host where PostgreSQL resides.
Verify the compatibility#
Before you install the agent, ensure that the environment of the host where PostgreSQL resides is on the Aurreum Data Protection Suite’s compatibility lists.
ADPS supports the backup and restore of PostgreSQL, including standalone single instance, standalone multiple instances, and Master-Slave replication. Supported versions include:
PostgreSQL 8.1/8.4
PostgreSQL 9.1/9.2/9.3/9.4/9.5/9.6
PostgreSQL 10.6/10.8/10.19
PostgreSQL 11.0/11.1/11.7
PostgreSQL 12.1/12.2/12.3/12.9
PostgreSQL 13.0/13.4/13.5/13.8
PostgreSQL 14.0/14.1/14.2/14.3/14.4/14.5/14.6
PostgreSQL 15.0/15.1
Install the agent#
The ADPS agent can be installed on Windows and Linux. You can select the installation method according to your environment.
Windows#
To install the agent, do the following:
Log in to the ADPS console.
From the menu, click Resource > Resource. The Resource page appears.
From the toolbar, click the Install agent icon. The Install agent window appears.
In the Install agent window, do the following:
(1) From the Select system list, select Windows.
(2) From the Select file list, select the package that you want to install.
(3) Click Download.
Upload the package to the Windows host.
Log in to the Windows host as a user with administrative privileges. Double-click the package and open the installation wizard. Click Next.
At the Select components step, select PostgreSQL from the component list. Click Next.
At the Configure Aurreum Data Protection Suite agent step, enter the following:
(1) In the Backup server address field, enter the IP or domain name of the backup server.
(2) In the Backup server port field, enter the port number. The default value is 50305. If you enable the Use SSL secure connection option, enter 60305 in the Backup server port field.
(3) The Access key field is optional and blank by default. If your backup server adopts multi-tenancy, you must enter the access key of the tenant for the agent.
(4) Click Next.
Note
To get the access key of the user/tenant:
Log in to the ADPS console.
On the upper right corner, click your avatar, and go to Personal settings > Account settings.
On the Preference tab, click View to get the access key of the current user/tenant.
Confirm the Destination folder or specify another folder. Click Next.
Wait for the installation to complete.
Linux#
For Linux OS, ADPS agent supports online and offline installation. We recommend online installation.
Online installation: ADPS provides
curlandwgetcommands for installation.Offline installation: See Offline installation in Aurreum Data Protection Suite Agent Installation Guide.
To install the agent online, do the following:
Log in to the ADPS console.
From the menu, click Resource > Resource. The Resource page appears.
From the toolbar, click the Install agent icon. The Install agent window appears.
In the Install agent window, do the following:
(1) From the Select system list, select Linux.
(2) From the Component list, select PostgreSQL. The
curlandwgetcommands appear in the window.(3) If you want to delete the downloaded package automatically after the installation, select the Delete installation package checkbox.
(4) If you enable Ignore SSL errors, the installation will ignore certificate errors and so on. If you disable the feature, the installation will prompt you to enter Y/N to continue or discontinue the process when an error occurs.
Click the Copy icon to copy the
curlorwgetcommand.Log in to the Linux host as user root. Paste the command in the terminal and press Enter to start the installation. Example:
curl "http://IP:50305/d2/update/script?modules=postgres&location=http%3A%2F%2FIP%3A50305&access_key=acaa24b49fbf2655de1a5dae72a4b56e&rm=&tool=curl" | sh
Wait for the installation to complete.
Backup#
Backup types#
ADPS provides four common backup types for PostgreSQL.
Full backup
Backs up all the databases on the instance.
Incremental backup
Backs up data blocks that have changed since the last backup, with a full backup as the baseline. If the database has not been fully backed up, or has not been fully backed up after the restore, the first incremental backup will be performed as a full backup by default.
Log backup
Backs up the archive logs of database instances, with a full backup as the baseline.
Logical backup
Backs up one or more databases, schemas, and tables. Currently, you can select only one of the following types for a logical backup job: database, schema, and table.
Backup policies#
ADPS provides six backup schedule types: immediate, one-time, hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly.
Immediate: ADPS will immediately start the job after it is created.
One-time: ADPS will perform the job at the specified time once only.
Hourly: ADPS will perform the job periodically at the specified hour/minute intervals within the time range according to the setting.
Daily: ADPS will perform the job periodically at the specified time and day intervals.
Weekly: ADPS will perform the job periodically at the specified time and week intervals.
Monthly: ADPS will perform the job periodically at the specified dates and times.
You can set an appropriate backup policy based on your situation and requirements. Usually, we recommend the following common backup policy:
Perform a full backup once a week when the application traffic is relatively small (Example: on the weekend) to ensure that you have a recoverable point in time every week.
Perform an incremental backup every day when the application traffic is relatively small (Example: at 2 a.m.) to ensure that you have a recoverable point in time every day, which can save storage space and backup time.
Perform a log backup hourly if your database supports log backups to achieve the precise point-in-time restore and ensure that the restore granularity can reach the second level.
Avoid using the following strategies: Only perform full backups or perform a full backup followed by all incremental or log backups.
Before you begin#
Before you back up and restore PostgreSQL, check the following:
Check the PostgreSQL instance status
Windows
Log in to the host and open the service list. Check whether the PostgreSQL service status is Running or not.
Linux
The PostgreSQL database service should be in the “Running” state for backup and restore.
-bash-4.2$ /usr/pgsql-13/bin/pg_ctl -D /var/lib/pgsql/13/data/ -l logfile status
pg_ctl: server is running (PID: 18378)
/usr/pgsql-13/bin/postgres "-D" "/var/lib/pgsql/13/data/"
Check storage pools.
(1) From the menu, click Storage > Storage pool. The Storage pool page appears.
(2) Check whether the display area has any storage pools. If no, create a storage pool and authorize it for the current user. For details, see Add a storage pool in Aurreum Data Protection Suite Administrator’s Guide.
Check the minimum privileges required for a database user to do backups.
Backup types |
Minimum privileges required |
Database versions required |
|---|---|---|
Physical backup |
grant execute on function pg_start_backup(text,boolean,boolean) to <user_name>; |
PostgreSQL 10.0 and later |
Physical backup |
alter user <user_name> with superuser; |
Versions prior to PostgreSQL 10.0 |
Log backup |
grant execute on function pg_switch_wal() to <user_name>; |
PostgreSQL 10.0 and later |
Log backup |
grant execute on function pg_switch_xlog() to <user_name>; |
Versions prior to PostgreSQL 10.0 |
Logical backup |
grant connect on database <database_name> to <user_name>; |
Log in to the resource#
Before you create a backup or restore job, log in to the PostgreSQL on the console.
To log in to the resource, do the following:
From the menu, click Resource > Resource. The Resource page appears.
From the host list, find the host where PostgreSQL resides. If you have many hosts, use the search bar to find the host quickly. Click the host to expand its resource list.
Click Login beside the resource. The Login window appears.
In the Login window, enter the Username and Password, and click Login.
If your information is correct, you will be prompted that you have logged in to the resource successfully.
Create a backup job#
To create a backup job, do the following:
From the menu, click Backup. The backup job wizard appears.
At the Hosts and resources step, select the host where PostgreSQL resides and select the instance. The wizard goes to the next step automatically.
At the Backup source step, do the following:
(1) From the Backup type list, select a backup type.
(2) In the Backup source section, select the databases that you want to back up.
At the Backup target step, select a storage pool. Click Next.
At the Backup schedule step, set the job schedule. For details, see Backup policies. Click Next.
Select Immediate. ADPS performs the job immediately after it is created.
Select One time and set the start time for the job.
Select Hourly. Set the start time, end time, and time interval for job execution. The unit can be hour(s) or minute(s).
Select Daily. Set the start time and enter the time interval for job execution. The unit is day(s).
Select Weekly. Set the start time, enter the time interval, and select the specific dates in a week for job execution. The unit is week.
Select Monthly. Set the start time and months for job execution. You can select the natural dates in one month or select the specific dates in one week.
At the Backup options step, set the common and advanced options according to your needs. For details, see Backup options. Click Next.
At the Finish step, set the job name and confirm the job information. Click Submit.
After the submission, you will be redirected to the Job page automatically. On this page, you can start, modify, and delete the job.
Backup options#
ADPS provides the following backup options for PostgreSQL:
Common options
Option |
Description |
Limitations |
|---|---|---|
Compression |
Fast is enabled by default. |
Not available for synthetic backup jobs. |
Channels |
It can improve backup efficiency. The default value is 1 and the value ranges from 1 to 64. |
Only available for full backup jobs. |
Archive log directory |
Set the archive log directory that the PostgreSQL login user has permission to operate on. The archive directory for the PostgreSQL cluster needs to be manually enabled. |
Not available for logical backup jobs. |
Delete archive logs |
provides the following options to delete archive logs that are backed up. |
Not available for logical backup jobs. |
Advanced options
Option |
Description |
Limitations |
|---|---|---|
Reconnection time |
The value ranges from 1 to 60 minutes. The job continues after the abnormal reset occurs in the network within the set time. |
Not available for synthetic backup jobs. |
Resumption buffer size |
Specifies the resumption buffer size. The default value is 10 MiB. The bigger the resumption buffer size is, the more physical storage will be consumed. However, a bigger resumption buffer size can prevent data loss when the throughput of the business system is high. |
Not available for synthetic backup jobs. |
Speed limit |
Limits data transfer speed or disk read/write speed for different time periods. The unit can be KiB/s, MiB/s, and GiB/s. |
|
Precondition |
Checked before the job starts. The job execution will be aborted and the job state will be idle when the precondition is invalid. |
|
Pre-/Post-script |
The pre-script is executed after the job starts and before the resource is backed up. The post-script is executed after the resource is backed up. |
Restore#
Restore types#
For different needs, ADPS provides several restore types for PostgreSQL, including:
Point-in-time restore
When a logical error or disaster occurs in a PostgreSQL database, you can perform a point-in-time restore job to restore the database to a specified point-in-time state. You can restore to the original or a different host.
Logical recovery
When a database, schema, or table in PostgreSQL loses data, such as files damaged or deleted by mistake, you can restore them to the latest state through Logical Recovery.
Log restore
A log restore job can only be executed when a log backup set exists. It only downloads archive logs to the specified directory on the target host, and does not perform the restore operation.
Recovery testing
Restores the latest backup sets to another instance on the original host or to another host hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly.
Before you begin#
To restore PostgreSQL to a different host, install the agent on that host, activate the licenses, and authorize user access to the resource.
Create a point-in-time restore job#
To create a point-in-time restore job, do the following:
From the menu, click Restore. The restore job wizard appears.
At the Hosts and resources step, select the host where PostgreSQL resides and select the instance. The wizard goes to the next step automatically.
At the Backup sets step, do the following:
(1) From the Restore type list, select Point-in-time restore.
(2) In the Restore point in time section, specify a point in time for the restore job.
Select Restore to point in time. If you have performed a log backup job, you can specify the restore point in time by entering the date and time or dragging the slider control.
Select Restore to backup state (shortest recovery time). You can select a backup set in the Backup sets section to restore to its latest backup state.
(3) Click Next.
At the Restore target step, select a restore target. The wizard automatically goes to the next step.
At the Restore schedule step, set the job schedule. Click Next.
Select Immediate. ADPS will perform the job immediately after its creation.
Select One time and set the start time for the job.
At the Restore options step, set the options according to your needs. See Restore options. Click Next.
At the Finish step, set the job name and confirm the job information. Click Submit.
After submission, you will be redirected to the Job page. You can start, modify, and delete the job.
Create a logical recovery job#
To create an instant recovery job, do the following:
From the menu, click Restore. The restore job wizard appears.
At the Hosts and resources step, select the host where PostgreSQL resides and select the instance. The wizard goes to the next step automatically.
At the Backup sets step, do the following:
(1) From the Restore type list, select Instant recovery.
(2) From the Recovery type list, select a data recovery type for the restore job.
(3) In the Restore source section, select a database and a point in time.
(4) Click Next.
At the Restore target step, select a restore target. The wizard automatically goes to the next step.
At the Restore schedule step, set the job schedule. Click Next.
Select Immediate. ADPS will perform the job immediately after its creation.
Select One time and set the start time for the job.
At the Restore options step, set the options according to your needs. See Restore options. Click Next.
At the Finish step, set the job name and confirm the job information. Click Submit.
After the instant recovery, go to the CDM page. A mounted copy is added below the full copy. See View a copy.
Create a log restore job#
To create a log restore job, do the following:
From the menu, click Restore. The restore job wizard appears.
At the Hosts and resources step, select the host where PostgreSQL resides and select the instance. The wizard goes to the next step automatically.
At the Backup sets step, do the following:
(1) From the Restore type list, select Log restore.
(2) In the Time range section, click the time next to the option and a window pops up. In the pop-up window, select a time range. You can also drag the slider control or enter the time to specify a time range for the restore job.
(3) Click Next.
At the Restore target step, select a restore target. The wizard automatically goes to the next step. The target can be a standalone PostgreSQL or a cluster. When the restore target is a cluster, the restore job will be run on all the nodes in the cluster.
At the Restore schedule step, set the job schedule. Click Next.
Select Immediate. ADPS will perform the job immediately after its creation.
Select One time and set the start time for the job.
At the Restore options step, set the options according to your needs. See Restore options. Click Next.
At the Finish step, set the job name and confirm the job information. Click Submit.
After the submission, you will be redirected to the Job page. You can start, modify, and delete the job.
Create a recovery testing job#
To create a recovery testing job, do the following:
From the menu, click Restore. The restore job wizard appears.
At the Hosts and resources step, select the host where PostgreSQL resides and select the instance. The wizard goes to the next step automatically.
At the Backup sets step, do the following:
(1) From the Restore type list, select Recovery testing.
(2) In the Restore source section, select databases for the restore job. If you want to rename the restore source, click the database. The Rename icon appears beside the name. Click the icon and specify a name in the pop-up window.
(3) Click Next.
At the Restore target step, select a restore target. The wizard automatically goes to the next step. The restore target supports other instances on the original or a different host.
At the Restore schedule step, set the job schedule. Click Next.
Select Hourly. Set the start time, end time, and time interval to specify the time range for job execution. The unit can be hour(s) or minute(s).
Select Daily. Set the start time and enter the time interval for job execution. The unit is day(s).
Select Weekly. Set the start time, enter the time interval, and select the specific dates in a week for job execution. The unit is week.
Select Monthly. Set the start time and months for job execution. You can select the natural dates in one month or select the specific dates in one week.
At the Restore options step, set the options according to your needs. See Restore options. Click Next.
At the Finish step, set the job name and confirm the job information. Click Submit.
After submission, you will be redirected to the Job page. You can start, modify, and delete the job.
Restore options#
ADPS provides the following restore options for PostgreSQL:
Common options:
Option |
Description |
Limitations |
|---|---|---|
Channels |
It can improve restore efficiency. The default value is 1. The maximum value for the range should not exceed the maximum number of channels set in the selected backup set. |
Only available for point-in-time restore jobs. |
Open database after restore |
After this option is enabled, the database will automatically start upon successful recovery. It is checked by default. |
Only available for point-in-time restore jobs. |
Restore database |
Leave the field blank to overwrite the original database. To restore to a new database, enter the new database name. |
Only available for logical recovery jobs. |
Archive log destination |
Set the restore directory for archive logs. |
Only available for log restore jobs. |
Advanced options:
Option |
Description |
Limitations |
|---|---|---|
Reconnection time |
The value ranges from 1 to 60 minutes. The job continues after the abnormal reset occurs in the network within the set time. |
|
Resumption buffer size |
Specifies the resumption buffer size. The default value is 10 MiB. The bigger the resumption buffer size is, the more physical storage will be consumed. However, a bigger resumption buffer size can prevent data loss when the throughput of the business system is high. |
|
Speed limit |
Limits data transfer speed or disk read/write speed for different time periods. The unit can be KiB/s, MiB/s, and GiB/s. |
|
Precondition |
Checked before the job starts. The job execution will be aborted and the job state will be idle when the precondition is invalid. |
|
Pre-/Post-script |
The pre-script is executed after the job starts and before the resource is restored. The post-script is executed after the resource is restor. |
|
Database configuration file |
Click Browse to select a path or manually enter the path for the PostgreSQL configuration file of the restore target. If the option is left blank, the configuration file from the backup set will be used by default. |
Only available for point-in-time restore jobs. |
Cluster backup and restore#
ADPS supports the backup and restore of PostgreSQL master-slave clusters. Before you back up and restore the PostgreSQL cluster, bind nodes into a cluster on the console.
Before you begin#
See Install and configure the agent and Activate license and authorize users to complete the environment deployment on each node.
Bind nodes into a cluster#
To bind nodes into a cluster on the console, do the following:
From the menu, click Resource > Cluster. The Cluster page appears.
From the toolbar, click the + icon. The Cluster binding window appears.
In the Cluster binding window, do the following:
(1) In the Name field, enter a name for the cluster.
(2) From the Primary node list, select the active node in the cluster.
(3) From the Type list, select Master slave replication.
(4) From the Nodes list, select the inactive node in the cluster. You can click x to remove the selected node.
(5) Click Submit.
Backup and restore#
When a switchover occurs, the new primary node will take over the backup job automatically. To create a PostgreSQL cluster backup/restore job, see Create a backup job and Restore. Note that:
On the backup job wizard, only the active nodes of the PostgreSQL cluster are displayed.
In the event of a switchover within the PostgreSQL cluster, the new active node automatically takes over the backup job.
On the restore job wizard, one instance or cluster can be selected as the restore target.
Limitations#
Feature |
Limitations |
|---|---|
Resources |
- ADPS does not support PostgreSQL cluster on Windows. |
Glossary#
Term |
Description |
|---|---|
fast compression |
A compression method that uses fast compression algorithms to compress data during the backup job. |