<!--
doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_receivexlog.sgml
PostgreSQL documentation
-->

<refentry id="app-pgreceivexlog">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>pg_receivexlog</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
  <refmiscinfo>Application</refmiscinfo>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>pg_receivexlog</refname>
  <refpurpose>streams transaction logs from a <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> cluster</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm zone="app-pgreceivexlog">
  <primary>pg_receivexlog</primary>
 </indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
  <cmdsynopsis>
   <command>pg_receivexlog</command>
   <arg rep="repeat"><replaceable>option</></arg>
  </cmdsynopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>
   Description
  </title>
  <para>
   <application>pg_receivexlog</application> is used to stream transaction log
   from a running <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> cluster. The transaction
   log is streamed using the streaming replication protocol, and is written
   to a local directory of files. This directory can be used as the archive
   location for doing a restore using point-in-time recovery (see
   <xref linkend="continuous-archiving">).
  </para>

  <para>
   <application>pg_receivexlog</application> streams the transaction
   log in real time as it's being generated on the server, and does not wait
   for segments to complete like <xref linkend="guc-archive-command"> does.
   For this reason, it is not necessary to set
   <xref linkend="guc-archive-timeout"> when using
    <application>pg_receivexlog</application>.
  </para>

  <para>
   The transaction log is streamed over a regular
   <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> connection, and uses the replication
   protocol. The connection must be made with a superuser or a user
   having <literal>REPLICATION</literal> permissions (see
   <xref linkend="role-attributes">), and <filename>pg_hba.conf</filename>
   must explicitly permit the replication connection. The server must also be
   configured with <xref linkend="guc-max-wal-senders"> set high enough to
   leave at least one session available for the stream.
  </para>

  <para>
   If the connection is lost, or if it cannot be initially established,
   with a non-fatal error, <application>pg_receivexlog</application> will
   retry the connection indefinitely, and reestablish streaming as soon
   as possible. To avoid this behavior, use the <literal>-n</literal>
   parameter.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Options</title>

   <para>
    The following command-line options control the location and format of the
    output.

    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-D <replaceable class="parameter">directory</replaceable></option></term>
      <term><option>--dir=<replaceable class="parameter">directory</replaceable></option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Directory to write the output to.
       </para>
       <para>
        This parameter is required.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
   </para>
   <para>
    The following command-line options control the running of the program.

    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-n</option></term>
      <term><option>--noloop</option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Don't loop on connection errors. Instead, exit right away with
        an error.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-v</option></term>
      <term><option>--verbose</option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Enables verbose mode.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>
   </para>

   <para>
    The following command-line options control the database connection parameters.

    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-s <replaceable class="parameter">interval</replaceable></option></term>
      <term><option>--statusint=<replaceable class="parameter">interval</replaceable></option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Specifies the number of seconds between status packets sent back to the
        server. This is required if replication timeout is configured on the
        server, and allows for easier monitoring. A value of zero disables the
        status updates completely. The default value is 10 seconds.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-h <replaceable class="parameter">host</replaceable></option></term>
      <term><option>--host=<replaceable class="parameter">host</replaceable></option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Specifies the host name of the machine on which the server is
        running.  If the value begins with a slash, it is used as the
        directory for the Unix domain socket. The default is taken
        from the <envar>PGHOST</envar> environment variable, if set,
        else a Unix domain socket connection is attempted.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-p <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable></option></term>
      <term><option>--port=<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable></option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Specifies the TCP port or local Unix domain socket file
        extension on which the server is listening for connections.
        Defaults to the <envar>PGPORT</envar> environment variable, if
        set, or a compiled-in default.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-U <replaceable>username</replaceable></option></term>
      <term><option>--username=<replaceable class="parameter">username</replaceable></option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        User name to connect as.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-w</></term>
      <term><option>--no-password</></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Never issue a password prompt.  If the server requires
        password authentication and a password is not available by
        other means such as a <filename>.pgpass</filename> file, the
        connection attempt will fail.  This option can be useful in
        batch jobs and scripts where no user is present to enter a
        password.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-W</option></term>
      <term><option>--password</option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Force <application>pg_receivexlog</application> to prompt for a
        password before connecting to a database.
       </para>

       <para>
        This option is never essential, since
        <application>pg_receivexlog</application> will automatically prompt
        for a password if the server demands password authentication.
        However, <application>pg_receivexlog</application> will waste a
        connection attempt finding out that the server wants a password.
        In some cases it is worth typing <option>-W</> to avoid the extra
        connection attempt.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
   </para>

   <para>
    Other, less commonly used, options are also available:

    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
       <term><option>-V</></term>
       <term><option>--version</></term>
       <listitem>
       <para>
       Print the <application>pg_receivexlog</application> version and exit.
       </para>
       </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
       <term><option>-?</></term>
       <term><option>--help</></term>
       <listitem>
       <para>
       Show help about <application>pg_receivexlog</application> command line
       arguments, and exit.
       </para>
       </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>
   </para>

 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Environment</title>

  <para>
   This utility, like most other <productname>PostgreSQL</> utilities,
   uses the environment variables supported by <application>libpq</>
   (see <xref linkend="libpq-envars">).
  </para>

 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Notes</title>

  <para>
   When using <application>pg_receivexlog</application> instead of
   <xref linkend="guc-archive-command">, the server will continue to
   recycle transaction log files even if the backups are not properly
   archived, since there is no command that fails. This can be worked
   around by having an <xref linkend="guc-archive-command"> that fails
   when the file has not been properly archived yet, for example:
<programlisting>
archive_command = 'sleep 5 &amp;&amp; test -f /mnt/server/archivedir/%f'
</programlisting>
   The initial timeout is necessary because
   <application>pg_receivexlog</application> works using asynchronous
   replication and can therefore be slightly behind the master.
  </para>

 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Examples</title>

  <para>
   To stream the transaction log from the server at
   <literal>mydbserver</literal> and store it in the local directory
   <filename>/usr/local/pgsql/archive</filename>:
<screen>
<prompt>$</prompt> <userinput>pg_receivexlog -h mydbserver -D /usr/local/pgsql/archive</userinput>
</screen></para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>See Also</title>

  <simplelist type="inline">
   <member><xref linkend="APP-PGBASEBACKUP"></member>
  </simplelist>
 </refsect1>

</refentry>
