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$PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_dumpall.sgml,v 1.71 2008/03/26 16:34:47 tgl Exp $
PostgreSQL documentation
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<refentry id="APP-PG-DUMPALL">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle id="APP-PG-DUMPALL-TITLE"><application>pg_dumpall</application></refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
  <refmiscinfo>Application</refmiscinfo>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>pg_dumpall</refname>
  <refpurpose>extract a <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> database cluster into a script file</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm zone="app-pg-dumpall">
  <primary>pg_dumpall</primary>
 </indexterm>

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

 <refsect1 id="app-pg-dumpall-description">
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <application>pg_dumpall</application> is a utility for writing out
   (<quote>dumping</quote>) all <productname>PostgreSQL</> databases
   of a cluster into one script file.  The script file contains
   <acronym>SQL</acronym> commands that can be used as input to <xref
   linkend="app-psql"> to restore the databases.  It does this by
   calling <xref linkend="app-pgdump"> for each database in a cluster.
   <application>pg_dumpall</application> also dumps global objects
   that are common to all databases.
   (<application>pg_dump</application> does not save these objects.)
   This currently includes information about database users and
   groups, tablespaces, and properties such as access permissions
   that apply to databases as a whole.
  </para>

  <para>
   Since <application>pg_dumpall</application> reads tables from all
   databases you will most likely have to connect as a database
   superuser in order to produce a complete dump.  Also you will need
   superuser privileges to execute the saved script in order to be
   allowed to add users and groups, and to create databases.
  </para>

  <para>
   The SQL script will be written to the standard output.  Shell
   operators should be used to redirect it into a file.
  </para>

  <para>
  <application>pg_dumpall</application> needs to connect several
  times to the <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> server (once per
  database).  If you use password authentication it will ask for
  a password each time. It is convenient to have a
  <filename>~/.pgpass</> file in such cases. See <xref
  linkend="libpq-pgpass"> for more information.
  </para>

 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Options</title>

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

    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-a</></term>
      <term><option>--data-only</></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Dump only the data, not the schema (data definitions).
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-c</option></term>
      <term><option>--clean</option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Include SQL commands to clean (drop) databases before
        recreating them.  <command>DROP</> commands for roles and
        tablespaces are added as well.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-d</option></term>
      <term><option>--inserts</option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Dump data as <command>INSERT</command> commands (rather
        than <command>COPY</command>).  This will make restoration very slow;
        it is mainly useful for making dumps that can be loaded into
        non-<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> databases.  Note that
        the restore might fail altogether if you have rearranged column order.
        The <option>-D</option> option is safer, though even slower.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-D</option></term>
      <term><option>--column-inserts</option></term>
      <term><option>--attribute-inserts</option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Dump data as <command>INSERT</command> commands with explicit
        column names (<literal>INSERT INTO
        <replaceable>table</replaceable>
        (<replaceable>column</replaceable>, ...) VALUES
        ...</literal>).  This will make restoration very slow; it is mainly
        useful for making dumps that can be loaded into
        non-<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> databases.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
 
     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-f <replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable></option></term>
      <term><option>--file=<replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable></option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Send output to the specified file.  If this is omitted, the
        standard output is used.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-g</option></term>
      <term><option>--globals-only</option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Dump only global objects (roles and tablespaces), no databases.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-i</></term>
      <term><option>--ignore-version</></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Ignore version mismatch between
        <application>pg_dumpall</application> and the database server.
       </para>

       <para>
        By default, <application>pg_dumpall</> will refuse to attempt
        to dump from a server that is of a newer <productname>PostgreSQL</>
        version than <application>pg_dumpall</application> is.  It will also
        refuse to attempt to dump from a server that is older than the oldest
        supported version (currently, 7.0).  The <option>-i</> option
        overrides this check and forces a dump to be attempted anyway.
        This option is <emphasis>deprecated</> because the dump is very
        likely to fail &mdash; or worse, seem to succeed but be wrong or
        incomplete.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-o</></term>
      <term><option>--oids</></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Dump object identifiers (<acronym>OID</acronym>s) as part of the
        data for every table.  Use this option if your application references
        the <acronym>OID</>
        columns in some way (e.g., in a foreign key constraint).
        Otherwise, this option should not be used.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-O</></term>
      <term><option>--no-owner</option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Do not output commands to set
        ownership of objects to match the original database.
        By default, <application>pg_dumpall</application> issues
        <command>ALTER OWNER</> or 
        <command>SET SESSION AUTHORIZATION</command>
        statements to set ownership of created schema elements.
        These statements
        will fail when the script is run unless it is started by a superuser
        (or the same user that owns all of the objects in the script).
        To make a script that can be restored by any user, but will give
        that user ownership of all the objects, specify <option>-O</>.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>--no-tablespaces</option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Do not output commands to create tablespaces nor select tablespaces
        for objects.
        With this option, all objects will be created in whichever
        tablespace is the default during restore.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-r</option></term>
      <term><option>--roles-only</option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Dump only roles, no databases or tablespaces.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-s</option></term>
      <term><option>--schema-only</option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Dump only the object definitions (schema), not data.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-S <replaceable class="parameter">username</replaceable></option></term>
      <term><option>--superuser=<replaceable class="parameter">username</replaceable></option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Specify the superuser user name to use when disabling triggers.
        This is only relevant if <option>--disable-triggers</> is used.
        (Usually, it's better to leave this out, and instead start the
        resulting script as superuser.)
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-t</option></term>
      <term><option>--tablespaces-only</option></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Dump only tablespaces, no databases or roles.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-v</></term>
      <term><option>--verbose</></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Specifies verbose mode.  This will cause
        <application>pg_dumpall</application> to output start/stop
        times to the dump file, and progress messages to standard error.
        It will also enable verbose output in <application>pg_dump</>.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>-x</></term>
      <term><option>--no-privileges</></term>
      <term><option>--no-acl</></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Prevent dumping of access privileges (grant/revoke commands).
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>--disable-dollar-quoting</></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        This option disables the use of dollar quoting for function bodies,
        and forces them to be quoted using SQL standard string syntax.
       </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>--disable-triggers</></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        This option is only relevant when creating a data-only dump.
        It instructs <application>pg_dumpall</application> to include commands
        to temporarily disable triggers on the target tables while
        the data is reloaded.  Use this if you have referential
        integrity checks or other triggers on the tables that you
        do not want to invoke during data reload.
       </para>

       <para>
        Presently, the commands emitted for <option>--disable-triggers</>
        must be done as superuser.  So, you should also specify
        a superuser name with <option>-S</>, or preferably be careful to
        start the resulting script as a superuser.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><option>--use-set-session-authorization</></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Output SQL-standard <command>SET SESSION AUTHORIZATION</> commands
        instead of <command>ALTER OWNER</> commands to determine object
        ownership.  This makes the dump more standards compatible, but
        depending on the history of the objects in the dump, might not restore
        properly.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>
   </para>

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

   <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term>-h <replaceable>host</replaceable></term>
      <term>--host=<replaceable>host</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Specifies the host name of the machine on which the database
        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>-l <replaceable>dbname</replaceable></term>
      <term>--database=<replaceable>dbname</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
         Specifies the name of the database to connect to to dump global
         objects and discover what other databases should be dumped. If
         not specified, the <quote>postgres</quote> database will be used,
         and if that does not exist, <quote>template1</quote> will be used.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term>-p <replaceable>port</replaceable></term>
      <term>--port=<replaceable>port</replaceable></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>-U <replaceable>username</replaceable></term>
      <term>--username=<replaceable>username</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        User name to connect as.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

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

       <para>
        This option is never essential, since
        <application>pg_dumpall</application> will automatically prompt
        for a password if the server demands password authentication.
        However, <application>pg_dumpall</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>

       <para>
        Note that the password prompt will occur again for each database
        to be dumped.  Usually, it's better to set up a
        <filename>~/.pgpass</> file than to rely on manual password entry.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
   </variablelist>
  </para>
 </refsect1>


 <refsect1>
  <title>Environment</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><envar>PGHOST</envar></term>
    <term><envar>PGPORT</envar></term>
    <term><envar>PGUSER</envar></term>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      Default connection parameters
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>

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

 </refsect1>


 <refsect1>
  <title>Notes</title>

  <para>
   Since <application>pg_dumpall</application> calls
   <application>pg_dump</application> internally, some diagnostic
   messages will refer to <application>pg_dump</application>.
  </para>

  <para>
   Once restored, it is wise to run <command>ANALYZE</> on each
   database so the optimizer has useful statistics. You
   can also run <command>vacuumdb -a -z</> to analyze all
   databases.
  </para>

  <para>
   <application>pg_dumpall</application> requires all needed
   tablespace directories to exist before the restore or
   database creation will fail for databases in non-default
   locations.
  </para>

 </refsect1>


 <refsect1 id="app-pg-dumpall-ex">
  <title>Examples</title>
  <para>
   To dump all databases:

<screen>
<prompt>$</prompt> <userinput>pg_dumpall &gt; db.out</userinput>
</screen>
  </para>

  <para>
   To reload this database use, for example:
<screen>
<prompt>$</prompt> <userinput>psql -f db.out postgres</userinput>
</screen>
   (It is not important to which database you connect here since the
   script file created by <application>pg_dumpall</application> will
   contain the appropriate commands to create and connect to the saved
   databases.)
  </para>
 </refsect1>

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

  <para>
    Check <xref linkend="app-pgdump"> for details on possible
    error conditions.
  </para>
 </refsect1>   

</refentry>
