On Thu, May 26, 2016 at 2:48 PM, Ken Winter <k...@sunward.org> wrote:
> I just discovered that a run of pg_dump that gets aborted empties any > pre-existing backup file of the same name. It happens whether the run was > deliberately canceled by the user or just failed because of a bad password > (as in the example below). > > ~/dba$ pg_dump --host=localhost -U ken --format=c > --file=mess_development.bak --no-owner --no-privileges mess_development > Password: <CORRECT PASSWORD ENTERED> > > ~/dba$ ls -l mess_development.bak > -rw-rw-r-- 1 ken ken *87070* May 26 14:20 mess_development.bak > > ~/dba$ pg_dump --host=localhost -U ken --format=c > --file=mess_development.bak --no-owner --no-privileges mess_development > Password: <BAD PASSWORD ENTERED> > pg_dump: [archiver (db)] connection to database "mess_development" failed: > FATAL: password authentication failed for user "ken" > FATAL: password authentication failed for user "ken" > > ~/dba$ ls -l mess_development.bak > -rw-rw-r-- 1 ken ken *0* May 26 14:21 mess_development.bak > > ~/dba$ > > This is troubling because I can imagine a disaster scenario where one > loses one's previous backup and, perhaps because of a forgotten password, > can't generate a new one. (This scenario hasn't happened to *me* yet, > but seems like it could.) In general, a failed run of a piece of software > should leave everything unchanged. So maybe this is a bug that needs to be > fixed? > > ~ Ken > > > > > >...a run of pg_dump that gets aborted empties any pre-existing backup file of the same name This is standard behavior. By using the same output file name, you are telling the O/S to overwrite/delete that file and replace with new information. Most DBA's usually specify a date(and/or time) as a suffix to prevent that probleb and keep several versions of backup. Not that it in this case, but it is considered good procedure to report the PostgreSQL version and O/S when contacting this list for support. Please consider that for future correspondence. -- *Melvin Davidson* I reserve the right to fantasize. Whether or not you wish to share my fantasy is entirely up to you.
