pg\_dumpall

pg\_dumpall

1

Application

pg\_dumpall

extract a

PostgreSQL

database cluster into a script file

pg\_dumpall

connection-option

option

Description {#app-pg-dumpall-description}
===========

pg\_dumpall is a utility for writing out ("dumping") all PostgreSQL
databases of a cluster into one script file. The script file contains
SQL commands that can be used as input to [???](#app-psql) to restore
the databases. It does this by calling [???](#app-pgdump) for each
database in the cluster. pg\_dumpall also dumps global objects that are
common to all databases, namely database roles, tablespaces, and
privilege grants for configuration parameters. (pg\_dump does not save
these objects.)

Since pg\_dumpall 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 roles and create databases.

The SQL script will be written to the standard output. Use the
`-f`/`--file` option or shell operators to redirect it into a file.

pg\_dumpall needs to connect several times to the PostgreSQL server
(once per database). If you use password authentication it will ask for
a password each time. It is convenient to have a `~/.pgpass` file in
such cases. See [???](#libpq-pgpass) for more information.

Options
=======

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

`-a`; `--data-only`

:   Dump only the data, not the schema (data definitions).

`-c`; `--clean`

:   Include SQL commands to clean (drop) databases before recreating
    them. `DROP` commands for roles and tablespaces are added as well.

`-E encoding`; `--encoding=encoding`

:   Create the dump in the specified character set encoding. By default,
    the dump is created in the database encoding. (Another way to get
    the same result is to set the PGCLIENTENCODING environment variable
    to the desired dump encoding.)

`-f filename`; `--file=filename`

:   Send output to the specified file. If this is omitted, the standard
    output is used.

`-g`; `--globals-only`

:   Dump only global objects (roles and tablespaces), no databases.

`-O`; `--no-owner`

:   Do not output commands to set ownership of objects to match the
    original database. By default, pg\_dumpall issues `ALTER OWNER` or
    `SET SESSION AUTHORIZATION` 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 `-O`.

`-r`; `--roles-only`

:   Dump only roles, no databases or tablespaces.

`-s`; `--schema-only`

:   Dump only the object definitions (schema), not data.

`-S username`; `--superuser=username`

:   Specify the superuser user name to use when disabling triggers. This
    is relevant only if `--disable-triggers` is used. (Usually, it\'s
    better to leave this out, and instead start the resulting script as
    superuser.)

`-t`; `--tablespaces-only`

:   Dump only tablespaces, no databases or roles.

`-v`; `--verbose`

:   Specifies verbose mode. This will cause pg\_dumpall to output
    start/stop times to the dump file, and progress messages to standard
    error. Repeating the option causes additional debug-level messages
    to appear on standard error. The option is also passed down to
    pg\_dump.

`-V`; `--version`

:   Print the pg\_dumpall version and exit.

`-x`; `--no-privileges`; `--no-acl`

:   Prevent dumping of access privileges (grant/revoke commands).

`--binary-upgrade`

:   This option is for use by in-place upgrade utilities. Its use for
    other purposes is not recommended or supported. The behavior of the
    option may change in future releases without notice.

`--column-inserts`; `--attribute-inserts`

:   Dump data as `INSERT` commands with explicit column names
    (`INSERT INTO
            table
            (column, ...) VALUES
            ...`). This will make restoration very slow; it is mainly
    useful for making dumps that can be loaded into non-PostgreSQL
    databases.

`--disable-dollar-quoting`

:   This option disables the use of dollar quoting for function bodies,
    and forces them to be quoted using SQL standard string syntax.

`--disable-triggers`

:   This option is relevant only when creating a data-only dump. It
    instructs pg\_dumpall 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.

    Presently, the commands emitted for `--disable-triggers` must be
    done as superuser. So, you should also specify a superuser name with
    `-S`, or preferably be careful to start the resulting script as a
    superuser.

`--exclude-database=pattern`

:   Do not dump databases whose name matches pattern. Multiple patterns
    can be excluded by writing multiple `--exclude-database` switches.
    The pattern parameter is interpreted as a pattern according to the
    same rules used by psql\'s `\d` commands (see
    [???](#app-psql-patterns) below), so multiple databases can also be
    excluded by writing wildcard characters in the pattern. When using
    wildcards, be careful to quote the pattern if needed to prevent
    shell wildcard expansion.

`--extra-float-digits=ndigits`

:   Use the specified value of extra\_float\_digits when dumping
    floating-point data, instead of the maximum available precision.
    Routine dumps made for backup purposes should not use this option.

`--if-exists`

:   Use conditional commands (i.e., add an `IF EXISTS` clause) to drop
    databases and other objects. This option is not valid unless
    `--clean` is also specified.

`--inserts`

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

`--load-via-partition-root`

:   When dumping data for a table partition, make the `COPY` or `INSERT`
    statements target the root of the partitioning hierarchy that
    contains it, rather than the partition itself. This causes the
    appropriate partition to be re-determined for each row when the data
    is loaded. This may be useful when reloading data on a server where
    rows do not always fall into the same partitions as they did on the
    original server. That could happen, for example, if the partitioning
    column is of type text and the two systems have different
    definitions of the collation used to sort the partitioning column.

`--lock-wait-timeout=timeout`

:   Do not wait forever to acquire shared table locks at the beginning
    of the dump. Instead, fail if unable to lock a table within the
    specified timeout. The timeout may be specified in any of the
    formats accepted by `SET
            statement_timeout`.

`--no-comments`

:   Do not dump comments.

`--no-publications`

:   Do not dump publications.

`--no-role-passwords`

:   Do not dump passwords for roles. When restored, roles will have a
    null password, and password authentication will always fail until
    the password is set. Since password values aren\'t needed when this
    option is specified, the role information is read from the catalog
    view pg\_roles instead of pg\_authid. Therefore, this option also
    helps if access to pg\_authid is restricted by some security policy.

`--no-security-labels`

:   Do not dump security labels.

`--no-subscriptions`

:   Do not dump subscriptions.

`--no-sync`

:   By default, `pg_dumpall` will wait for all files to be written
    safely to disk. This option causes `pg_dumpall` to return without
    waiting, which is faster, but means that a subsequent operating
    system crash can leave the dump corrupt. Generally, this option is
    useful for testing but should not be used when dumping data from
    production installation.

`--no-table-access-method`

:   Do not output commands to select table access methods. With this
    option, all objects will be created with whichever table access
    method is the default during restore.

`--no-tablespaces`

:   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.

`--no-toast-compression`

:   Do not output commands to set TOAST compression methods. With this
    option, all columns will be restored with the default compression
    setting.

`--no-unlogged-table-data`

:   Do not dump the contents of unlogged tables. This option has no
    effect on whether or not the table definitions (schema) are dumped;
    it only suppresses dumping the table data.

`--on-conflict-do-nothing`

:   Add `ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING` to `INSERT` commands. This option is
    not valid unless `--inserts` or `--column-inserts` is also
    specified.

`--quote-all-identifiers`

:   Force quoting of all identifiers. This option is recommended when
    dumping a database from a server whose PostgreSQL major version is
    different from pg\_dumpall\'s, or when the output is intended to be
    loaded into a server of a different major version. By default,
    pg\_dumpall quotes only identifiers that are reserved words in its
    own major version. This sometimes results in compatibility issues
    when dealing with servers of other versions that may have slightly
    different sets of reserved words. Using `--quote-all-identifiers`
    prevents such issues, at the price of a harder-to-read dump script.

`--rows-per-insert=nrows`

:   Dump data as `INSERT` commands (rather than `COPY`). Controls the
    maximum number of rows per `INSERT` command. The value specified
    must be a number greater than zero. Any error during reloading will
    cause only rows that are part of the problematic `INSERT` to be
    lost, rather than the entire table contents.

`--use-set-session-authorization`

:   Output SQL-standard `SET SESSION AUTHORIZATION` commands instead of
    `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.

`-?`; `--help`

:   Show help about pg\_dumpall command line arguments, and exit.

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

`-d connstr`; `--dbname=connstr`

:   Specifies parameters used to connect to the server, as a [connection
    string](#libpq-connstring); these will override any conflicting
    command line options.

    The option is called `--dbname` for consistency with other client
    applications, but because pg\_dumpall needs to connect to many
    databases, the database name in the connection string will be
    ignored. Use the `-l` option to specify the name of the database
    used for the initial connection, which will dump global objects and
    discover what other databases should be dumped.

`-h host`; `--host=host`

:   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
    PGHOST environment variable, if set, else a Unix domain socket
    connection is attempted.

`-l dbname`; `--database=dbname`

:   Specifies the name of the database to connect to for dumping global
    objects and discovering what other databases should be dumped. If
    not specified, the `postgres` database will be used, and if that
    does not exist, `template1` will be used.

`-p port`; `--port=port`

:   Specifies the TCP port or local Unix domain socket file extension on
    which the server is listening for connections. Defaults to the
    PGPORT environment variable, if set, or a compiled-in default.

`-U username`; `--username=username`

:   User name to connect as.

`-w`; `--no-password`

:   Never issue a password prompt. If the server requires password
    authentication and a password is not available by other means such
    as a `.pgpass` 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.

`-W`; `--password`

:   Force pg\_dumpall to prompt for a password before connecting to a
    database.

    This option is never essential, since pg\_dumpall will automatically
    prompt for a password if the server demands password authentication.
    However, pg\_dumpall will waste a connection attempt finding out
    that the server wants a password. In some cases it is worth typing
    `-W` to avoid the extra connection attempt.

    Note that the password prompt will occur again for each database to
    be dumped. Usually, it\'s better to set up a `~/.pgpass` file than
    to rely on manual password entry.

`--role=rolename`

:   Specifies a role name to be used to create the dump. This option
    causes pg\_dumpall to issue a `SET ROLE` rolename command after
    connecting to the database. It is useful when the authenticated user
    (specified by `-U`) lacks privileges needed by pg\_dumpall, but can
    switch to a role with the required rights. Some installations have a
    policy against logging in directly as a superuser, and use of this
    option allows dumps to be made without violating the policy.

Environment
===========

PGHOST; PGOPTIONS; PGPORT; PGUSER

:   Default connection parameters

PG\_COLOR

:   Specifies whether to use color in diagnostic messages. Possible
    values are `always`, `auto` and `never`.

This utility, like most other PostgreSQL utilities, also uses the
environment variables supported by libpq (see [???](#libpq-envars)).

Notes
=====

Since pg\_dumpall calls pg\_dump internally, some diagnostic messages
will refer to pg\_dump.

The `--clean` option can be useful even when your intention is to
restore the dump script into a fresh cluster. Use of `--clean`
authorizes the script to drop and re-create the built-in `postgres` and
`template1` databases, ensuring that those databases will retain the
same properties (for instance, locale and encoding) that they had in the
source cluster. Without the option, those databases will retain their
existing database-level properties, as well as any pre-existing
contents.

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

The dump script should not be expected to run completely without errors.
In particular, because the script will issue `CREATE ROLE` for every
role existing in the source cluster, it is certain to get a "role
already exists" error for the bootstrap superuser, unless the
destination cluster was initialized with a different bootstrap superuser
name. This error is harmless and should be ignored. Use of the `--clean`
option is likely to produce additional harmless error messages about
non-existent objects, although you can minimize those by adding
`--if-exists`.

pg\_dumpall requires all needed tablespace directories to exist before
the restore; otherwise, database creation will fail for databases in
non-default locations.

Examples {#app-pg-dumpall-ex}
========

To dump all databases:

    $ pg_dumpall > db.out

To reload database(s) from this file, you can use:

    $ psql -f db.out postgres

It is not important to which database you connect here since the script
file created by pg\_dumpall will contain the appropriate commands to
create and connect to the saved databases. An exception is that if you
specified `--clean`, you must connect to the `postgres` database
initially; the script will attempt to drop other databases immediately,
and that will fail for the database you are connected to.

See Also
========

Check [???](#app-pgdump) for details on possible error conditions.
