Barman (Backup and Recovery Manager) is an open-source administration tool for disaster recovery of PostgreSQL servers written in Python. Barman enables the remote online hot backup of multiple servers in business critical environments, helping make a DBA's life easier during the recovery stage - now with zero data loss.
The major release of version 2.0 is an important milestone in Barman's journey as it introduces support for a “streaming only” backup of a PostgreSQL server, removing the need for SSH connections altogether.
This is made possible by two significant improvements related to streaming replication:
Through streaming-only backups, Barman is now able to reach Docker and Windows users of PostgreSQL. From an architectural point of view, Barman is now able to offer even more versatility and flexibility by combining traditional SSH communications with PostgreSQL’s native streaming connections.
Another important addition is support for synchronous WAL streaming that allows zero data loss backups and reduces implementation costs of PostgreSQL clusters with “RPO=0” business continuity requirements.
Barman 2.0 also supports the new concurrent backup API introduced in PostgreSQL 9.6, eliminating the need for the pgespresso extension when taking backups from a standby server.
The new 'barman-cli' package improves integration of Barman with repmgr for better high availability outcomes.
Recovery planning is frequently overlooked during business continuity planning, but failure is always an option. Unfortunately, our experience has shown us that typically, disaster recovery plans are only implemented after suffering severe data loss or down-time. Business critical environments must be prepared for the unexpected and Barman is the right tool organisations can use to be prepared.
Now, through synchronous WAL streaming, Barman allows a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 0. Barman now also supports PostgreSQL on Windows (experimental) and Docker. Improved support of very large databases and clusters is currently being developed for a future Barman release.
In addition to the disaster recovery and business continuity support already available through 2ndQuadrant, as the developers of Barman, the team at 2ndQuadrant provides superior support for Barman users. The turnkey disaster recovery solution service includes architecture analysis, installation, training and a final simulation with internal personnel. 2ndQuadrant offers custom solutions, development of new features, training, and 24/7 production support.
The 2.0 release requires that users explicitly configure their archiving strategy. Before, the file based archiver controlled by the ‘archiver’ option was enabled by default. When you upgrade your Barman installation to 2.0, make sure you add the appropriate line globally or for any server that requires it. Barman using officially distributed RPM and Debian packages will be automatically updated.
For installation or upgrade instructions, please see the "Links" section below.
For the comprehensive release notes, please read "Barman 2.0 Release Notes".
If you have any questions about Barman and disaster recovery scenarios using Barman, you can reach the dev team using the community mailing list.
To submit private inquiries regarding implementation, customised features or sponsorship opportunities email the team directly at info@pgbarman.org.