Fast major-version upgrade (was: [GENERAL] postgresql 8.0 advantages)

On Sun, Feb 27, 2005 at 09:27:41PM +0100, Tino Wildenhain wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Am Samstag, den 26.02.2005, 15:35 -0600 schrieb Jim C. Nasby:
> > On Sat, Feb 26, 2005 at 01:27:55AM -0800, Jeff Davis wrote:
> > > On Fri, 2005-02-25 at 09:20 -0800, Si Chen wrote:
> > > > Thanks!
> > > >
> > > > Is there any documentation on how to upgrade to 8.0?
> > > >
> > > > Is it possible to upgrade from 7.4 to 8.0 while keeping a production
> > > > database running "in place"? Or should I install 8.0 in another
> > > > directory/machine and then restore the database into it? Are there any
> > > > incompatibilities/modifications to databases from the earlier veresion
> > > > required?
> > > >
> > >
> > > You might want to check out Slony-I <http://www.slony.info> for the
> > > purpose of upgrading. Slony is actually a replication engine, but it can
> > > be used to upgrade with little or no downtime. Otherwise, just
> > > dump/upgrade/restore like normal.
> >
> > Has anyone tried moving a database from one location to another on the
> > HD? I'd like to use slony to minimize downtime, but I'd also like my
> > data to end up in the same place it is right now when I'm done.
>
> I used a straight copy of the filesystem with running database
> (over the net in my case) and immediately after that,
> stop the db and rsync for the last changes. This took only
> 10 minutes (compared to 1.5h for the full filesystem copy)
> and I could start up the db in new location.
>
> this could work for you too.

I hadn't thought about using rsync; that's a great idea!

Is there somewhere this could be documented? In an FAQ maybe?
--
Jim C. Nasby, Database Consultant decibel(at)decibel(dot)org
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