Re: [GENERAL] Copying data files to new hardware?

Jaime Casanova <jaime(at)2ndquadrant(dot)com> writes:
> On Wed, Oct 13, 2010 at 11:03 AM, EDH <evandhoffman(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
>> What I'd like to know is: if I install the latest 8.2.x release - I
>> see 8.2.18 RPMs are available - can I do a straight copy of the
>> contents of /var/lib/pgsql/data/ to the new server and start it up?
>> Or is dump & restore the only real way to do this?

> it's safe to just install any version of 8.2.x, copy the whole data
> directory (plus any tablespace's directories you could have) and start
> again...

Not just "any" version --- it has to be the same build options.
(integer-datetimes is definitely a critical option, and I forget what
else.) But if you're using an RPM from the same RPM supplier as before,
they probably got this right.

regards, tom lane