PITR backup history files with identical 2nd part file names

Hello

After upgrading to 8.3.9 and moving some our PostgreSQL clusters to a
new server yesterday, we have experienced a strange thing this past night.

All PITR backup history files created when running a PITR base backup on
all PostgreSQL clusters running in this new server (at different hours
during the night) got an identical 2nd part file name.

<24 digits>.00000020.backup e.g.000000020000020800000060.00000020.backup

All of them got 00000020.backup. as 2nd part of the file name. After
checking old logfiles from other servers, we can say that this is the
first time this happens. They used to be very different values each time
we run a PITR base backup.

We found this because a 'bug' in the script we use to create the PITR
base backup. This script could not find out the WAL files to be deleted
after one of the base backup was finished because 00000020 could be
found in all WAL file names in one of the clusters. This 'bug' has been
already fixed in our script.

After some more testing, it looks like we get the same 2nd part of the
file name *everytime* we run a PITR base backup i.e. '.00000020.backup'.
This happens on 10 different postgreSQL clusters runnig on the same server.

Is it normal to get the same 2nd part of the file name all the time? How
is this value generated?

This behavior is strange and I wonder if there is anything wrong with
this new server. Everything else looks ok and works without problems.

Thanks in advance.
--
Rafael Martinez, <r(dot)m(dot)guerrero(at)usit(dot)uio(dot)no>
Center for Information Technology Services
University of Oslo, Norway

PGP Public Key: http://folk.uio.no/rafael/