Re: reuse data in existing data directory

On 16/03/10 12:02, Peter Schmidtke wrote:
> Dear PostGreSQL users,
>
> I have the following problem. I have a system with several partitions
> (openSuse Linux 11.1). Far what is important related to this question :
>
> - 1 system partition (where postgres is installed)
> - 1 data partition (where the postgres data directory is lying)
>
> my system partition got messed up and I prefer to reformat and reinstall
> the system without touching to the data partition. Thus I have to reinstall
> postgresql, but I don't know if I would be able to recover my data. Is that
> possible? How can I reintegrate all my ancient databases?

If the data partition contains *all* of your PostgreSQL data files
(pg_clog, pg_xlog etc) then it should be simple enough.

1. Take a backup of your PG data (can't hurt).
2. Re-install SuSe, make sure you have the same version of PostgreSQL
(if you had 8.3 before re-install that 8.3 again).
3. If your PG files are in the standard directory then you should see an
error saying initdb refused to run.
4. That's it - it should all just work.

--
Richard Huxton
Archonet Ltd