Re: restoring from dump

On Sat, 23 Aug 2008, Tena Sakai wrote:

> Hi,
>
> At psql prompt, I tried:
> drop database myDB;
> and it told me:
> ERROR: cannot drop the currently open database
>
> Does this mean I have to issue
> pg_ctl stop
> before I issue
> "drop database myDB;"?
> But if I do so, then how would I get to psql prompt
> at all?
>
> How would I get around this catch-22 situation?
> Any advice appreciated.

Just connect to a different database to do your drop. This is what the
'postgres' database is often used for. That's why it is sometimes referred to
as the maintenance DB.

Or you can use the dropdb command. Of course I'd still recommend you rename
the DB till you're sure the restore was successful.

>
> Tena Sakai
> tsakai(at)gallo(dot)ucsf(dot)edu
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jeff Frost [mailto:jeff(at)frostconsultingllc(dot)com]
> Sent: Fri 8/22/2008 10:28 PM
> To: Tena Sakai
> Cc: pgsql-admin(at)postgresql(dot)org
> Subject: Re: [ADMIN] restoring from dump
>
>
>
> Jeff Frost wrote:
>> Tena Sakai wrote:
>>>
>>>> If you want to restore all the databases that were in this
>>>> postgresql installation at the time of the backup, then the
>>>> best thing to do is drop all those DBs before attempting the
>>>> restore.
>>> Yes, the database in question is built and updated continuously
>>> from a several sources. There was a massive power failure,
>>> a series of them, and things got to be a very inconsistent
>>> state and therefore we need to go back to a reliable, trustworthy
>>> backup and then rebuild from there.
>>>
>>> What I gather, from your comments, all I have to do would to issue
>>> a psql command:
>>> drop database <dbname>
>>> then repeat what I did from shell prompt, ie.,
>>> zcat <compressed_file> | psql postgres > restore.out 2 > restore.err
>>>
>>> Would you mind confirming if I am understanding you correctly?
>>>
>> Yes, based on the information you've given us, you should be able to
>> restore the entire database (and any other databases that were in the
>> cluster) by first dropping those databases and then issuing the above
>> command.
>>
>> BTW, if you find yourself with an older version of postgresql, this
>> could be a good opportunity to upgrade. I'm not sure if you mentioned
>> what version you were using in your original post.
> I should also note that you could rename the database instead of
> dropping it outright, to make sure your restore is effective before
> dropping it.
>
>

--
Jeff Frost, Owner <jeff(at)frostconsultingllc(dot)com>
Frost Consulting, LLC http://www.frostconsultingllc.com/
Phone: 916-647-6411 FAX: 916-405-4032