[Qgis-user] Backing up GIS Data

[Jeff McKenna]

Hi Tyler,

This is a good question, and an important one, and don't feel bad about 
posting it here - likely we can all learn from this discussion, as it 
definitely involves the whole QGIS community.

I have quite a lot of experience backing up databases, especially 
PostgreSQL/PostGIS databases.  I can tell you that it is for sure 
important to run "pg_dump" as a daily backup (in addition to your whole 
server image/backup) - that pg_dump has saved me and my clients hundreds 
of times, and it is very portable and easy to access (as opposed to your 
whole image/machine backup).  One very important point (that's I've 
learned from experience) when using pg_dump is to *always* use the 
custom binary/compressed output format (the "--format=c" commandline 
switch for pg_dump).  I've had terrible times with the other output 
format types, especially when restoring a database from a Windows server 
to a Linux server etc (with hardcoded paths inside the backup).  I live 
by that format, swear by it, from experience, moving so many client 
databases from one machine to another.

Another mailing list to keep in mind is the PostGIS mailing list, where 
these backup topics also pop up from time to time - and discussions are 
more geo-related, so are very helpful, than just the generic PostgreSQL 
mailing list.

So, definitely implement an additional backup process using pg_dump (you 
can experiment restoring it through the "pg_restore" command), you won't 
regret the effort spent.

Happy QGIS-ing,

-jeff


-- 
Jeff McKenna
MapServer Consulting and Training Services
http://www.gatewaygeomatics.com/



On 2016-07-14 11:35 AM, Tyler Veinot wrote:
> Hi All;
> I am thinking about getting IT to install PostgreSQL on our server and
> start moving our GIS Data over to the post database. My concern is
> backup; we currently backup the whole server onto, what are called
> "tapes" but I am sure they are not cassettes or the like, anyway twice a
> day the whole server is copied so we can go back to previous versions of
> a file or folder to; roll back, restore, or recover. With this in place
> do I need to setup a separate backup or replication service on the
> postgre database? Could I just "roll back" using a later server version?
> Well.... I guess this is more of a postgre question and not so much a
> QGIS one; but I am going to put this out there anyway and if no one can
> answer I will find another spot.
> Thanks
> Tyler
>
>