Re: Reloading data

Damon Courtney <damon(at)your(dot)unreality(dot)com> writes:
> Is there some easy way I can take an old PGDATA directory and load
> it into a new instance of Postgres? My server was rebuilt, and I didn't
> get a chance to dump the database to restore it in the new server.

Only if it's the samw Postgres version, and you want to replace the
whole installation (entire contents of PGDATA).

> Will copying the old data directory into the new server really screw
> things up? Is there some method by which I can somehow "import" data from
> those old data files into the new server?

It sounds like you want to merge with stuff you already have in the new
server, rather than just blow it away and replace the installation with
the old PGDATA contents. I'd suggest that you fire up a postmaster of
the appropriate version in the old PGDATA directory, run pg_dumpall, and
load the dump file into the new server.

regards, tom lane