Re: Read db files directly

[Mingzuo Shen <mzshen(at)yahoo(dot)com>]

Thanks Jeff!

No, cannot do that.
Because the folder has only the "oid" files.
Don't know that to call them.
All file names are numbers.
Except the three following:
pg_internal.init
pgsql_tmp (empty folder)
PG_VERSION

/seagate400/1061329089 is the actual location
of those 50 GB worth of files.
I have a symlink like so:
/var/lib/pgsql/data/base/1061329089
->
/seagate400/1061329089
Restarted many times.



--- Jeff Frost <jeff(at)frostconsultingllc(dot)com> wrote:

> So what are the two locations in question?  Is one
> /var/lib/pgsql/data and 
> another one /usr/local/pgsql/data by chance?
> 
> You can start another instance of postmaster in that
> directory by using:
> 
> pg_ctl -D <path to data directory> start
> 
> example:
> 
> pg_ctl -D /usr/local/pgsql/data start
> 
> If you do a ps -ef | grep data, you should probably
> see something like:
> 
> postgres 20991     1  4 13:33 pts/13   00:00:00
> /usr/bin/postmaster -p 5432 -D 
> /var/lib/pgsql/data
> 
> which would tell you that the current instance of
> postgres is running in 
> /var/lib/pgsql/data and you need to start the other
> one up to see what's in 
> the other location.
> 
> On Fri, 28 Jul 2006, Mingzuo Shen wrote:
> 
> > Thanks Scott.
> > That is a much clearer way of putting it.
> > That old PostgreSQL runs just fine,
> > in one place, but I have 50 GB of files in
> > another place. PostgreSQL is not reading it.
> > How can I persuade this PostgreSQL,
> > or any PostgeSQL, to read that 50 GB of files.
> > Or any independent tool to read the files.
> >
> > Tom Lane mentioned "vacuum".
> > If only I knew the database name,
> > I could try "psql dbname".
> > But I don't know the database name either.
> > I did run "vacuum" in my new testdb.
> >
> > Yeah. I guess the previous DBA put those files
> > on a different file system,
> > and then forgot about them, probably with
> > good reason. But as I said, the previous DBA
> > is no longer available.
> >
> > Imagine I send just those files to you,
> > and you try to get some text out of them.
> > I do not have the SQL used to create
> > the tables, no table structures.
> >
> >
> >
> > --- Scott Marlowe <smarlowe(at)g2switchworks(dot)com>
> wrote:
> >
> >> It sounds like the current postgresql is running
> in
> >> one directory, and
> >> you're looking in another directory.  If you can
> see
> >> how postgresql was
> >> started, does it have a -D switch that shows the
> >> directory?  My guess is
> >> you could chmod 000 the master directory you're
> >> looking at right now and
> >> postgresql could still startup, because it's not
> >> where you think it is.
> >
> >
> > ---------------------------(end of
> broadcast)---------------------------
> > TIP 3: Have you checked our extensive FAQ?
> >
> >               http://www.postgresql.org/docs/faq
> >
> >
> 
> -- 
> Jeff Frost, Owner 	<jeff(at)frostconsultingllc(dot)com>
> Frost Consulting, LLC 
> http://www.frostconsultingllc.com/
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>