I'm trying to pg_basebackup my database. I followed instructions in PG Mauals and set it up properly (check on other server and database), but my backup isn't ending - on end of progress it's displaying error:

could not get WAL end position from server

I've found few Q&A about this issue but all resolution was to check owners of files. In my case all files owner is user postgres, chown also OK

What could be the trouble

Server Ubuntu 13.10 Postgresql 9.1, database is having 2 tablespaces.


Exact version is: PostgreSQL 9.1.13 on x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu, compiled by gcc (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.8.1-10ubuntu8) 4.8.1, 64-bit

Exact command is:

pg_basebackup -D /home/osm/bkp_binary/ -Ft -P -v -x -z
  • What's the exact PostgreSQL version from select version() and the exact pg_basebackup command run? – Craig Ringer Sep 18 '14 at 14:04
  • Finally, what's your archive_command and restore_command? They must work correctly unless you use pg_basebackup -X stream which is only available on PostgreSQL 9.3+ – Craig Ringer Sep 18 '14 at 14:05
  • @CraigRinger What do you mean by archive_command and restore_command? I didn't restore cause I didn't get valid backup, full command to backup is added to question. – Jendrusk Sep 18 '14 at 14:18
  • They're part of PITR / WAL archiving setup, and are required to use pg_basebackup without the -X stream option or manual copying of WAL files. You should probably take a more detailed look at the docs. I know it's weird and complicated, which is why the whole thing was simplified in 9.3 with the -X stream option. Basically, the master must be archiving WAL for pg_basebackup to work, or you must manually copy the extra pg_xlog over afterwards. See pg_basebackup docs for 9.1. – Craig Ringer Sep 18 '14 at 14:25

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