# pgBackRest — Reliable PostgreSQL Backup and Restore

> A robust open-source backup and restore solution for PostgreSQL with parallel compression, encryption, full/incremental/differential backups, and cloud storage support.

## Install

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# pgBackRest — Reliable PostgreSQL Backup and Restore

## Quick Use
```bash
# Install on Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install pgbackrest
# Create a full backup
pgbackrest --stanza=main --type=full backup
# Restore from the latest backup
pgbackrest --stanza=main restore
```

## Introduction
pgBackRest is a backup and restore tool designed specifically for PostgreSQL. It handles the complexity of WAL archiving, parallel backup compression, and multi-repository storage so database administrators can implement reliable disaster recovery without writing custom scripts.

## What pgBackRest Does
- Creates full, incremental, and differential backups of PostgreSQL clusters
- Archives WAL segments for point-in-time recovery (PITR)
- Compresses backups in parallel using multiple CPU cores
- Encrypts backups at rest with AES-256-CBC
- Stores backups on local disk, S3, Azure Blob, or Google Cloud Storage

## Architecture Overview
pgBackRest runs as a standalone process alongside PostgreSQL. It communicates with the database via the PostgreSQL protocol for backup coordination and uses file-level copy for data transfer. WAL archiving integrates through the `archive_command` configuration. The tool maintains a manifest of all backed-up files to enable efficient incremental backups that only transfer changed pages.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Install via package manager (`apt`, `yum`) or compile from source
- Create a stanza configuration in `/etc/pgbackrest/pgbackrest.conf`
- Set `archive_command` in `postgresql.conf` to route WAL to pgBackRest
- Configure retention policies for full and differential backup counts
- Add S3 or GCS credentials for off-site backup storage

## Key Features
- Delta restore that only replaces files that differ from the backup
- Backup verification with checksum validation against the PostgreSQL catalog
- Asynchronous WAL push and pull for high-throughput archiving
- Multiple backup repositories for redundancy across storage providers
- Standby server backup support to offload backup I/O from the primary

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **pg_dump** — logical backup only, no incremental or PITR support
- **Barman** — similar feature set but Python-based with different architecture
- **WAL-G** — Go-based tool focused on cloud storage, less mature retention management
- **pg_basebackup** — built-in but lacks compression, encryption, and incremental support
- **Borg + pg_dump** — generic backup with PostgreSQL wrapper, not database-aware

## FAQ
**Q: Does pgBackRest support PostgreSQL streaming replication?**
A: Yes. It can back up from a standby replica to avoid impacting primary performance.

**Q: How fast is incremental backup?**
A: Incremental backups only transfer changed blocks, making them significantly faster than full backups for large databases.

**Q: Can I restore to a specific point in time?**
A: Yes. Specify a target timestamp, transaction ID, or LSN for point-in-time recovery using archived WAL segments.

**Q: What PostgreSQL versions are supported?**
A: pgBackRest supports PostgreSQL 9.0 through the latest release, with full feature support from version 9.4 onward.

## Sources
- https://github.com/pgbackrest/pgbackrest
- https://pgbackrest.org

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