---
title: "Backup and Restore"
id: backup
pg_version: "20devel"
---

<a id="backup"></a>

# Backup and Restore

## Table of Contents

- [25.1. SQL Dump](backup-dump.md)
  - [25.1.1. Restoring the Dump](backup-dump.md#backup-dump-restore)
  - [25.1.2. Using pg_dumpall](backup-dump.md#backup-dump-all)
  - [25.1.3. Handling Large Databases](backup-dump.md#backup-dump-large)
- [25.2. File System Level Backup](backup-file.md)
- [25.3. Continuous Archiving and Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR)](continuous-archiving.md)
  - [25.3.1. Setting Up WAL Archiving](continuous-archiving.md#backup-archiving-wal)
  - [25.3.2. Making a Base Backup](continuous-archiving.md#backup-base-backup)
  - [25.3.3. Making an Incremental Backup](continuous-archiving.md#backup-incremental-backup)
  - [25.3.4. Making a Base Backup Using the Low Level API](continuous-archiving.md#backup-lowlevel-base-backup)
  - [25.3.5. Recovering Using a Continuous Archive Backup](continuous-archiving.md#backup-pitr-recovery)
  - [25.3.6. Timelines](continuous-archiving.md#backup-timelines)
  - [25.3.7. Tips and Examples](continuous-archiving.md#backup-tips)
  - [25.3.8. Caveats](continuous-archiving.md#continuous-archiving-caveats)

As with everything that contains valuable data, PostgreSQL databases should be backed up regularly. While the procedure is essentially simple, it is important to have a clear understanding of the underlying techniques and assumptions. 

There are three fundamentally different approaches to backing up PostgreSQL data: 
- SQL dump
- File system level backup
- Continuous archiving

 Each has its own strengths and weaknesses; each is discussed in turn in the following sections.