Re: pg-8.4: is it possible to recover not dumped data?

On Thu, 2012-11-08 at 17:26 +0100, Ennio-Sr wrote:
> [Using pg-8.4 under Gnu/Linux-Squeeze]
>
> Hi all!
> I have stupidly deleted postgresql-common, postgresql-client and
> postgresql-client-common (they where shown as version 9.1 while I was
> running pg 8-4 driving me to this error).
> After realizing (on reboot) I could not connect to my db I installed the
> 8.4 version of the 3 deleted pckgs and, after su-ing to postgres,
> re-created the 'user'.
>
> Now I can see the data directory (/var/lib/postgresql/8.4/main) is still
> populated (I presume with all my data) but I am unable to access them.
> Although I have a copy on my laptop (lacking only minor updatings) I
> would like to know if there is any possibility to recover my data on PC.
>
> if yes, would you please suggest a solution or some chapter to read?

What error message are you getting? Are you able to start the server?

What is in /var/lib/postgresql/8.4/main/PG_VERSION? Do you still have
that version of postgres installed?

Who is the owner of /var/lib/postgresql/8.4/main and its contents? Does
that unix user still exist?

Regards,
    Jeff Davis