Re: pg_start_backup and pg_stop_backup Re: Re: [COMMITTERS] pgsql: Make CheckRequiredParameterValues() depend upon correct

Heikki Linnakangas <heikki.linnakangas@enterprisedb.com> writes:
> Tom Lane wrote:
>> If you aren't archiving then there's no guarantee that you'll still have
>> a continuous WAL series starting from the start of the backup.

> I wasn't really thinking of this use case, but you could set
> wal_keep_segments "high enough".

Ah.  Okay, that seems like a workable approach, at least for people with
reasonably predictable WAL loads.  We could certainly improve on it
later to make it more bulletproof, but it's usable now --- if we relax
the error checks.

(wal_keep_segments can be changed without restarting, right?)

> Not a configuration I would recommend
> for high availability, but should be fine for setting up a streaming
> replication standby for testing etc. If we don't allow
> pg_start/stop_backup() with archive_mode=off and max_wal_senders>0,
> there's no way to bootstrap a streaming replication standby without
> archiving.

Right.  +1 for weakening the tests, then.  Is there any use in looking
at wal_keep_segments as part of this test?
        regards, tom lane