>>How can i dump a password-protected database using perl (DBI or pg) or C
>>(using libpq)? I can't pass the password to pg_dump utility (I was
>>trying to pass it via tty also) when running system() from perl.
>
>
> Isn't example below something like what you are trying to do:
>
> ====8<====
> #include <stdio.h>
> #include <stdlib.h>
>
> int main(void) {
> system("export PGDATABASE=\"test\"; export PGPASSWORD=\"test\"; export PGUSER=\"test\"; psql");
>
> exit(0);
> }
> ====8<====
>
> ? Here psql should connect to db 'test' as user 'test', password
> 'test'. Check if it works with pg_dump.
>
> I hope that helps! BTW - there are also other ways to do that...
> Check docs of your pg version. $PGPASSWORD is deprecated.
Thanks to Artur! I solved my problem another way using his hint.
I needed to make backups of a non-constant set of DBs as a cron job. I
connected to the main DB the usual way & made "select datname from
pg_database". Then I setup the environment correctly & forked a child
(pg_dump) for every DB in the list i got.
It will be a pity if $PGPASSWORD would dissapear in the future releases
of PostgreSQL since users wouldn't be able to automate some DB
maintainance tasks. I enjoy MySQL allowing to provide password @ the
prompt actually. Maybe this feature would be added to Postgres later.