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Database maintenance

Backing up, restoring, connecting to, and migrating the PostgreSQL database that holds Informer's metadata. PostgreSQL is the one component that cannot be easily recovered, so backups here matter most.

Back up before any database work

Connecting to or migrating PostgreSQL is an opportunity to lose data. Back up first, and stop all Informer components except PostgreSQL before restoring.

In this section

ArticleIn one line
Informer backup guideThe quickest ways to back up: the in-app System Backup, the IR tool, and backing up to S3.
Backups and restores (Windows)Back up and restore PostgreSQL from PowerShell on Windows.
Backups and restores (Linux w/ Docker)Back up and restore PostgreSQL from the terminal on Docker.
Backups and restores with compression (Windows)A compressed server-side backup for when the plain dump is too large.
Connecting to PostgreSQLOpen a psql session against the Informer database.
Creating a ./pgdata folder (Docker)Move Postgres data to a host volume so it survives container changes.
Migrating PostgreSQL 11 to 16 (Windows)The Windows path to PostgreSQL 16, required as of Informer 5.9.
Migrating PostgreSQL 11 to 16 (Linux w/ Docker)The Docker path to PostgreSQL 16.
End of support for PostgreSQL 11What the PostgreSQL 11 end-of-support means for Informer.
End of support for SQL Server 2012 and earlierImpact on legacy SQL Server Datasources, and the options.

Where do I look when...

You want to...Start here
Take a quick backupInformer backup guide
Back up or restore on WindowsBackups and restores (Windows)
Back up or restore on DockerBackups and restores (Linux w/ Docker)
Shrink a backup that is too largeBackups and restores with compression (Windows)
Run a query against the databaseConnecting to PostgreSQL
Move to PostgreSQL 16Migrating PostgreSQL 11 to 16 (Windows) or (Linux w/ Docker)