How tu upgrade Postgresql 8.3 database file to 8.4

Question

hi there,

I upgraded my Ubuntu 8.04 To Ubuntu 10.04. Unfortunately, the upgrade process also updated the Postgres 8.3 install to an Postgres 8.4 install. My feeling is that although database engine binaries have been updated, the database itself was not migrated, hence it can not be loaded by the 8.4. Since the 8.3 data format is not compatible with 8.4 format, altering postgresql.conf is not enough, nor can I use pg_dump with my 8.4 install.

I need a way to upgrade my previous base from 8.3 to 8.4, with no access to a 8.3 engine, only a 8.4.

Any clue ?

Thanks !

Answer 1

Make sure you backup everything before you try anything.

There is the pg_migrator project which I think will do that for you, though I'm not sure whether it needs to 8.3 applications or source code.

Answer 2

You'll have to install PostgreSQL 8.3 in temporary location from source, copy your old data there, start Pg, dump it's data using pd_dumpall and then import this data to new Postgres.

It's impossible without installing Pg 8.3.