Is pg_dump a backup tool?

Postgres FM

Michael and Nikolay are joined by Gülçin Yıldırım Jelínek and Robert Haas to discuss both the technical question of whether or not pg_dump is a backup tool, as well as the tone and intent behind the statement "pg_dump is not a backup tool".
Here are some links to things they mentioned:

• Gülçin Yıldırım Jelínek https://postgres.fm/people/gulcin-yildirim-jelinek
• Robert Haas https://postgres.fm/people/robert-haas
• Why you should upgrade PostgreSQL today (blog post by Gülçin) https://xata.io/blog/cve-2024-7348-postgres-upgrade
• If pg_dump is not a backup tool, what is? (blog post by Gülçin) https://xata.io/blog/pgdump-is-not-a-backup-tool
• Is pg_dump a backup tool? (blog post by Robert) https://rhaas.blogspot.com/2024/10/is-pgdump-backup-tool.html?m=1
• Why pg_dump is amazing (blog post by Robert) https://rhaas.blogspot.com/2024/11/why-pgdump-is-amazing.html
• Avoid too prominent use of "backup" on pg_dump man page (commit by Peter Eisentraut) https://git.postgresql.org/gitweb/?p=postgresql.git;a=commit;h=4f29394ea941f688fd4faf7260d2c198931ca797
• Is pg_dump a backup tool? (poll by Nikolay with options Yes / No / Define backup) https://x.com/samokhvalov/status/1847015453056786771
• What's the best way to make a backup (a recent example discussion on Reddit) https://www.reddit.com/r/PostgreSQL/comments/1gu4r05/whats_the_best_way_to_make_a_backup/
• Hackers mailing list https://www.postgresql.org/list/pgsql-hackers/
• Praise, Criticism, and Dialogue (blog post by Robert) https://rhaas.blogspot.com/2023/12/praise-criticism-and-dialogue.html
• Out-of-cycle release scheduled for November 21, 2024 https://www.postgresql.org/about/news/out-of-cycle-release-scheduled-for-november-21-2024-2958/
• pgBackRest https://github.com/pgbackrest/pgbackrest
• Barman https://github.com/EnterpriseDB/barman
• Our previous episode on backups https://postgres.fm/episodes/backups

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What did you like or not like? What should we discuss next time? Let us know via a YouTube comment, on social media, or by commenting on our Google doc!

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Postgres FM is produced by:

• Michael Christofides, founder of pgMustard
• Nikolay Samokhvalov, founder of Postgres.ai

With special thanks to:

• Jessie Draws for the elephant artwork