# PostgreSQL data recovery

DevFeed: [PostgreSQL data recovery](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/postgresql-data-recovery-34519.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://tapoueh.org/blog/2013/09/postgresql-data-recovery/>)

Author: Dimitri Fontaine PostgreSQL Major Contributor; Author

Published: 2013-09-17T08:39:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Dimitri Fontaine](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/dimitri-fontaine.md>)

Topics: [PostgreSQL](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/postgresql.md>), [backups](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/backups.md>), [Testing](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/testing.md>), [incident](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/incident.md>), [Programming](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/programming.md>)

Tags: [backups](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/backups.md>), [incident](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/incident.md>), [postgresql](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/postgresql.md>), [shell](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/shell.md>), [testing](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/testing.md>)

## AI overview

This article recounts a PostgreSQL backup and recovery incident and argues that backups should be tested through recovery jobs. It also discusses the risks of deploying custom shell scripts without verifying their configuration and dependencies.

## Source excerpt

The following story is only interesting to read if you like it when bad things happen, or if you don't have a trustworthy backup policy in place. By trustworthy I mean that each backup you take must be tested with a test recovery job. Only tested backups will prove useful when you need them. So go read our Backup and Restore documentation chapter then learn how to setup Barman for handling physical backups and Point In Time Recovery. Get back when you have proper backups, including recovery testing in place. We are waiting for you. Back? Ok, let's see how bad you can end up without backups, and how to still recover. With luck.