PG_DUMPALL(1)

📦 version 14.24, in opensuse-leap 16.0

💖 NAME — pg_dumpall(1) 💖

okay so this is the PG_DUMPALL(1) page from the PostgreSQL 14.24 Documentation, and bestie, it's literally the “extract a PostgreSQL database cluster into a script file” tool. Iconic behavior.

pg_dumpall — extract a PostgreSQL database cluster into a script file.

🫶 SYNOPSIS 🫶

pg_dumpall [connection-option...] [option...]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

pg_dumpall is a utility for writing out (“dumping”) all PostgreSQL databases of a cluster into one script file. The script file contains SQL commands that can be used as input to psql(1) to restore the databases. It does this by calling pg_dump(1) for each database in the cluster. pg_dumpall also dumps global objects that are common to all databases, that is, database roles and tablespaces. (pg_dump does not save these objects.) so it's giving “whole cluster, no crumbs.”

Since pg_dumpall reads tables from all databases you will most likely have to connect as a database superuser in order to produce a complete dump. Also you will need superuser privileges to execute the saved script in order to be allowed to add roles and create databases. superuser energy is required, bestie.

The SQL script will be written to the standard output. Use the -f/--file option or shell operators to redirect it into a file.

pg_dumpall needs to connect several times to the PostgreSQL server (once per database). If you use password authentication it will ask for a password each time. It is convenient to have a ~/.pgpass file in such cases. See Section 34.16 for more information. yes, it's gonna ask again. and again. and again. hydrate and set up ~/.pgpass.

🚨 Warning — Restoring a dump causes the destination to execute arbitrary code of the source superusers' choice. Partial dumps and partial restores do not limit that. If the source superusers are not trusted, the dumped SQL statements must be inspected before restoring. Note that the client running the dump and restore need not trust the source or destination superusers.

✨ OPTIONS ✨

The following command-line options control the content and format of the output.

  • -a, --data-only — Dump only the data, not the schema (data definitions). data only, no definitions, periodt.
  • -c, --clean — Emit SQL commands to DROP all the dumped databases, roles, and tablespaces before recreating them. This option is useful when the restore is to overwrite an existing cluster. If any of the objects do not exist in the destination cluster, ignorable error messages will be reported during restore, unless --if-exists is also specified. so it's a “clean slate” moment, but read the --if-exists part too.
  • -E encoding, --encoding=encoding — Create the dump in the specified character set encoding. By default, the dump is created in the database encoding. (Another way to get the same result is to set the PGCLIENTENCODING environment variable to the desired dump encoding.) encoding matters, bestie, don't let it get messy.
  • -f filename, --file=filename — Send output to the specified file. If this is omitted, the standard output is used. write it to a file or let it spill into stdout, your call.
  • -g, --globals-only — Dump only global objects (roles and tablespaces), no databases. globals only, no database content.
  • -O, --no-owner — Do not output commands to set ownership of objects to match the original database. By default, pg_dumpall issues ALTER OWNER or SET SESSION AUTHORIZATION statements to set ownership of created schema elements. These statements will fail when the script is run unless it is started by a superuser (or the same user that owns all of the objects in the script). To make a script that can be restored by any user, but will give that user ownership of all the objects, specify -O. ownership drama, handled.
  • -r, --roles-only — Dump only roles, no databases or tablespaces. roles only, no databases, no tablespaces.
  • -s, --schema-only — Dump only the object definitions (schema), not data. schema without the data, like a blueprint with no furniture.
  • -S username, --superuser=username — Specify the superuser user name to use when disabling triggers. This is relevant only if --disable-triggers is used. (Usually, it's better to leave this out, and instead start the resulting script as superuser.) only relevant with --disable-triggers, okay?
  • -t, --tablespaces-only — Dump only tablespaces, no databases or roles. tablespaces only, nothing else.
  • -v, --verbose — Specifies verbose mode. This will cause pg_dumpall to output start/stop times to the dump file, and progress messages to standard error. Repeating the option causes additional debug-level messages to appear on standard error. The option is also passed down to pg_dump. more -v, more messages, more main character logging.
  • -V, --version — Print the pg_dumpall version and exit. version check and bounce.
  • -x, --no-privileges, --no-acl — Prevent dumping of access privileges (grant/revoke commands). no grant/revoke commands in the dump.
  • --binary-upgrade — This option is for use by in-place upgrade utilities. Its use for other purposes is not recommended or supported. The behavior of the option may change in future releases without notice. do not casually use this one, bestie.
  • --column-inserts, --attribute-inserts — Dump data as INSERT commands with explicit column names (INSERT INTO table (column, ...) VALUES ...). This will make restoration very slow; it is mainly useful for making dumps that can be loaded into non-PostgreSQL databases. slow restore, but portable-ish. noted.
  • --disable-dollar-quoting — This option disables the use of dollar quoting for function bodies, and forces them to be quoted using SQL standard string syntax. no dollar quoting for function bodies.
  • --disable-triggers — This option is relevant only when creating a data-only dump. It instructs pg_dumpall to include commands to temporarily disable triggers on the target tables while the data is restored. Use this if you have referential integrity checks or other triggers on the tables that you do not want to invoke during data restore.

Presently, the commands emitted for --disable-triggers must be done as superuser. So, you should also specify a superuser name with -S, or preferably be careful to start the resulting script as a superuser. trigger chaos, temporarily paused.

  • --exclude-database=pattern — Do not dump databases whose name matches pattern. Multiple patterns can be excluded by writing multiple --exclude-database switches. The pattern parameter is interpreted as a pattern according to the same rules used by psql's \d commands (see Patterns below), so multiple databases can also be excluded by writing wildcard characters in the pattern. When using wildcards, be careful to quote the pattern if needed to prevent shell wildcard expansion. wildcards are cute until the shell eats them.
  • --extra-float-digits=ndigits — Use the specified value of extra_float_digits when dumping floating-point data, instead of the maximum available precision. Routine dumps made for backup purposes should not use this option. backup dumps should leave this alone.
  • --if-exists — Use DROP ... IF EXISTS commands to drop objects in --clean mode. This suppresses “does not exist” errors that might otherwise be reported. This option is not valid unless --clean is also specified. only valid with --clean, bestie.
  • --inserts — Dump data as INSERT commands (rather than COPY). This will make restoration very slow; it is mainly useful for making dumps that can be loaded into non-PostgreSQL databases. Note that the restore might fail altogether if you have rearranged column order. The --column-inserts option is safer, though even slower. slower than COPY, and column order can ruin the vibe.
  • --load-via-partition-root — When dumping data for a table partition, make the COPY or INSERT statements target the root of the partitioning hierarchy that contains it, rather than the partition itself. This causes the appropriate partition to be re-determined for each row when the data is loaded. This may be useful when restoring data on a server where rows do not always fall into the same partitions as they did on the original server. That could happen, for example, if the partitioning column is of type text and the two systems have different definitions of the collation used to sort the partitioning column. partition re-routing, explained. no cap.
  • --lock-wait-timeout=timeout — Do not wait forever to acquire shared table locks at the beginning of the dump. Instead, fail if unable to lock a table within the specified timeout. The timeout may be specified in any of the formats accepted by SET statement_timeout. set a timeout, don't wait eternally.
  • --no-comments — Do not dump comments. no comments in the dump.
  • --no-publications — Do not dump publications. no publications.
  • --no-role-passwords — Do not dump passwords for roles. When restored, roles will have a null password, and password authentication will always fail until the password is set. Since password values aren't needed when this option is specified, the role information is read from the catalog view pg_roles instead of pg_authid. Therefore, this option also helps if access to pg_authid is restricted by some security policy. null passwords after restore — set them later.
  • --no-security-labels — Do not dump security labels. no security labels.
  • --no-subscriptions — Do not dump subscriptions. no subscriptions.
  • --no-sync — By default, pg_dumpall will wait for all files to be written safely to disk. This option causes pg_dumpall to return without waiting, which is faster, but means that a subsequent operating system crash can leave the dump corrupt. Generally, this option is useful for testing but should not be used when dumping data from production installation. faster, but a crash can leave the dump corrupt — testing only, fr fr.
  • --no-tablespaces — Do not output commands to create tablespaces nor select tablespaces for objects. With this option, all objects will be created in whichever tablespace is the default during restore. everything lands in the default tablespace during restore.
  • --no-toast-compression — Do not output commands to set TOAST compression methods. With this option, all columns will be restored with the default compression setting. no TOAST compression commands, defaults only.
  • --no-unlogged-table-data — Do not dump the contents of unlogged tables. This option has no effect on whether or not the table definitions (schema) are dumped; it only suppresses dumping the table data. definitions still dumped, data not dumped.
  • --on-conflict-do-nothing — Add ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING to INSERT commands. This option is not valid unless --inserts or --column-inserts is also specified. only valid with --inserts or --column-inserts, okay?
  • --quote-all-identifiers — Force quoting of all identifiers. This option is recommended when dumping a database from a server whose PostgreSQL major version is different from pg_dumpall's, or when the output is intended to be loaded into a server of a different major version. By default, pg_dumpall quotes only identifiers that are reserved words in its own major version. This sometimes results in compatibility issues when dealing with servers of other versions that may have slightly different sets of reserved words. Using --quote-all-identifiers prevents such issues, at the price of a harder-to-read dump script. more quotes, fewer version gremlins, slightly uglier script.
  • --restrict-key=restrict_key — Use the provided string as the psql \restrict key in the dump output. If no restrict key is specified, pg_dumpall will generate a random one as needed. Keys may contain only alphanumeric characters. alphanumeric only for the restrict key.

like, okay — this is the second paragraph of that option above, and it's important so stay with me: this thing is primarily intended for testing purposes and other scenarios where you need repeatable output (think comparing dump files, that kind of vibe). It is not recommended for general use — because a malicious server that somehow already knows the key could inject arbitrary code that gets executed on the machine running psql with the dump output. 😭 so yeah, testing only, bestie.

  • --rows-per-insert=nrows — dumps data as INSERT commands instead of COPY, and this controls the max number of rows per INSERT command. The value you pass must be a number greater than zero. 🎀 Nice bonus: if something errors during restore, only the rows that are part of the problematic INSERT get lost — not the entire table's contents.
  • --use-set-session-authorization — outputs SQL-standard SET SESSION AUTHORIZATION commands instead of ALTER OWNER commands to determine object ownership. More standards-compatible ✨ but ⚠️ depending on the history of the objects in the dump, it might not restore properly.
  • -?, --help — shows help about pg_dumpall command line arguments, and exits. the classic. 🫶

🔌 the connection-parameters corner (yes, these control how we connect)

  • -d connstr, --dbname=connstr — specifies the parameters used to connect to the server, as a connection string; these override any conflicting command line options.

heads up tho 👀 it's called --dbname for consistency with other client applications, but because pg_dumpall needs to connect to many databases, the database name in the connection string will be ignored. Use the -l option to specify the name of the database used for the initial connection — that's the one that dumps global objects and discovers what other databases should be dumped.

  • -h host, --host=host — specifies the host name of the machine running the database server. If the value begins with a slash, it's used as the directory for the Unix domain socket 🧚. The default comes from the PGHOST environment variable if it's set, else a Unix domain socket connection is attempted.
  • -l dbname, --database=dbname — specifies the name of the database to connect to for dumping global objects and discovering what other databases should be dumped. If you don't specify it, the postgres database is used, and if that doesn't exist, template1 is used. ✨
  • -p port, --port=port — specifies the TCP port or local Unix domain socket file extension the server is listening on for connections. Defaults to the PGPORT environment variable if set, or a compiled-in default.
  • -U username, --username=username — the user name to connect as. 💅
  • -w, --no-password — never issue a password prompt. If the server requires password authentication and a password isn't available by other means such as a .pgpass file, the connection attempt will fail. Super useful in batch jobs and scripts where no user is around to type a password. 🫶
  • -W, --password — forces pg_dumpall to prompt for a password before connecting to a database.

This option is never essential, since pg_dumpall will automatically prompt for a password if the server demands password authentication. But it'll waste a connection attempt finding out the server wants a password 😭 so sometimes it's worth typing -W to avoid that extra attempt.

⚠️ note that the password prompt will occur again for each database to be dumped. Usually it's way better to set up a ~/.pgpass file than to rely on manual password entry. iykyk.
  • --role=rolename — specifies a role name to be used to create the dump. This makes pg_dumpall issue a SET ROLE rolename command after connecting to the database. It's useful when the authenticated user (specified by -U) lacks privileges needed by pg_dumpall, but can switch to a role with the required rights 👑. Some installations have a policy against logging in directly as a superuser, and this option lets dumps be made without violating that policy. slay.

🌈 ENVIRONMENT

  • PGHOST
  • PGOPTIONS
  • PGPORT
  • PGUSER

these four = default connection parameters ✨

  • PG_COLOR — specifies whether to use color in diagnostic messages. Possible values are always, auto and never. 🌸

This utility, like most other PostgreSQL utilities, also uses the environment variables supported by libpq (see Section 34.15).

💀 NOTES

Since pg_dumpall calls pg_dump internally, some diagnostic messages will refer to pg_dump. don't panic, it's the same situation fr.

The --clean option can be useful even when your intention is to restore the dump script into a fresh cluster. Using --clean authorizes the script to drop and re-create the built-in postgres and template1 databases, ensuring those databases retain the same properties (for instance, locale and encoding) that they had in the source cluster. 🔥 Without the option, those databases will retain their existing database-level properties, as well as any pre-existing contents.

Once restored, it's wise to run ANALYZE on each database so the optimizer has useful statistics. You can also run vacuumdb -a -z to analyze all databases. 💅

⚠️ the dump script should not be expected to run completely without errors. In particular, because the script will issue CREATE ROLE for every role existing in the source cluster, it is certain to get a “role already exists” error for the bootstrap superuser — unless the destination cluster was initialized with a different bootstrap superuser name. This error is harmless and should be ignored. 🫶 Using --clean is likely to produce additional harmless error messages about non-existent objects, although you can minimize those by adding --if-exists.

pg_dumpall requires all needed tablespace directories to exist before the restore — otherwise, database creation will fail for databases in non-default locations. 😭

It is generally recommended to use the -X (--no-psqlrc) option when restoring a database from a pg_dumpall script, to ensure a clean restore process and prevent potential conflicts with non-default psql configurations. Additionally, because the pg_dumpall script may include psql meta-commands, it may be incompatible with clients other than psql. 👀

✨ EXAMPLES

To dump all databases:

$ pg_dumpall > db.out

To restore database(s) from this file, you can use:

$ psql -X -f db.out -d postgres

It is not important which database you connect to here, since the script file created by pg_dumpall will contain the appropriate commands to create and connect to the saved databases. 🌟 The exception: if you specified --clean, you must connect to the postgres database initially — the script will attempt to drop other databases immediately, and that will fail for the database you're connected to. 🙈

🦋 SEE ALSO

Check pg_dump(1) for details on possible error conditions.

okay that's the whole page, bestie, go forth and dump responsibly 💖 this was PostgreSQL 14.24, dated 2026, and it's the PG_DUMPALL(1) page — mwah, ily, see you in the next man page 🎀✨

📦 where this page comes from