PostgreSQL Backups and Migration

database snapshot

$ pg_dump -h hostname - d dbname -U username > mysnapshot.sql

The password can be included in the command above, otherwise you'll be prompted for the password.

The -a option will dump only the data in the database, not the structure.

It's also possible to compress the dump:

$ pg_dump -h hostname - d dbname -U username | gzip > mysnapshot.gz
$ gunzip -c mysnapshot.gz | psql dbname

Restoring a dump

$ psql dbname < mysnapshot.sql