Copying PostgreSQL database to another server

You don't need to create an intermediate file. You can do

pg_dump -C -h localhost -U localuser dbname | psql -h remotehost -U remoteuser dbname

or

pg_dump -C -h remotehost -U remoteuser dbname | psql -h localhost -U localuser dbname

using psql or pg_dump to connect to a remote host.

With a big database or a slow connection, dumping a file and transfering the file compressed may be faster.

As Kornel said there is no need to dump to a intermediate file, if you want to work compressed you can use a compressed tunnel

pg_dump -C dbname | bzip2 | ssh  remoteuser@remotehost "bunzip2 | psql dbname"

or

pg_dump -C dbname | ssh -C remoteuser@remotehost "psql dbname"

but this solution also requires to get a session in both ends.

Note: pg_dump is for backing up and psql is for restoring. So, the first command in this answer is to copy from local to remote and the second one is from remote to local. More -> https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.6/app-pgdump.html

pg_dump the_db_name > the_backup.sql

Then copy the backup to your development server, restore with:

psql the_new_dev_db < the_backup.sql

Use pg_dump, and later psql or pg_restore - depending whether you choose -Fp or -Fc options to pg_dump.

Example of usage:

ssh production
pg_dump -C -Fp -f dump.sql -U postgres some_database_name
scp dump.sql development:
rm dump.sql
ssh development
psql -U postgres -f dump.sql

Accepted answer is correct, but if you want to avoid entering the password interactively, you can use this:

PGPASSWORD={{export_db_password}} pg_dump --create -h {{export_db_host}} -U {{export_db_user}} {{export_db_name}} | PGPASSWORD={{import_db_password}} psql -h {{import_db_host}} -U {{import_db_user}} {{import_db_name}}

Here is an example using pg_basebackup

I chose to go this route because it backs up the entire database cluster (users, databases, etc.).

I'm posting this as a solution on here because it details every step I had to take, feel free to add recommendations or improvements after reading other answers on here and doing some more research.

For Postgres 12 and Ubuntu 18.04 I had to do these actions:

On the server that is currently running the database:

Update pg_hba.conf, for me located at /etc/postgresql/12/main/pg_hba.conf

Add the following line (substitute 192.168.0.100 with the IP address of the server you want to copy the database to).

host  replication  postgres  192.168.0.100/32  trust

Update postgresql.conf, for me located at /etc/postgresql/12/main/postgresql.conf. Add the following line:

listen_addresses = '*'

Restart postgres:

sudo service postgresql restart

On the host you want to copy the database cluster to:

sudo service postgresql stop

sudo su root

rm -rf /var/lib/postgresql/12/main/*

exit

sudo -u postgres pg_basebackup -h 192.168.0.101 -U postgres -D /var/lib/postgresql/12/main/

sudo service postgresql start

Big picture - stop the service, delete everything in the data directory (mine is in /var/lib/postgreql/12). The permissions on this directory are drwx------ with user and group postgres. I could only do this as root, not even with sudo -u postgres. I'm unsure why. Ensure you are doing this on the new server you want to copy the database to! You are deleting the entire database cluster.

Make sure to change the IP address from 192.168.0.101 to the IP address you are copying the database from. Copy the data from the original server with pg_basebackup. Start the service.

Update pg_hba.conf and postgresql.conf to match the original server configuration - before you made any changes adding the replication line and the listen_addresses line (in my care I had to add the ability to log-in locally via md5 to pg_hba.conf).

Note there are considerations for max_wal_senders and wal_level that can be found in the documentation. I did not have to do anything with this.

If you are more comfortable with a GUI, you can use the pgAdmin software.

• Connect to your source and destination servers
• Right-click on the source db > backup
• Right-click on the destination server > create > database. Use the same properties as the source db (you can see the properties of the source db by right-click > properties)
• Right-click on the created db > restore.