How to restore a single table from a .sql postgresql backup?

Question

A table\'s rows were mistakenly deleted from the database. We have a db backup which results in a sql file that can restored like so:

psql -h localhost -d pr         


        

Answer 1

Don't do SQL backups if you need single table restore, etc. Use pg_dump's -Fc option - the "custom" format. This can be restored using pg_restore. Selective restore is possible, as are all sorts of other handy features. pg_restore can convert a custom-format dump into an SQL dump later if you need it.

If you're stuck with an existing dump, your only options are:

• Use a text editor to extract the target table data to a separate file and just restore that; or

• Restore the dump to a throwaway database then use pg_dump to take a selective dump including just that table. Since it's throwaway, you can use a separate Pg instance on some unloaded fast-but-unsafe machine where you turn on all the "make it fast but eat my data if you like" options like fsync=off. You should NEVER set that in production.