Moving existing hard drive with PostGIS data directory to a new computer

Question

I have a new computer that is replacing an old machine that has PostGIS installed.

The old computer has a 2nd hard drive where the PostGIS data directory is stored. I want to move this drive over to the new computer and continue to use it for data storage.

Can I install the 2nd hard drive in the new machine and when installing PostGIS point it to the data directory on this hard drive and everything will work?

Or do I have to back my database up and restore it?

PostGIS on the old and new machines are the same version (2.0 on PostgreSQL 9.1), the operating systems are windows xp (32 bit) vs windows 7 (64 bit).

Answer 1

Yes, IF:

• The new computer is the same architecture (i386, x64) as the old one
• The new computer is running the same major.minor version of PostgreSQL as the old one
• The new computer is running the same major version of PostGIS

Answer 2

Naturally you back up your database on a regular basis, so it should be a simple case of restoring from the last backup. PostgreSQL also has cool features that allow live swapping of a production database using the Write Ahead Logging system and some very clever thinking.

That said, if for some reason your backups aren't up to date, or gasp non existent, simply putting in the 2nd drive into the new computer, pointing the PGDATA environment variable to the right place, and restarting the server will work. As @lynxlynxlynx said, the processor architecture shouldn't matter for precisely this reason, but it never hurts to back up your data.

See the PostgreSQL docs here and here for more information.

Oh, did I mention you should back up your data regularly? :)