<title>Description</title>
<para>
- <application>pg_dump</application> is a utility for backing up a
+ <application>pg_dump</application> is a utility for exporting a
<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> database. It makes consistent
- backups even if the database is being used concurrently.
+ exports even if the database is being used concurrently.
<application>pg_dump</application> does not block other users
accessing the database (readers or writers).
+ Note, however, that except in simple cases,
+ <application>pg_dump</application> is generally not the right choice for
+ taking regular backups of production databases. See <xref
+ linkend="backup"/> for further discussion.
</para>
<para>
<application>pg_dump</application> only dumps a single database.
- To back up an entire cluster, or to back up global objects that are
+ To export an entire cluster, or to export global objects that are
common to all databases in a cluster (such as roles and tablespaces),
use <xref linkend="app-pg-dumpall"/>.
</para>
<application>pg_restore</application>,
<application>pg_dump</application> provides a flexible archival and
transfer mechanism. <application>pg_dump</application> can be used to
- backup an entire database, then <application>pg_restore</application>
+ export an entire database, then <application>pg_restore</application>
can be used to examine the archive and/or select which parts of the
database are to be restored. The most flexible output file formats are
the <quote>custom</quote> format (<option>-Fc</option>) and the