Migrate incremental data from a self-managed PostgreSQL database (version 10.1 to 13) to an ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance

Precautions

• DTS uses read and write resources of the source and destination databases during full data migration. This may increase the loads of the database servers. If the database performance is unfavorable, the specification is low, or the data volume is large, database services may become unavailable. For example, DTS occupies a large amount of read and write resources in the following cases: a large number of slow SQL queries are performed on the source database, the tables have no primary keys, or a deadlock occurs in the destination database. Before you migrate data, evaluate the impact of data migration on the performance of the source and destination databases. We recommend that you migrate data during off-peak hours. For example, you can migrate data when the CPU utilization of the source and destination databases is less than 30%.
• The tables to be migrated in the source database must have PRIMARY KEY or UNIQUE constraints and all fields must be unique. Otherwise, the destination database may contain duplicate data records.
• During incremental data migration, if you select a schema to migrate, take note of the following requirements: If you create a table in the schema or run the RENAME command to rename a table in the schema, you must run the ALTER TABLE schema.table REPLICA IDENTITY FULL; command before you write data to the table.
  Note Replace the schema and table in the preceding sample command with the actual schema name and table name.
• To ensure that the accurate delay time of incremental data migration is displayed, DTS adds a heartbeat table named dts_postgres_heartbeat to the source database.
• During incremental data migration, DTS creates a replication slot in the source database. The replication slot is prefixed with dts_sync_. DTS automatically clears historical replication slots every 90 minutes to reduce storage usage.
  Note If the data migration task is released or fails, DTS automatically clears the replication slot. If a primary/secondary switchover is performed on the ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance, you must log on to the secondary database to clear the replication slot manually.
  
• To ensure that the data migration task runs as expected, you can perform a primary/secondary switchover only on a V11 ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance. In this case, you must set the rds_failover_slot_mode parameter to sync. For more information, see Logical Replication Slot Failover.
  Warning If you perform a primary/secondary switchover on a self-managed PostgreSQL database or an ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance of a version other than V11, the data migration task stops.
• If a data migration task fails, DTS automatically resumes the task. Before you switch your workloads to the destination instance, stop or release the data migration task. Otherwise, the data in the source database will overwrite the data in the destination instance after the task is resumed.

Limits

• A single data migration task can migrate data from only one database. To migrate data from multiple databases, you must create a data migration task for each source database.
• The name of the source database cannot contain hyphens (-), for example, dts-testdata.
• If a primary/secondary switchover is performed on the source database during incremental data migration, the transmission cannot be resumed.
• Data may be inconsistent between the primary and secondary nodes of the source database due to synchronization delay. Therefore, you must use the primary node as the data source when you migrate data.
  Note We recommend that you migrate data during off-peak hours. You can modify the transfer rate of full data migration based on the read/write performance of the source database. For more information, see Modify the transfer rate of full data migration.
• Incremental data migration does not support the BIT data type.
• During incremental data migration, DTS migrates only data manipulation language (DML) operations. DML operations include INSERT, DELETE, and UPDATE.
  Note Only data migration tasks that are created after October 1, 2020 can migrate data definition language (DDL) operations. You must create a trigger and function in the source database to obtain the DDL information before you configure the task. For more information, see Use triggers and functions to implement incremental DDL migration for PostgreSQL databases.
• After your workloads are switched to the destination database, newly written sequences do not increment from the maximum value of the sequences in the source database. Therefore, you must query the maximum value of the sequences in the source database before you switch your workloads to the destination database. Then, you must specify the queried maximum value as the starting value of the sequences in the destination database.
• DTS does not check the validity of metadata such as sequences. You must manually check the validity of metadata.

Billing

Permissions required for database accounts

For more information about how to create a database account and grant permissions to the account, see the following topics:

• Self-managed PostgreSQL database: CREATE USER and GRANT
• ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance: Create an account on an ApsaraDB RDS for PPAS instance.

Data migration process

The following table describes how DTS migrates the schemas and data of the source PostgreSQL database. The process prevents data migration failures that are caused by dependencies between objects.

Preparation

1. Log on to the server where the self-managed PostgreSQL database resides.
2. Set the value of the wal_level parameter in the postgresql.conf configuration file to logical.
   

   Note Skip this step if you do not need to perform incremental data migration.
3. Add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the pg_hba.conf configuration file of the self-managed PostgreSQL database. Add only the CIDR blocks of the DTS servers that reside in the same region as the destination database. For more information, see Add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the security settings of on-premises databases.
   Note For more information, see The pg_hba.conf File. Skip this step if you have set the IP address in the pg_hba.conf file to 0.0.0.0/0.

   
4. Optional: Create a trigger and function in the source database to obtain the DDL information. For more information, see Use triggers and functions to implement incremental DDL migration for PostgreSQL databases.
   Note Skip this step if you do not need to migrate DDL operations.

Procedure

1. Log on to the DTS console.
2. In the left-side navigation pane, click Data Migration.
3. At the top of the Migration Tasks page, select the region where the destination cluster resides.
4. In the upper-right corner of the page, click Create Migration Task.
5. Configure the source and destination databases.
   

   Section	Parameter	Description
   N/A	Task Name	DTS automatically generates a task name. We recommend that you specify a name that can help you identify the task. The task name does not need to be unique.
   Source Database	Instance Type	Select an instance type based on the deployment of the self-managed database. In this example, select User-Created Database with Public IP Address. Note If you select other instance types, you must set up the environment that is required for the self-managed database. For more information, see Preparation overview.
   	Instance Region	If you select User-Created Database with Public IP Address as the instance type, you do not need to specify the Instance Region parameter.
   	Database Type	Select PostgreSQL.
   	Hostname or IP Address	Enter the endpoint that is used to connect to the self-managed PostgreSQL database. In this example, enter the public IP address.
   	Port Number	Enter the service port number of the self-managed PostgreSQL database. The port must be accessible over the Internet.
   	Database Name	Enter the name of the self-managed PostgreSQL database.
   	Database Account	Enter the account that is used to log on to the self-managed PostgreSQL database. For information about the permissions that are required for the account, see Permissions required for database accounts.
   	Database Password	Enter the password of the database account. Note After you specify the information about the self-managed Oracle database, you can click Test Connectivity next to Database Password to check whether the information is valid. If the information is valid, the Passed message appears. If the Failed message appears, click Check next to Failed. Then, modify the information based on the check results.
   Destination Database	Instance Type	Select RDS Instance.
   	Instance Region	Select the region where the RDS instance resides.
   	RDS Instance ID	Select the ID of the destination RDS instance.
   	Database Name	Enter the name of the destination database in the RDS instance. The name can be different from the name of the source database. Note Before you configure the data migration task, make sure that the destination database exists in the ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance. If the destination database does not exist, you need to create the database first. For more information, see Create a database.
   	Database Account	Enter the database account of the destination RDS instance. For information about the permissions that are required for the account, see Permissions required for database accounts.
   	Database Password	Enter the password of the database account. Note After you specify the information about the RDS instance, you can click Test Connectivity next to Database Password to check whether the information is valid. If the information is valid, the Passed message appears. If the Failed message appears, click Check next to Failed. Then, modify the information based on the check results.

6. In the lower-right corner of the page, click Set Whitelist and Next.
   Warning

   • If the source or destination database instance is an Alibaba Cloud database instance, such as an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL or ApsaraDB for MongoDB instance, or is a self-managed database hosted on Elastic Compute Service (ECS), DTS automatically adds the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the whitelist of the database instance or ECS security group rules. For more information, see Add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the security settings of on-premises databases. If the source or destination database is a self-managed database on data centers or is from other cloud service providers, you must manually add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to allow DTS to access the database.
   • If the CIDR blocks of DTS servers are automatically or manually added to the whitelist of the database instance or ECS security group rules, security risks may arise. Therefore, before you use DTS to migrate data, you must understand and acknowledge the potential risks and take preventive measures, including but not limited to the following measures: enhance the security of your account and password, limit the ports that are exposed, authenticate API calls, regularly check the whitelist or ECS security group rules and forbid unauthorized CIDR blocks, or connect the database to DTS by using Express Connect, VPN Gateway, or Smart Access Gateway.
   • After the DTS task is completed or released, we recommend that you manually detect and remove the added CIDR blocks from the whitelist of the database instance or ECS security group rules.
7. Select the migration type and the objects you want to migrate.
   

   Setting	Description
   Select the migration types	To perform only full data migration, select Schema Migration and Full Data Migration. To ensure service continuity during data migration, select Schema Migration, Full Data Migration, and Incremental Data Migration. In this example, select all the three migration types. Note If Incremental Data Migration is not selected, do not write data to the source database during full data migration. This ensures data consistency between the source and destination databases.
   Select the objects that you want to migrate	Select one or more objects from the Available section and click the icon to move the objects to the Selected section. Note You can select columns, tables, or schemas as the objects to be migrated. After an object is migrated to the RDS instance, the name of the object remains the same as that in the self-managed PostgreSQL database. You can use the object name mapping feature to rename the objects that have been migrated to the destination RDS instance. For more information, see Object name mapping. If you renamed an object by using the object name mapping feature, objects that are dependent on the renamed object may fail to be migrated.
   Specify whether to rename objects	You can use the object name mapping feature to rename the objects that are migrated to the RDS instance. For more information, see Object name mapping.
   Specify the window period to retry for failed connections to the self-managed database or RDS instance	By default, if DTS fails to connect to the self-managed database or RDS instance, DTS retries within the following 12 hours. You can also specify a window period to retry the connection based on your business requirements. If DTS is reconnected to the self-managed database and RDS instance within the specified time range, DTS resumes the data migration task. Otherwise, the data migration task fails. Note When DTS attempts to reconnect to the self-managed database or RDS instance, you are charged for using the DTS instance. We recommend that you specify a window period to retry the connection based on your business requirements. You can also release the DTS instance at the earliest opportunity after the self-managed database and RDS instance are released.

8. In the lower-right corner of the page, click Precheck.
   Note

   • Before you can start the data migration task, a precheck is performed. You can start the data migration task only after the task passes the precheck.
   • If the task fails to pass the precheck, you can click the icon next to each failed item to view details.
     • You can troubleshoot the issues based on the causes and run a precheck again.
     • If you do not need to troubleshoot the issues, you can ignore failed items and run a precheck again.
9. After the task passes the precheck, click Next.
10. In the Confirm Settings dialog box, specify the Channel Specification parameter and select Data Transmission Service (Pay-As-You-Go) Service Terms.
11. Click Buy and Start to start the data migration task.

Stop the migration task

• Full data migration

  Do not manually stop a task during full data migration. Otherwise, the system may fail to migrate all data. Wait until the migration task automatically ends.

• Incremental data migration

  The task does not automatically end during incremental data migration. You must manually stop the migration task.

  1. Wait until the task progress bar shows Incremental Data Migration and The migration task is not delayed. Then, stop writing data to the source database for a few minutes. In some cases, the progress bar shows the delay time of incremental data migration.
  2. After the status of incremental data migration changes to The migration task is not delayed, manually stop the migration task.