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Hi i am using postgresql . i tried to import a databsee by 

$ psql arbles < app.arbles.com.15.08.2014.sql;
ERROR:  syntax error at or near ""
LINE 1:
        ^

it gives me an error ,

  1. I firstly created my database arbles
  2. then i gave one of my database user's full privilages of the database

grant all privileges on database arbles to postgrestest;

3.then i tried the first command and it failed

my app.arbles.com.15.08.2014.sql file is in /var/lib/postgres i also moved it to different locations , but the same error occures.

postgrestest

is also a super user

i also thired with different solutions 

   1. psql -h hostname -d databasename -U username -f file.sql
   2. \i C:/database/db-backup.sql

non of them worked , why is this happening , please help me , thanks in advance

share|improve this question
    
Are you sure the backup file is SQL file? How was it created? If it was created using pg_dump, then use pg_restore to import the database. –  Aleks G Aug 15 '14 at 8:13
    
@AleksG yes it was createed using pg_dump command –  Kanishka Panamaldeniya Aug 15 '14 at 8:14
    
Try psql < filename dbname –  John Barça Aug 15 '14 at 8:16
    
@JohnBarça same error :( –  Kanishka Panamaldeniya Aug 15 '14 at 8:17
    
@KanishkaPanamaldeniya What is the output of file app.arbles.com.15.08.2014.sql? How about head -n 3 app.arbles.com.15.08.2014.sql | cat -A ? –  Craig Ringer Aug 15 '14 at 8:35

1 Answer 1

up vote 0 down vote

As you indicated that the backup was created using pg_dump, then, most likely, it's not a SQL file. Instead of trying to execute SQL from that file, use pg_restore to restore it:

pg_restore -h hostname -d databasename -U username filename
share|improve this answer
    
it says pg_restore: [archiver] input file does not appear to be a valid archive , actually create pg_dump in one server and then i upload via scp to another server , from that i do these things –  Kanishka Panamaldeniya Aug 15 '14 at 8:32
    
@AleksG That's incorrect and misleading. pg_dump can create SQL dumps and does so by default. It only creates custom-format dumps if you pass -Fc (custom archive) or -Fd (directory). –  Craig Ringer Aug 15 '14 at 8:34
    
@CraigRinger pg_dump can create dumps in SQL format, true, however pg_restore is supposed to be smart about the existing format - and import whatever it encounters. In the past, I have had issues trying to execute the dump as a sql script while pg_restore worked fine. –  Aleks G Aug 15 '14 at 8:39
    
@AleksG Well, newer versions will at least complain that pg_restore: [archiver] input file appears to be a text format dump. Please use psql.. Older versions just choke and die. It certainly doesn't do anything smart like run it through psql. –  Craig Ringer Aug 15 '14 at 8:54

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