### Author:  [@mottosso](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mottosso)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2022, 10:52am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/backup-restore-failing-on-clean-dev-docker-env-fatal-peer-authentication-failed-for-user-postgres/208170/5 "2022-03-28T10:52:21Z")
Also seeing this, same circumstances. Both via the UI and terminal.
Full output below. This is running from within WSL2 on Windows.
Any ideas?
```bash
$ d/discourse restore ragdoll-forums-2022-03-27-000005-v20220215015538.tar.gz
Starting restore: ragdoll-forums-2022-03-27-000005-v20220215015538.tar.gz
[STARTED]
'system' has started the restore!
Marking restore as running...
Making sure /src/tmp/restores/default/2022-03-28-104731 exists...
Copying archive to tmp directory...
Unzipping archive, this may take a while...
Extracting dump file...
Validating metadata...
Current version: 20220325064954
Restored version: 20220215015538
Enabling readonly mode...
Pausing sidekiq...
Waiting up to 60 seconds for Sidekiq to finish running jobs...
Creating missing functions in the discourse_functions schema...
Restoring dump file... (this may take a while)
psql: error: connection to server on socket "/var/run/postgresql/.s.PGSQL.5432" failed: FATAL: Peer authentication failed for user "postgres"
EXCEPTION: psql failed: psql: error: connection to server on socket "/var/run/postgresql/.s.PGSQL.5432" failed: FATAL: Peer authentication failed for user "postgres"
/src/lib/backup_restore/database_restorer.rb:92:in `restore_dump'
/src/lib/backup_restore/database_restorer.rb:26:in `restore'
/src/lib/backup_restore/restorer.rb:51:in `run'
script/discourse:149:in `restore'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/thor-1.2.1/lib/thor/command.rb:27:in `run'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/thor-1.2.1/lib/thor/invocation.rb:127:in `invoke_command'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/thor-1.2.1/lib/thor.rb:392:in `dispatch'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/thor-1.2.1/lib/thor/base.rb:485:in `start'
script/discourse:290:in `'
Trying to rollback...
There was no need to rollback
Cleaning stuff up...
Dropping functions from the discourse_functions schema...
Removing tmp '/src/tmp/restores/default/2022-03-28-104731' directory...
Unpausing sidekiq...
Marking restore as finished...
Notifying 'system' of the end of the restore...
Finished!
[FAILED]
Restore done.
Failed to report error: can't alloc thread 0 PostSearchData Upsert (1.1ms) INSERT INTO "post_search_data" ("raw_data","post_id","locale","version","search_data","private_message") VALUES ('The restore has failed. Here’s the log: [2022-03-28 10:47:31] [STARTED] [2022-03-28 10:47:31] ''system'' has started the restore! [2022-03-28 10:47:31] Marking restore as running... [2022-03-28 10:47:31] Making sure /src/tmp/restores/default/2022-03-28-104731 exists... [2022-03-28 10:47:31] Copying archive to tmp directory... [2022-03-28 10:47:31] Unzipping archive, this may take a while... [2022-03-28 10:47:31] Extracting dump file... [2022-03-28 10:47:32] Validating metadata... [2022-03-28 10:47:32] Current version: 20220325064954 [2022-03-28 10:47:32] Restored version: 20220215015538 [2022-03-28 10:47:32] Enabling readonly mode... [2022-03-28 10:47:32] Pausing sidekiq... [2022-03-28 10:47:32] Waiting up to 60 seconds for Sidekiq to finish running jobs... [2022-03-28 10:47:38] Creating missing functions in the discourse_functions schema... [2022-03-28 10:47:38] Restoring dump file... (this may take a while) [2022-03-28 10:47:38] psql: error: connection to server on socket "/var/run/postgresql/.s.PGSQL.5432" failed: FATAL : Peer authentication failed for user "postgres" [2022-03-28 10:47:38] EXCEPTION: psql failed: psql: error: connection to server on socket "/var/run/postgresql/.s.PGSQL.5432" failed: FATAL: Peer authentication failed for user "postgres" [2022-03-28 10:47:38] /src/lib/backup_restore/database_restorer.rb:92:in `restore_dump'' /src/lib/backup_restore/database_restorer.rb:26:in `restore'' /src/lib/backup_restore/restorer.rb:51:in `run'' script/discourse:149:in `restore'' /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/thor-1.2.1/lib/thor/command.rb:27:in `run'' /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/thor-1.2.1/lib/thor/invocation.rb:127:in `invoke_command'' /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/thor-1.2.1/lib/thor.rb:392:in `dispatch'' /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/thor-1.2.1/lib/thor/base.rb:485:in `start'' script/discourse:290:in ` < main > '' [2022-03-28 10:47:38] Trying to rollback... [2022-03-28 10:47:38] There was no need to rollback [2022-03-28 10:47:38] Cleaning stuff up... [2022-03-28 10:47:38] Dropping functions from the discourse_functions schema... [2022-03-28 10:47:38] Removing tmp ''/src/tmp/restores/default/2022-03-28-104731'' directory... [2022-03-28 10:47:38] Unpausing sidekiq... [2022-03-28 10:47:38] Marking restore as finished... [2022-03-28 10:47:38] Notifying ''system'' of the end of the restore...', 17, 'en', 4, '''-03'':12,19,30,40,50,61,74,83,91,100,109,118,126,143,157,171,193,218,262,271,283,292,305,315,323,333 ''-28'':13,20,31,41,51,62,75,84,92,101,110,119,127,144,158,172,194,219,263,272,284,293,306,316,324,334 ''/src/lib/backup_restore/database_restorer.rb'':223,228 ''/src/lib/backup_restore/restorer.rb'':232 ''/src/tmp/restores/default/2022-03-28-104731'':47,312 ''/usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/thor-1.2.1/lib/thor.rb'':249 ''/usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/thor-1.2.1/lib/thor/base.rb'':253 ''/usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/thor-1.2.1/lib/thor/command.rb'':240 ''/usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/thor-1.2.1/lib/thor/invocation.rb'':244 ''/var/run/postgresql/.s.pgsql.5432'':183,208 ''10'':14,21,32,42,52,63,76,85,93,102,111,120,128,145,159,173,195,220,264,273,285,294,307,317,325,335 ''127'':245 ''149'':237 ''2022'':11,18,29,39,49,60,73,82,90,99,108,117,125,142,156,170,192,217,261,270,282,291,304,314,322,332 ''20220215015538'':107 ''20220325064954'':98 ''26'':229 ''27'':241 ''290'':258 ''31'':16,23,34,44,54,65,78 ''32'':87,95,104,113,122,130 ''38'':147,161,175,197,222,266,275,287,296,309,319,327,337 ''392'':250 ''47'':15,22,33,43,53,64,77,86,94,103,112,121,129,146,160,174,196,221,265,274,286,295,308,318,326,336 ''485'':254 ''51'':233 ''60'':134 ''92'':224 ''archiv'':56,67 ''authent'':187,212 ''clean'':288 ''command'':248 ''connect'':178,203 ''copi'':55 ''creat'':148 ''current'':96 ''directori'':59,313 ''discours'':153,301 ''dispatch'':252 ''drop'':297 ''dump'':80,163,227 ''enabl'':114 ''end'':342 ''error'':177,202 ''except'':198 ''exist'':48 ''extract'':79 ''fail'':2A,6,184,188,200,209,213 ''fatal'':185,210 ''file'':81,164 ''finish'':139,331 ''function'':150,154,298,302 ''invok'':247 ''job'':141 ''log'':10 ''main'':260 ''make'':45 ''mark'':35,328 ''may'':69,166 ''metadata'':89 ''miss'':149 ''mode'':116 ''need'':279 ''notifi'':338 ''paus'':123 ''peer'':186,211 ''postgr'':191,216 ''psql'':176,199,201 ''readon'':115 ''remov'':310 ''restor'':1A,4,28,36,105,162,226,231,239,329,345 ''rollback'':269,281 ''run'':38,140,235,243 ''schema'':155,303 ''script/discourse'':236,257 ''second'':135 ''server'':180,205 ''sidekiq'':124,137,321 ''socket'':182,207 ''start'':17,26,256 ''stuff'':289 ''sure'':46 ''system'':24,339 ''take'':70,167 ''tmp'':58,311 ''tri'':267 ''unpaus'':320 ''unzip'':66 ''user'':190,215 ''valid'':88 ''version'':97,106 ''wait'':131 ', TRUE) ON CONFLICT ("post_id") DO UPDATE SET "raw_data"=excluded."raw_data","locale"=excluded."locale","version"=excluded."version","search_data"=excluded."search_data","private_message"=excluded."private_message" RETURNING "post_id"
```
---
### Author:  [@thoka](https://meta.discourse.org/u/thoka)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2023, 10:05pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/backup-restore-failing-on-clean-dev-docker-env-fatal-peer-authentication-failed-for-user-postgres/208170/6 "2023-03-19T22:05:20Z")
I have had the same problems.
Finally I inserted the following as a workaround
```plaintext
if Rails.env.development?
username = "discourse"
password = "discourse"
config["host"] = "localhost"
config["port"] = 5432
config["database"] = "discourse_development"
end
```
before
```plaintext
DatabaseConfiguration.new(
```
into `/lib/backup_restore.rb`.
I also had to set the password for user `discourse` via
```plaintext
d/psql -c "ALTER USER discourse WITH PASSWORD 'discourse';"
```
There might be nicer ways to achieve this.
---
### Author:  [@Luicid](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Luicid)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2023, 9:06pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/backup-restore-failing-on-clean-dev-docker-env-fatal-peer-authentication-failed-for-user-postgres/208170/9 "2023-05-31T21:06:59Z")
Thank you so much! It really helped! 🙂
---
### Author:  [@thoka](https://meta.discourse.org/u/thoka)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2023, 5:01pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/backup-restore-failing-on-clean-dev-docker-env-fatal-peer-authentication-failed-for-user-postgres/208170/10 "2023-07-17T17:01:46Z")
This should be considered a #Contribute > Bug, IMHO.
---
### Author:  [@gerhard](https://meta.discourse.org/u/gerhard)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2023, 4:58pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/backup-restore-failing-on-clean-dev-docker-env-fatal-peer-authentication-failed-for-user-postgres/208170/12 "2023-07-24T16:58:16Z")
Low priority bug as it doesn’t affect a production site. And I don’t think anyone from the team currently uses the docker environment for development. I’ve recategorized the topic and put the #pr-welcome tag on it.
---
### Author:  [@thoka](https://meta.discourse.org/u/thoka)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2024, 7:57pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/backup-restore-failing-on-clean-dev-docker-env-fatal-peer-authentication-failed-for-user-postgres/208170/13 "2024-04-04T19:57:49Z")
This works for me:
[https://github.com/discourse/discourse/pull/26521](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/pull/26521)
But there are several other ways to fix this to choose from:
- add env setting `USER=discourse` to the docker boot image
- add `-e USER=discourse \` to `d\exec`
- add this to `backup_restore.rb`
In addition, there is a new problem when executing `d/discourse` in the docker dev environment:
```shell
$ d/discourse backup
:86:in `require': cannot load such file -- thor (LoadError)
from :86:in `require'
from script/discourse:4:in `'
```
while `d/bundle exec script/discourse backup` works (see [patch](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/compare/main...thoka:discourse:fix-backup-on-dev-install2)).
---
### Author:  [@pangbo](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pangbo)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2024, 5:55pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/backup-restore-failing-on-clean-dev-docker-env-fatal-peer-authentication-failed-for-user-postgres/208170/14 "2024-07-01T17:55:13Z")
Hi @gerhard,
I encountered the same issue mentioned in this topic, and the above PR has resolved my problem. I think this PR should be reopened and merged.
[https://github.com/discourse/discourse/pull/26521](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/pull/26521)
---
### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2024, 10:13pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/backup-restore-failing-on-clean-dev-docker-env-fatal-peer-authentication-failed-for-user-postgres/208170/17 "2024-07-01T22:13:09Z")
The PR is not ideal we only want to add a user there if it is explicitly defined, forcing all dev envs to have the `discourse` user is not right.
I am fine to handle this env var optionally, if it is defined.
---
### Author:  [@gerhard](https://meta.discourse.org/u/gerhard)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2024, 10:10am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/backup-restore-failing-on-clean-dev-docker-env-fatal-peer-authentication-failed-for-user-postgres/208170/18 "2024-07-02T10:10:34Z")
I’m not using the dev docker env, so I can’t test it, but maybe this will work?
```diff
--- a/lib/backup_restore.rb
+++ b/lib/backup_restore.rb
@@ -135,7 +135,8 @@ module BackupRestore
DatabaseConfiguration.new(
config["backup_host"] || config["host"],
config["backup_port"] || config["port"],
- config["username"] || username || ENV["USER"] || "postgres",
+ config["username"] || username || ENV["USER"] || ENV["DISCOURSE_DEV_DB_USERNAME"] ||
+ "postgres",
config["password"] || password,
config["database"],
)
```
If it does, please create a PR.
---
### Author:  [@sreenu\_paruchuri](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sreenu_paruchuri)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2025, 6:35am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/backup-restore-failing-on-clean-dev-docker-env-fatal-peer-authentication-failed-for-user-postgres/208170/20 "2025-07-25T06:35:47Z")
If we use dev container approach, just adding “USER”: “discourse”, in “remoteEnv” section, will work and able to export db
---
### Author:  [@gormus](https://meta.discourse.org/u/gormus)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2026, 11:26am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/backup-restore-failing-on-clean-dev-docker-env-fatal-peer-authentication-failed-for-user-postgres/208170/21 "2026-01-06T11:26:27Z")
Plus 1 on this. On my devcontainer instance, I was able to backup and restore, only after I added this. Thanks @sreenu_paruchuri
```diff
"remoteEnv": {
"RAILS_DEVELOPMENT_HOSTS": ".app.github.dev",
+ "USER": "discourse",
"PGUSER": "discourse",
"SELENIUM_FORWARD_DEVTOOLS_TO_PORT": "9229",
},
```