# Pg\_dump backup failure for remote pgsql - port & version differentials; what options exist?

**URL:** <https://meta.discourse.org/t/pg-dump-backup-failure-for-remote-pgsql-port-version-differentials-what-options-exist/132453>\
**Category:** Self-hosting\
**Created:** [November 2, 2019, 6:00pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/pg-dump-backup-failure-for-remote-pgsql-port-version-differentials-what-options-exist/132453 "2019-11-02T18:00:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![mreach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@mreach](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mreach)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2019, 6:00pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/pg-dump-backup-failure-for-remote-pgsql-port-version-differentials-what-options-exist/132453/1 "2019-11-02T18:00:34Z")

</div>

When I attempt to run system backups I get: “The backup failed. Please check the logs.”  
The log reports: `pg_dump: [archiver (db)] connection to database "discoursedb" failed: could not connect to server: Connection refused`

I believe there may be two problems at play:

1. The remote server is running on a non-standard port.
2. The remote PostgreSQL is running a newer PSQL version.

When I enter the app (`/var/discourse/launcher enter app`) and execute a manual backup, I noted that initially without the port definition, I got the exact same error:

```plaintext
$ pg_dump -h 123.456.789.101 -U username -W -F t discourse_db > discourse_db_backup.tar
Password:
pg_dump: [archiver (db)] connection to database "discourse_db" failed: could not connect to server: Connection refused
	Is the server running on host "123.456.789.101" and accepting
	TCP/IP connections on port 5432?

```

So that was easily resolved (_ **EXCEPT I don’t know how to force Discourse to use the proper port in backups** _), however the next issue was a little more concerning which is we’re using a newer version of PSQL on the database server:

```plaintext
$ pg_dump -h 123.456.789.101 -p 45678 -U username -W -F t discourse_db > discourse_db_backup.tar
Password:
pg_dump: server version: 11.5 (Ubuntu 11.5-3.pgdg18.04+1); pg_dump version: 10.10 (Debian 10.10-1.pgdg100+1)
pg_dump: aborting because of server version mismatch

```

What can be done in such a situation? Is there a way to get actual system backup functional in such a case or does Discourse + the PostgreSQL database have to be backed up separately?

If the latter is the only option, what’s the PROPER way to backup at least the data? And is there a preferred cohesive mechanism available to do both at the same time without having to write a new script to do this?

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