pgclone

pgclone : Clone PostgreSQL databases, schemas, tables, and functions across environments

Overview

Packages

Source

pig build pkg pgclone;		# build rpm/deb

Install

Make sure PGDG and PIGSTY repo available:

pig repo add pgsql -u   # add both repo and update cache

Install this extension with pig:

pig install pgclone;		# install via package name, for the active PG version

pig install pgclone -v 18;   # install for PG 18
pig install pgclone -v 17;   # install for PG 17
pig install pgclone -v 16;   # install for PG 16
pig install pgclone -v 15;   # install for PG 15
pig install pgclone -v 14;   # install for PG 14

Config this extension to shared_preload_libraries:

shared_preload_libraries = 'pgclone';

Create this extension with:

CREATE EXTENSION pgclone;

Usage

Syntax:

CREATE EXTENSION pgclone;
SELECT pgclone_table('host=source-server dbname=mydb user=postgres password=secret',
                     'public', 'customers', true);

Sources: README, Usage Guide

pgclone clones PostgreSQL databases, schemas, tables, functions, roles, and permissions directly from SQL. The upstream README emphasizes that it uses PostgreSQL’s COPY protocol and avoids external pg_dump / pg_restore workflows.

Core Capabilities

The README lists support for:

• cloning tables, schemas, functions, and full databases
• indexes, constraints, triggers, views, materialized views, and sequences
• selective cloning with column selection and WHERE filters
• conflict handling with error, skip, replace, or rename strategies
• data masking and sensitive-column discovery
• async and parallel cloning with background workers

Basic Functions

SELECT pgclone_table(
    'host=source-server dbname=mydb user=postgres password=secret',
    'public', 'customers', true
);

SELECT pgclone_schema(
    'host=source-server dbname=mydb user=postgres password=secret',
    'sales', true
);

SELECT pgclone_database(
    'host=source-server dbname=mydb user=postgres password=secret',
    true
);

The README also documents pgclone_version() for verification after installation.

Async Mode

For background-worker features, the extension must be preloaded:

shared_preload_libraries = 'pgclone'

The upstream docs describe async operations, progress tracking, and multi-worker parallel cloning in separate documentation pages.

Requirements

Current upstream requirements are:

• PostgreSQL 14 or newer
• PostgreSQL development headers
• libpq development library
• a C compiler such as GCC

The repository homepage is postgresql.az, and the project README links separate documents for usage, async operations, testing, and architecture.