pgclone

Overview

shared_preload_libraries = pgclone is required for async/progress features; synchronous clone functions work without it.

Version

Build

You can build the RPM / DEB packages for pgclone using pig build:

pig build pkg pgclone         # build RPM / DEB packages

Install

You can install pgclone directly. First, make sure the PGDG and PIGSTY repositories are added and enabled:

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

Install the extension using pig or apt/yum/dnf:

• Install
• pig
• dnf
• apt

pig install pgclone;          # Install for current active PG version

pig ext install -y pgclone -v 18  # PG 18
pig ext install -y pgclone -v 17  # PG 17
pig ext install -y pgclone -v 16  # PG 16
pig ext install -y pgclone -v 15  # PG 15
pig ext install -y pgclone -v 14  # PG 14

dnf install -y pgclone_18       # PG 18
dnf install -y pgclone_17       # PG 17
dnf install -y pgclone_16       # PG 16
dnf install -y pgclone_15       # PG 15
dnf install -y pgclone_14       # PG 14

apt install -y postgresql-18-pgclone   # PG 18
apt install -y postgresql-17-pgclone   # PG 17
apt install -y postgresql-16-pgclone   # PG 16
apt install -y postgresql-15-pgclone   # PG 15
apt install -y postgresql-14-pgclone   # PG 14

Preload:

shared_preload_libraries = 'pgclone';

Create Extension:

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.