Fast loading with pg_bulkload

The pg_bulkload utility is the one that provides a lot more flexibility than the COPY utility. The biggest advantage of pg_bulkload is speed. This utility lets us skip the shared buffers and WAL logging. This also implies a separate recovery process if something goes wrong. This is facilitated by postgresql, a script that comes with the pg_bulkload installation.

We will start with the installation of the utility. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Download the source with the following command:

   wget \
   http://pgfoundry.org/frs/download.php/3653/pg_bulkload-\
   3.1.6.tar.gz

2. Extract the contents as follows:

   tar xvf ./pg_bulkload-3.1.6.tar.gz

3. Change the directory with the following command:

   cd pg_bulkload-3.1.6

4. Make and install the binaries:

   make USE_PGXS=1

5. Then, use su with the following command:

   make USE_PGXS=1 install

6. Install the extension. Log in to the database where we will be using the utility and at the psql prompt:

   CREATE EXTENSION  pg_bulkload;
   CREATE EXTENSION

We will see...