+.SH "RECOVERY"
+.PP
+Read the postgres documentation carefully before attempting a recovery\&. This section is only a rough guide to the process\&.
+.PP
+The data recovered from a postgres backup consists of a data tarball and one or more archive tarballs\&. The data contains the state of the database at the time the full backup was performed, and the archive tarballs contain postgres WAL files that must be re\-run to generate a consistent state\&.
+.PP
+Ensure that the database server is shut down, and move the existing data directory aside\&. Untar the data tarball over this directory, and verify that ownership and permissions are correct\&. Untar all of the archive tarballs into a single directory \- the archive directory\&. Create a
+recovery\&.conf
+in the data directory, owned by the proper user and with proper permissions\&. Add a
+\fBrestore_command\fR
+to it, e\&.g\&.,
+.nf
+restore_command = \'cp /path/to/archive_dir/%f "%p"\'
+.fi
+.PP
+Start the database server, and examine the logs to track the process of the recovery\&. When the recovery is complete, the server will transition into a running state, and will move the
+recovery\&.conf
+file aside so that it will not attempt a recovery on the next invocation\&.