How to Convert PostgreSQL to SQL Server with Command?

There are many databases available in the market for users to mull them over. PostgreSQL and SQL Server are two common options that businesses would vacillate.

PostgreSQL is an open-source and enterprise object-relational database system that enables SQL and JSON querying. The database is a popular choice among organizations of mobile, web, analytics, and geospatial apps as the data warehouse.

PostgreSQL emphasizes compliance and extensibility, and at the same time, it boasts rich features such as point-in-time recovery, tablespaces, multi-version concurrency, hot backups, and so on.

But it also has a relatively low reading speed and limited app support than other databases. PostgreSQL lacks upgrade utility, so it requires data export or replication to the new version for the purpose. And the upgrade of PostgreSQL entails double storage.

Compared to PostgreSQL, MS SQL Server is easier to install and configure, and provides record-breaking performance and data protection in motion. You can use both Microsoft Data Migration Assistant and SQL Server Installation Center to upgrade SQL Server to another edition.

Thus, some users may want to migrate data from PostgreSQL to SQL Server.

Convert PostgreSQL to SQL Server Using Bcp

1.     Use psql to write 100m rows to a local file.

time psql -h /tmp -p 1925 -U postgres postgres -c "copy (select id,md5(random()::text) from generate_series(1,100000000) t(id)) to stdout WITH (NULL '')" > /data02/test.out  real    2m2.551s 

user    0m11.545s 

sys     0m12.576s 

2.     Use bcp to load local files to MS SQL Server in bulk.

bcp test in /data01/test.out -c -k -S localhost -U SA -P Digoal_mssql -b 65535 -a 65535 -r

Starting copy...  

100000000 rows copied. 

Network packet size (bytes): 4097 

Clock Time (ms.) Total     : 779500 Average : (128309.0 rows per sec.)

Convert PostgreSQL to SQL Server Using Pg_dump and Bcp

1.     Dump PostgreSQL schema and remove ownership or permissions with pg_dump.

pg_dump --schema-only --no-owner --no-privileges your_db_name > schema_create_script.sql

2.     Convert the results into a bcp format.

3.     Import the data into SQL Server using bcp, and load it into the database.

4.     Or if you can convert the schema without data, you can shorten the steps.

pg_dump --data-only --column-inserts your_db_name > data_load_script.sql

Convert PostgreSQL to SQL Server Using Pg_dump

1.     Export table definitions of PostgreSQL with pg_dump -s.

2.     Convert the results into SQL Server format.

3.     Load the statements to SQL Server with the Import and Export Wizard or sqlcmd. exe client tool.

4.     Export PostgreSQL data into a script with pg_dump -a -b –inserts.

5.     Convert it into SQL Server format and load into the database.

Backup PostgreSQL and SQL Server in Advance

The database migration process may be dangerous without preventive measures. Data loss from system failures or anything during the migration could be huge. So, it’s recommended that database users that want to translate PostgreSQL to SQL Server try the migration first in an isolated test environment.

If everything is correct, then migrate the database data. You can also backup the data beforehand to ensure data security even if the migration fails.

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Conclusion

In this article, I introduced 3 methods to migrate PostgreSQL to SQL Server (see how to convert SQL Server to PostgreSQL), you could choose one to try according to your IT environment or tools available.

But please note that backup before or after the database migration is necessary for data loss prevention. Try Vinchin Backup & Recovery with multiple advanced features, user-friendly operations, and a satisfactory price.