How to restore a database to a specific point in time (PITR) given a dump from 50 minutes ago?

To restore a database to a specific point in time (Point-In-Time Recovery, PITR), having a dump, for example, from 50 minutes ago, you need to follow these steps:

1. Restore the database from the dump made 50 minutes ago.
2. Apply all transaction logs (change logs) created after the dump was made, up to the desired point in time.

This is possible if the system maintains a transaction log (for example, WAL in PostgreSQL) and these logs are accessible.

Example for PostgreSQL:

• Restore the database from the dump:

  pg_restore -d target_db dump_file
  

• Configure recovery using the recovery_target_time parameter in recovery.conf or through postgresql.conf (depending on the version), specifying the desired time.
• Start the server in recovery mode so it applies all WAL logs up to the specified time.

If you do not have transaction logs, then restoring only from the dump will give the state of the database at the time of the dump, but will not allow rollback to a more precise time.

Thus, PITR requires both the dump and transaction logs to revert to the desired moment.