title: Which Postgresql WAL files can I safely remove from the WAL archive folder
body: <p><strong>Current situation</strong></p>
  
  <p>So I have WAL archiving set up to an independent internal harddrive on a data logging computer running Postgres. The harddrive containing the WAL archives is filling up and I'd like to remove and archive all the WAL archive files, including the initial base backup, to external backup drives.</p>
  
  <p><strong>The directory structure is like:</strong></p>
  
  <p>D:/WALBACKUP/ which is the parent folder for all the WAL files (00000110000.CA00000004 etc)</p>
  
  <p>D:/WALBACKUP/BASEBACKUP/ which holds the .tar of the initial base backup</p>
  
  <p><strong>The question I have then is:</strong></p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>Can I safely move literally every single WAL file except the current WAL archive file, (000000000001.CA0000.. and so on), including the base backup, and move them to another hdd. (Note that the database is live and receiving data)</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>cheers!</p>