Why would the backend get a KILL signal like this? It was doing a routine select ... into , or a copy ... to at the time. 2005-09-19 09:52:46 [1511] LOG: server process (PID 19446) was terminated by signal 9 2005-09-19 09:52:46 [1511] LOG: terminating any other active server processes 2005-09-19 09:52:46 [1712] WARNING: terminating connection because of crash of another server process DETAIL: The postmaster has commanded this server process to roll back the current transaction and exit, because another server process exited abnormally and possibly corrupted shared memory. HINT: In a moment you should be able to reconnect to the database and repeat your command. Debian 7.4.3 package Version: 7.4.3-3 ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 2: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster