If there's another server around, you can have your archive_command on the master ship to two systems, then use the second one as a way to jump-start this whole process. After fail-over, just start shipping from the new primary to that 3rd server, now the replacement standby, and sync any files it doesn't have. Then switch it into recovery. Much faster than doing a new base backup from the standby on larger systems.
Every time I've tried to do this it's failed because the third server was looking for log files starting with 00000006... but the secondary server (new master) is now shipping files starting with 00000007... How do I get the third server to switch over to the higher numbered files? That's the part I was never able to overcome.
I'd really like to fix this, because this has literally given me nightmares. :)
Bryan
