# Full load PostgreSQL database migration
<a name="chap-manageddatabases.postgresql-rds-postgresql-full-load"></a>

The full load migration phase populates the target database with a copy of the source data. This chapter describes the following native methods to help you choose the one that best matches your migration scenario.
+ pg\$1dump and pg\$1restore
+ Publisher and Subscriber
+ pglogical

We recommend that you begin by reviewing the following table to understand the tools suitable for your use case.


| Method | Supported versions | Support of metadata migration | Suitable database sizes | Performance | 
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | 
|  pg\$1dump and pg\$1restore  |  All versions of PostgreSQL  |  Yes  |  100 GB or less  |  Medium  | 
|  Publisher and Subscriber  |  PostgreSQL 10.0 and higher  |  No  |  Any size  |  High  | 
|  pglogical  |  PostgreSQL 9.4 and higher  |  Yes  |  Any size  |  High  | 

The suitable database sizes provided in the preceding table are the AWS DMS recommendations. These recommendations are based on customer migration experiences and aren’t the limitation of the native tools.

**Topics**
+ [Preparing for Ongoing Replication](chap-manageddatabases.postgresql-rds-postgresql-full-load-preparing.md)
+ [PostgreSQL pg\$1dump and pg\$1restore utility](chap-manageddatabases.postgresql-rds-postgresql-full-load-pd_dump.md)
+ [PostgreSQL publisher and subscriber model](chap-manageddatabases.postgresql-rds-postgresql-full-load-publisher.md)
+ [PostgreSQL pglogical extension](chap-manageddatabases.postgresql-rds-postgresql-full-load-pglogical.md)