Final answer:
Reading WAL files in PostgreSQL can be done using the pg_waldump tool for manual inspection, but it is generally not common practice.
Step-by-step explanation:
To read WAL files (Write-Ahead Logging) in PostgreSQL for data recovery or replication, you would generally use internal PostgreSQL tools or third-party utilities designed for log analysis. However, reading WAL files directly is not a common practice because they are in a binary format and are meant for the PostgreSQL server's internal use.
For manual inspection or decoding, one can use pg_waldump, a command-line tool that is part of PostgreSQL. It allows you to display the contents of WAL files in a human-readable format. Here's a simple use case: pg_waldump /path/to/wal/file -n
Replace "/path/to/wal/file" with the actual file path of the WAL file. The -n flag is used to specify the number of records to display. To recover data or set up replication, consider using high-level tools such as pg_basebackup, pg_rewind, or replication solutions like pglogical.