Any serious development project involves source control and a deploy process - SCM (Software Configuration Management). Make sure you put all your database objects (table, index, packages etc..) under revision control. Put your APEX export-files under revision control. Tag them together with the ddl. This way you have a consistent point in time representation of your "system". Make use of the "continous integration" paradigm - build early - build often. Jenkins CI will be a good choice.
When all of this is in place, you branch off your "serious customization"!
As of >= 1.3.1 Barman supports backup from a standby replica (concurrent_backup). Barman config, e.g. /etc/barman.d/standby.conf looks like this:
[standby]
description = "Replica of main PostgreSQL DB"
ssh_command = ssh postgres@db02
conninfo = host=db02 user=postgres
backup_options = concurrent_backup
streaming_conninfo = host=db02 user=postgres
streaming_archiver = on
If your master is running on PostgreSQL <= 9.5 you'd have to install pgespresso extension (there are binary packages e.g. for Debian from PGDG APT repos). PostgreSQL 9.6 introduced native streaming API, there's no need for special extension.
On standby server make sure to configure archive_command:
wal_level = hot_standby
archive_mode = on
archive_command = 'rsync -a %p barman@backup:/var/lib/barman/standby/incoming/%f'
the incoming directory should match
barman:~$ barman diagnose | grep incoming_wals_directory
Also on standby server update pg_hba.conf (where 10.0.0.3 is ipaddress of barman server):
host all postgres 10.0.0.3/32 trust
And enable WAL files streaming:
barman~$ barman receive-wal standby
You can check your configuration using:
barman:~$ barman check standby
Server standby:
PostgreSQL: OK
wal_level: OK
directories: OK
retention policy settings: OK
backup maximum age: OK (no last_backup_maximum_age provided)
compression settings: OK
failed backups: OK (there are 0 failed backups)
minimum redundancy requirements: OK (have 1 backups, expected at least 0)
ssh: OK (PostgreSQL server)
pgespresso extension: OK
archive_mode: OK
archive_command: OK
continuous archiving: OK
archiver errors: OK
Then you should be ready to run full backup:
barman:~$ barman backup standby
Best Answer
I would also recommend MySQL dump with an additional twist, place the dump file under version control, at regular intervals, I would recommend when a change is complete. That way you can also track the changes to the database and make reconstruction easier