diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index 4bb04cd..933c8dc 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ postgresql_backup:
   user: root
   cron_minute: '*'
   cron_hour: '0'
+  compress: false
   databases: []
 #   - name: psql_database_name
 #     user: psql_database_user
diff --git a/tasks/main.yml b/tasks/main.yml
index f70ce77..29d5b29 100644
--- a/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/tasks/main.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
   become: true
   template:
     src: templates/postgresql-backup-script.sh
-    dest: /etc/postgresql-backup-script.sh
+    dest: /opt/postgresql-backup-script.sh
     owner: "{{ postgresql_backup.user }}"
     backup: true
     mode: 0755
@@ -24,5 +24,5 @@
     cron_file: /etc/crontab
     minute: "{{ postgresql_backup.cron_minute | default( '*' ) }}"
     hour: "{{ postgresql_backup.cron_hour | default( '0' ) }}"
-    job: /etc/postgresql-backup-script.sh
+    job: /etc/postgresql-backup-script.sh >/dev/null 2>&1
     user: "{{ postgresql_backup.user }}"
diff --git a/templates/postgresql-backup-script.sh b/templates/postgresql-backup-script.sh
index d4742d8..116cfa6 100644
--- a/templates/postgresql-backup-script.sh
+++ b/templates/postgresql-backup-script.sh
@@ -19,8 +19,14 @@ backup_databases() {
   export PGPASSWORD="{{ db.password }}"
   {% endif %}
   if (umask 077 && pg_dump -F c -h "{{ db.host | default( 'localhost' ) }}" -U "{{ db.user | default( 'postgres' ) }}" -p "{{ db.port | default( '5432' ) }}" "{{ db.name }}" -f "{{ db.name }}.in_progress.psql"); then
+  {% if postgresql_backup.compress %}
+    tar -czvf  "{{ db.name }}.psql.tar.gz" "{{ db.name }}.in_progress.psql"
+  {% else %}
 	  mv "{{ db.name }}.in_progress.psql" "{{ db.name }}.psql"
+  {% endif %}
+    echo "backup of {{ db.name }} successful"
   else
+    echo "failed to export {{ db.name }}"
 	  return 1
   fi;
   {% endfor %}
diff --git a/vars/main.yml b/vars/main.yml
index 84c7ba0..74d6049 100644
--- a/vars/main.yml
+++ b/vars/main.yml
@@ -1,8 +1,4 @@
 ---
-# versionscheck
-playbook_version_number: 17 # should be int
-playbook_version_path: 'role-postgresql-backup_roles-ansible_github.com.version' # unique string
-
 _postgresql_backup:
   required_packages:
     - postgresql-client
@@ -12,3 +8,7 @@ _postgresql_backup:
   cron_minute: '*'
   cron_hour: '0'
   databases: []
+
+# versionscheck
+playbook_version_number: 18 # should be int
+playbook_version_path: 'role-postgresql-backup_roles-ansible_github.com.version' # unique string