Please Post Your BEST backup program.

[David Copeland]

[b]Please Post Your BEST backup program
that you use.

1) The name of the backup program
you use to backup the forum;

2) The web site where I can download it.

3) Is the program free (or the price)?

4) How quick does it perform?

5) Can a novice do it?

6) Can it be schedule remotely?

7) Do you back up just the data or
the ENTIRE program and data?

Thanks,

David

[bira]

David,

No program needed.

I set up a cron job that backs up the BB database (that is all you need to back up) every day at midnight. This job's line in the crontab looks like this:

[code]
0 0 * * * cd /usr/local/mysql/bin;./mysqldump -uroot -pxxxxxx -q bbdb > /usr/www/atlasf1/bbdb.sql;cd /usr/www/atlasf1;rm bbdb.sql.gz;gzip -9 bbdb.sql
[/code]

Cheers,

Bira

[Mike Sullivan]

David,

What Bira suggested was good, but I should note one thing.

You can't use that line as is, because it made references to his paths.

You need to change your mysql login:
-uroot is your username: -uUSERNAME
-pxxxx is your password: -pPASSWORD
-q bbdb is your database: -q DATABASENAME (<-- I think, not 100% sure)

You're also going to need to change your paths:
"/usr/www/atlasf1/bbdb.sql" will have to be changed to the directory you want to back up to.

The next reference to "/usr/www/atlasf1" must also be changed.

HTH,

[George L]

i backup my forum database using telnet and the command line...

but aren't you meant to backup a database when the forum is closed ? how does a cron job set to daily backup,.... close the forum ? can it corrupt the database if your daily cron job runs and members are posting away on the forums ?

[Mike Sullivan]

It shouldn't.

If mysqldump is even a wee bit smart, it would lock the database when dumping.

This is what MySQL does. When there's an insert query, it locks the table, and queues the rest of the current select and insert (etc) querys.

I would assume mysqldump does the same.

[George L]

so does this mean when doing a mysqldump from a cronjob... a member posting will get an error ?

[Mike Sullivan]

No, (s)he just waits in the queue quietly...

[George L]

i see...

[bira]

Sorry, Ed's right. I took it for granted that it was obviously MY settings - and I should have been clear on that.

What he was wrong about, though, is the part where he says, "You can't use that line as is, because it made references to his paths."

Well the essense is correct. I'm just not a "his" but rather a "her" :):):)

Cheers, Ed

[Mike Sullivan]

Doh! Sorry 'bout that.

I think ilya trained me. Because, ilya is a he, but his name ends in a feminine "a". ;)

That, and your site is an F1 site, so I was a little biased :D

Whoops!

Me? I'm really an alien. Shh!

(Sorry Dave - we've taken over your thread. Mmwhahaha!)

[Edited by Ed Sullivan on 08-14-2000 at 10:13 PM]

[David Copeland]

[b]You guys (and gals) crack my toush! (sp?)

Anyway . . . so does the backup just
cover the data and not the VBulletin program?

2nd Question:
Has anyone actually tried this procedure
and reinstalled the VBulletin and saved
Data to test whether the backup did it's job?
(Such as on a separate server?)

David

[Chris Schreiber]

No this just backs up the MySQL data, not the actual scripts. I usually just keep a copy of them locally, and you can also always download the scripts again if need be.

And yes I know a few people that have successfully dumped MySQL data using the procedure and loaded into another database on a seperate machine... it does work :)

-Chris

[David Copeland]

[b]Where are the modifications to the software
saved at? Such as personal choice of colors
and html hacks, etc. Is that in the scripts or
the MySQL data?

If it's in the scripts, then just restoring
the MySQL data would leave us to redesign the
whole forum?

Thanks.

David[/b]

[Chris Schreiber]

All of the templates (layout changes) and setting are stored in the database, so a database backup will save those changes just fine.... if you actually make code changes to vBulletin, then yes it is very important to back up your modified scripts as well.

-Chris

[George L]

martin mentioned a good tip for backing up modified php files... create a folder for each modification and store a copy in that folder... so you can revert back to each stage... i haven't done that yet but it should be done