Back up MySQL Databases with a Simple Bash Script
![Dmitri Popov Dmitri Popov](/var/linux_magazin/storage/images/online/blogs/productivity-sauce/275404-17-eng-US/Productivity-Sauce.png)
Productivity Sauce
If you host your own blog or any Web-based application running on the Apache/MySQL/PHP stack, you should have a backup system in place for keeping data stored in MySQL databases safe. There are several solutions that can help you with that, but nothing beats a simple Bash script I stumbled upon in a blog post comment. Here is the script in all its beauty:
#!/bin/bash NOW=`date +"%Y-%m"`; BACKUPDIR="location/of/your/backup/dir/$NOW"; ### Server Setup ### #* MySQL login user name *# MUSER="user"; #* MySQL login PASSWORD name *# MPASS="pass"; #* MySQL login HOST name *# MHOST="your-mysql-ip"; MPORT="your-mysql-port"; # DO NOT BACKUP these databases IGNOREDB=" information_schema mysql test " #* MySQL binaries *# MYSQL=`which mysql`; MYSQLDUMP=`which mysqldump`; GZIP=`which gzip`; # assuming that /nas is mounted via /etc/fstab if [ ! -d $BACKUPDIR ]; then mkdir -p $BACKUPDIR else : fi # get all database listing DBS="$(mysql -u $MUSER -p$MPASS -h $MHOST -P $MPORT -Bse 'show databases')" # SET DATE AND TIME FOR THE FILE NOW=`date +"d%dh%Hm%Ms%S"`; # day-hour-minute-sec format # start to dump database one by one for db in $DBS do DUMP="yes"; if [ "$IGNOREDB" != "" ]; then for i in $IGNOREDB # Store all value of $IGNOREDB ON i do if [ "$db" == "$i" ]; then # If result of $DBS(db) is equal to $IGNOREDB(i) then DUMP="NO"; # SET value of DUMP to "no" #echo "$i database is being ignored!"; fi done fi if [ "$DUMP" == "yes" ]; then # If value of DUMP is "yes" then backup database FILE="$BACKUPDIR/$NOW-$db.gz"; echo "BACKING UP $db"; $MYSQLDUMP --add-drop-database --opt --lock-all-tables -u $MUSER -p$MPASS -h $MHOST -P $MPORT $db | gzip > $FILE fi done
The best part is that you only need to specify a handful of parameters to make the script work. This includes BACKUPDIR (the destination for storing backups), MUSER (MySQL user), MPASS (MySQL user password), MHOST (the IP address of the MySQL server, e.g. localhost), and MPORT (the port the MySQL database is running on, default is 3306).
You can run the script manually, or you can set up a cron job which will perform backups on a regular basis. To do this, run the crontab -e command and add the following line (replace the sample path with the actual path and backup script name):
@daily /path/to/mysqlbackupscript.sh
Don't forget to make the script executable using the chmod a+x mysqlbackupscript.sh command.
Comments
comments powered by DisqusSubscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
![Learn More](https://www.linux-magazine.com/var/linux_magazin/storage/images/media/linux-magazine-eng-us/images/misc/learn-more/834592-1-eng-US/Learn-More_medium.png)
News
-
NVIDIA Released Driver for Upcoming NVIDIA 560 GPU for Linux
Not only has NVIDIA released the driver for its upcoming CPU series, it's the first release that defaults to using open-source GPU kernel modules.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 24.07 Released
If you’re into rolling release Linux distributions, OpenMandriva ROME has a new snapshot with a new kernel.
-
Kernel 6.10 Available for General Usage
Linus Torvalds has released the 6.10 kernel and it includes significant performance increases for Intel Core hybrid systems and more.
-
TUXEDO Computers Releases InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen9 Laptop
Sporting either AMD or Intel CPUs, the TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 is an extremely compact, lightweight, sturdy powerhouse.
-
Google Extends Support for Linux Kernels Used for Android
Because the LTS Linux kernel releases are so important to Android, Google has decided to extend the support period beyond that offered by the kernel development team.
-
Linux Mint 22 Stable Delayed
If you're anxious about getting your hands on the stable release of Linux Mint 22, it looks as if you're going to have to wait a bit longer.
-
Nitrux 3.5.1 Available for Install
The latest version of the immutable, systemd-free distribution includes an updated kernel and NVIDIA driver.
-
Debian 12.6 Released with Plenty of Bug Fixes and Updates
The sixth update to Debian "Bookworm" is all about security mitigations and making adjustments for some "serious problems."
-
Canonical Offers 12-Year LTS for Open Source Docker Images
Canonical is expanding its LTS offering to reach beyond the DEB packages with a new distro-less Docker image.
-
Plasma Desktop 6.1 Released with Several Enhancements
If you're a fan of Plasma Desktop, you should be excited about this new point release.
simple & compact version
NOW=`date +%Y-%m-%d`;
BKPDIR=/path/to/backup/$NOW;
mkdir -p $BKPDIR;
for DB in $(echo 'SHOW DATABASES;' | mysql -uuser -ppassword | grep -v '^Database$'); do
if [[ "${IGNOREDB}" =~ "#${DB}#" ]]; then continue; fi
mysqldump -uuser -ppassword --opt --add-drop-database --lock-all-tables --max_allowed_packet=500M $DB | bzip2 > $BKPDIR/$NOW-$DB.sql.bz2;
done;
Oh the horror
A shorter script using regular expression support
# DO NOT BACKUP these databases
IGNOREDB="#information_schema#mysql#test#"
...
for db in $DBS
do
if [ "${IGNOREDB}" =~ "#${db}#" ]; then continue; fi
FILE="$BACKUPDIR/$NOW-$db.gz";
echo "BACKING UP $db";
$MYSQLDUMP --add-drop-database --opt --lock-all-tables -u $MUSER -p$MPASS -h $MHOST -P $MPORT $db | gzip > $FILE
done
Avoiding the second inner loop and the $DUMP variable.
My two cents!
Backing up large databases
You'll want to add something like --max_allowed_packet=500M to the mysqldump command line to work around that.