vB Database Backup (Lite)
 

As of 24 Nov 2017 this modification has been withdrawn.

Note: I did not write the original version, but rather have modified & adapted it.

When vb 3.5 first came out I was using this backup system on my vb 3.0 - and having nothing better to use - I converted it to work on vb 3.5 (here) and since then I have cut it down and adapted it, first for vb 3.6, 3.7 and now for vb3.8.

The original version was by Trigunflame and the rights to the code were bought by Zoints (David Chapman) in January 2007. Later in 2007 David gave me permission to release my adaptation.

I have stripped out much of the extra stuff that I do not use (or indeed, could not get to work). This is a simple (Lite) version that does a php based dump of your database either as one file, or one file per table.

As of version 3.8.002, most of the options have moved to the ACP in vBulletin Options >> vBulletin Automatic Backup

Notes:
* I will not be adding anything new to this modification.
* This is a Lite version to allow people to use the basic backup functionality on 3.8.


History:

v3.8.001 : First version for vB 3.8.
v3.8.002 : Moved most of options to ACP.
v3.8.003 : Moved more options to ACP.
v3.8.004 : Gzip option backported from vb4 version.
v3.8.005 : Split option backported from vb4 version, close option removed.
v3.8.006 : Fix php 5.3 deprecated warning.

Thanks for updating this Paul :)
When I go to 3.8, I'll need to update my backup mod

Thank you! Works with 3.8 just fine. Thanks Paul!

-Dave

Thanks Paul!!! ;)

Where does it dump it to? TIA.

Wherever to set it to in the config file.

Ooops. Thank you.

Thanks Paul

Good job :up: just a heads up in the schedule task section section it's still showing "Automatic Database Backup for vBulletin 3.7" :D

Thanks, Cron title updated.

Can you think of a reason why it would just stop in the middle of the "post" table every time I run it from the cron, even a cron directly from my site's server, but if I use mysqlbackup and do it using the php directly, it will take a full backup?

Thanks paul, I want to ask some .. euhm .. noobish questions


in the configuration file -- I've made file in path site/vb/backups/
backups file is writable and this is the configuration part

// File Saving Information
$backup['DATE'] = 'Y-M-d'; // Backup file date format (See http://uk.php.net/date)
$backup['PREFIX'] = 'Forum-'; // Backup file prefix, applied to all files
$backup['DUMP_PATH'] = 'backups/'; // Path to backups folder, must have a trailing slash, folder must be writable.


I couldn't modify the date because I didn't understand how to write the scheme from php.net , can you give an example please ?


went to cron jobs and pressed " run now "
An error occured during the Backup : Could not open Destination SQL file for writing.

:(


Thanks for you great mods :)

Maybe your php installation has a timeout ?

This is not likely to work ;

$backup['DUMP_PATH'] = 'backups/';

Where exactly is your backups folder (in relation to other folders).

I did $backup['DUMP_PATH'] = './backups/';

Works for me.

Full path
$backup['DUMP_PATH'] = '/usr/local/******/backups/';

Works for me

Thank you.

Works great, thanks much!

Thanks Paul, kekforce ... I did it like ./backups/ and it worked :)



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Is there is a command to add to tar/gz the file then delete it the SQL one ?
the backup is taking about 500 mega :o ...


tyvm

Well, it was working for a very long time, then I changed the albums from the database to my files and suddenly when it hits "post" it stops. No other changes were made. Of course, since then I have upgraded to 3.8, but previous to that the 3.7 version ran fine.

Hey Paul

I have a question about Item 4
I do not understand where I think the setting for this.
In the Admin CP I find nothing about this.
THE XML has already been uploaded and the Config adjusted.

Sorry for the bad English,
Starli (ger)

I have not tried it yet... Anybody can tell me if it can email backed up DB to specified email address?

No, it outputs to a folder with incremental folders/table names. Not saying it's not possible, but this doesn't do that. Good idea though.

nice. i always had problems cause backing up data base is too complicated for me.
i shall use this.

Just leave it as is, the default is fine for 99% of people.

I get this error when i try to run this task:

i didnt know how to use it.
i simply uploaded files and imported the product (without editing the php file since i dont know how to do it).

now what happened was, my forum started giving a blank screen with the following error:

and nothing is happening. i tried deleting the files, i tried uninstalling the files, i tried re-uploading the global.php file but nothing seems to work. vbulletin support peopel say if i have modifications installed then they cant help which is obsurd since i only download modifications from this official site.

now can someone tell me what to do?
my url is:
i started to download this mod because i dont know how to backup my data and i thought maybe this mod can help me. guys please help me out i am in big trouble.

one more thing.
up until a few hours, i had 3.8 installed and working fine.

but accidently in the afternoon i pressed the "revert prefs" button in the admincp. i didnt know what happened then, but now that i look at my version of vbulletin, it shows 3.7.3 PL1. i dont know what the heck happened.

am in trouble? cause i dont have any backup of my data:(

Excellent mod! Love it!

But, I have a question... Why is it not recommended to turn the forums off during the backup? Wouldn't that be a good idea to close the forums temporarily during the backup?

Any info?

Also, how large does the forum need to be before this mod starts suffering from PHP timeouts? I have the newest PHP version (5.1.6).

Thanks again!

Your problems are nothing to do with this mod, you should open a support ticket at vb.com

Suddenly it started working again.

Excellent. I didn't think it was the Mod's fault (especially considering even Crons run from my server itself still wouldn't work) but I hoped I could figure out what was wrong. I never did, but Cron Backups are working again, just as scheduled, without data loss.

Great Mod Paul, I love it......

Downloaded, followed the instructions and it worked first time..............BRILLIANT:up:

yeah now i know that and my problem is fixed.
the problem that i have with this mod is, in the instructions it is written:
I dont have any clue how to do that. so i am asking for some help that either tell users like me who dont possess much of technical knowledge on how to do it, or give a link to some tutorials. but tutorials can take long to comprehend, the best thing would be to please mention the optimum example of the mysqlbackupconfig file.

also, i have no idea how to create and place a folder where the backup data gets stored. so i am asking for help in this regards.

thanx

You should have uploaded the files via FTP or something for vBulletin, use the same program to create the folder you want to put the files in.

Can someone address my questions (post #29)??

1. Because the code that turns it back on fails sometimes, leaving your forum closed.

2. If php is set-up correctly then timeouts should not happen.

Aren't timeouts possible when using vbulletin's built-in backup feature? They warn that timeouts are possible with large forums... wouldn't this also be the case here?? Sorry, I don't have much PHP knowledge, so I don't know details and specifics...

yes sir i am aware of that, what i dont know is, how to setup my php configuration files so that this mod can automatically backup my database and if it doesnt do it automatically, then at least inthe instructions there should be some procedure mentioned to do so.

plus i dont know how to import the saved backup database in case of an emergency and it would have been nice and kind if the developer or even anyone else had helped cause not everyone that comes here is a software expert.

if not much support is offered here for people like me, well then i guess i will have to uninstall it.

Paul, is it possible for me to add tar/gz to the file to save hard disk space while we are away from an internet connection ?

Not using this mod it isnt.