Backing up forums?

[Shazz]

What is the easiest and best way to do it.
In case a smod or admin went crazy and mass pruned all the threads for example... What would be the best way to back it up, and restore it
If its complicated maybe a little instruction

[Paul M]

Search the add-ons area for one of the auto backup mods.

Have a look at my sig.

[Shazz]

Thanx, I am currently using phpmyadmin on backing up the SQL file, But Ive heard so many people say, if the SQL file is too big. You will have problems restoring it?

Yeah, if you're looking to upload a big SQL dump via HTTP, it'll almost always time out on you. (In my experience, anyway).

The best/cleanest way to do it is to upload the raw dump itself via FTP, and then import it using a shell. That way, your backup file is on the server, as is the new database that you're importing your data into. No timeouts, and it's a one-liner command.

[Shazz]

Importing it using shell? Im brand new to this still, So After I take my SQL File I have backed up from phpmyadmin , I would....

Also Whats the difference between a GZIPPED and a SQL file? Don't they backup the same things.

GZip is a compressed version of the file, just like WinZip, Rar, etc. the .sql is the raw, uncompressed file.

To backup/restore using the way I'm talking, you'd need to have shell access to your server (SSH). It's a secure terminal that gives you command-line access to the box itself. If you don't have a direct SSH connection, a lot of hosts (using things like Virtuozzo) have a java-based SSH window that you can use as well.

If your host offers you neither, the best bet for you would be to backup your database, upload it, and then just have their support team run the import locally on the server. If they give you any grief about it, tell them that you either:

a) Need shell access to do it yourself.
b) Need another host that will allow you to SSH, or help you out.

PHPMyAdmin timeouts are super common, especially with big filesizes. The only other option you have would be to manually chop the .sql file into smaller bits and import them one at a time. And that, let me tell you first-hand, absolutely, positively SUCKS.

[aberg]

I use putty ( it's free) and login through SSL.

Than:

mysqldump --opt -Q -u dbusername -p databasename > /path/to/backupname.sql

Works also for large forums very good.

I use cygwin.

[da420]

To backup my raw files I use bairy's backup utility. I use Paul M's database backup utility for my database.

Before I was doing it manually via shell, but this makes it that much easier.

Really simple and fool proof.