Administrative and Maintenance Tools - vBulletin Cron Based Database Backup

As of 23 Nov 2017 this modification has been withdrawn.

This is a cut down version based on a backup system written by Trigunflame for vb 3.0. It is a simple vBulletin cron trigged php system that does a dump of your database - either as one complete file, or as one file per table. Especially useful now that IB removed the old ACP backup option in vBulletin 4. Files can be (G)Zipped to save space.

All the options are located in the ACP in vBulletin Options >> vBulletin Automatic Backup

To install, download and unzip the files, and follow the instructions in the text file.


History:

v4.0.1 : 28-Dec-2009 : Initial release for vb 4.0.0 Gold.
v4.0.2 : 29-Dec-2009 : Added ability to block process larger tables.
v4.0.3 : 27-Jun-2010 : Added Gzip option.

v4.1.0 : 04-Dec-2010 : Updated for vBulletin 4.1.0.

v4.1.7.0 : 16-Oct-2011 : Updated for vBulletin 4.1.7.

v4.2.0.0 : 24-May-2012 : Updated for vBulletin 4.2.0.
v4.2.0.1 : 17-Mar-2013 : Removed vboptions from backup call..
v4.2.0.2 : 25-Nov-2013 : Fix php 5.3 deprecated warnings, added mysqldump backup.

[3loomShia]

Your awesome. I can not worry less.

Thanks heaps, Mate.

[Parture]

Why can't we just use the Backup Wizard with CPANEL 2 Accelerated to do a backup of all files and the database?

In the manual for vBulletin it says to select drop tables. That is the only thing that is not selected in standard setup of mysql. When I use the backup wizard it doesn't give you the option to select anything any options to back.

Is that ok?

[Paul M]

I dont know anything about cpanel, I dont use it.

Dropping tables doesnt sound a very good plan - you do know that means deleting the table ?

[Parture]

Ya I know what drop table means. In the manual it says when backing up...

http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/

In the second area, called SQL Options, make sure you have the following boxes checked:
Structure
Add 'drop table'
Add AUTO_INCREMENT value
Enclose table and field names with backquotes
Data

When I go into my SQL all of these are selected already except for Add 'drop table' that is: Add DROP TABLE / VIEW / PROCEDURE / FUNCTION

If this is not selected when backing up is that ok? If that's ok then I think I am ok to use CPANEL 2 Accelerated 2 and don't have to use any of the various other methods for backing up like Shell/SSH and other methods.

If not, I think I should export my database from php admin so I can select this box that is not currently selected.

If my thinking is right let me know. That CPANEL 2 built in backup method is really easy.

[Paul M]

Ah, that means add a drop command to the backup itself - yes you should normally do that as it makes restores work better.

If you want to use cpanel or php admin to manually run backups then go ahead, its your choice. I prefer to just let vb do it all automatically each night, without any need for me to do anything.

[Parture]

That's interesting, maybe I will try it your way, seems easier.

I still don't understand SSH and Shell and Telnet and and Keys and all that.

I noticed SSH and Telnet don't give you the option to Add 'drop table' either. Does your cron? If not then the only way to check off that box is to do it in phpadmin and export from php admin.

And last dumb question: why are there so many options? Why do we need to use Putty? Why can't we just use the Telnet or SSH in CPANEL 2 Accelerated?

I get that Shell Telnet and SSH are better (even though I don't really understand), because there are no timeouts, and maybe that's why vBulletin got rid of backups through vBulletin control panel.

[Paul M]

Yes this adds a Drop Table command to backups.

The rest of your questions have no relevance to this modification.

[Parture]

Sorry.

[Parture]

Should we backup all tables to one big file? Lock tables and do a repair before backing up?

[onehost]

My board crashed about a month ago, and I was using this hack and had some backups made that the mod created, the forum restore never could use them to restore, as it could not read them, so I had to rely on my manual backups of the sql that I was doing...I am glad I did not put 100% faith in this...not saying it does not work, it just did not restore for me when I tried...so I do not know how many of you have actually used this backup to restore, as most users just backup, and never have to restore...dont be lazy, never hurts to keep manual backups as well.