MySQL - saving data

[Stephane M]

Hello, just another questions

I have 3 databased : A, B, C
I can find these 3 databases into /var/lib/mysql/
(3 folders and 2 Ib_log files and a file called : mysql.sock)

If I save only these 3 folders ? should it be enough to recover it in case
of crash ?

THanks for your help

[Bill Karwin]

Stephane M wrote:

> I can find these 3 databases into /var/lib/mysql/
> (3 folders and 2 Ib_log files and a file called : mysql.sock)
>
> If I save only these 3 folders ? should it be enough to recover it in case
> of crash ?

This is not a safe or reliable way of backing up the data. As Peter
Coffin points out, you should use the mysqldump tool that comes with MySQL.

The reason copying the files is not reliable is that the MySQL server
may keep some data in memory, not yet written to disk. If you copy the
files, you may get an incomplete version of the database. Maybe not
this time, but sometimes you will.

Use mysqldump; it is designed to get all the data correctly. Basically,
I agree fully with Peter, I just want to reinforce the recommendation. :)

There is no need to back up the log files or the mysql.sock file, to
recover databases.

Regards,
Bill K.