Hi everyone,

I feel like such a dumb*** because I don't know how to make automatic database backups.

I would love to make backups every 3 days or so. Perhaps 3 times a week would be good, not daily though.

I'm using MySQL and Windows and my current method of database backing is to do it manually. I navigate to the mysql data directory, and copy and then paste it onto a CD of mine.

I hate how I have to manually do this all the time. I tried Windows scheduled task manager to create a backup of the mysql data directory but its a no go. Somehow it always fails when trying to back it up.

Is there any other alternatives?

Thanks,
Bobby

You should use mysqlhotcopy instead of manually copy and pasting the files to a cd. Unless you are stopoping mysql and then doing the deed, then it doesnt matter as there will be no writes to the files.
As for automating this, depending on your version of M$ you can schedule a job to run at a certain time. You can also compress the db files to save space once you have them in a different directory.

The command you want to run would look something like this:

If all else fails you can use mysqldump.

hope this helps

If you want to consider a third party tool, then Navicat is a good option. It's not expensive, and includes a scheduler for SQL jobs. It can also administer databases, and easily transfer databases across servers. For more info: http://www.navicat.com/product.html

And no, I have nothing to do with, I am just a satisfied user.