mySQL backup setup best practices

Requirements checklist

  1. CyberSecure Advanced is installed
  2. Data selected for backup will be temporarily spooled to a temp directory before being uploaded to the backup server. Please ensure that the temporary directory configured for the backup have sufficient disk space for the backup operation.
  3. A MySQL user with ALL PRIVILEGES must be prepared for the backup operation, eg:
    1. GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO ‘username’@’localhost’ IDENTIFIED BY ‘password’;
    2. GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO ‘username’@’localhost.localdomain’ IDENTIFIED BY ‘password’;
    3. FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
  4. The ‘information_schema’ database is a virtual system database, which contains information about the user databases on the MySQL instance. It is read-only and cannot be backed up.

Setup of mySQL backup set

  1. Open CyberSecure Advanced on the local mySQL server
  2. Go into the program settings by using the “Cog” icon:

  3. Then click the “plus” icon to add a new backup set

  4. Choose “MySQL” as the backup set type:

  5. Complete the configuration information to match your installed MySQL instance:

    Name: enter a descriptive backup set name
    Type: leave as MySQL
    Username: mySQL user account with full privileges
    Password: password for the mySQL account
    Host: should always be localhost
    Port: leave as default 3306 unless default port has been changed
    Path to mysqldump: should be under the \bin folder where mySQL is installed

  6. In the backup source selection screen, select the databases for backup.

    Important: Do not select the ‘information_schema’ database for backup, it is a read-only database and cannot be backed up.

  7. Configure a backup schedule for unattended backups, or if you are seeding the data, make sure you remove all schedules until the seeding process has been completed on our servers.
    Note: Multiple backup schedules of different types can be configured for the same backup set.
  8. Select an encryption setting for your backup set – leaving these as defaults will use your login password as the encryption password. Be sure to make a record of your login/encryption password as it will be required for a restore.
  9. OK through everything and back to the main console
  10. Save settings back to the offsite servers