This tutorial explains how to backup and restore MySQL or MariaDB databases from the command line using the mysqldump
utility.
You can also use the mysqldump utility to transfer your MySQL database to another MySQL server.
Mysqldump Command Syntax
Before going into how to use the mysqldump command, let’s start by reviewing the basic syntax.
The mysqldump utility expressions take the following form:
mysqldump [options] > file.sql
options
– The mysqldump optionsfile.sql
– The dump (backup) file
To use the mysqldump command the MySQL server must be accessible and running
Backup a Single MySQL Database
he most common use case of the mysqldump tool is to backup a single database.
For example, to create a backup of the database named database_name
using the user root and save it to a file named database_name.sql
you would run the following command:
mysqldump -u root -p database_name > database_name.sql
You will be prompted to enter the root password. After successful authentication, the dump process will start. Depending on the database size, the process can take some time.
If you are logged in as the same user that you are using to perform the export and that the user does not require a password, you can omit the -u
and -p
options:
mysqldump database_name > database_name.sql
Backup Multiple MySQL Databases
To backup multiple MySQL databases with one command you need to use the –database option followed by the list of databases you want to backup. Each database name must be separated by space.
mysqldump -u root -p --databases database_name_a database_name_b > databases_a_b.sql
The command above will create a dump file containing both databases.
Backup All MySQL Databases
Use the --all-databases
option to back up all the MySQL databases:
mysqldump -u root -p --all-databases > all_databases.sql
Same as with the previous example the command above will create a single dump file containing all the databases.
Backup all MySQL databases to separate files
for DB in $(mysql -e 'show databases' -s --skip-column-names); do mysqldump $DB > "$DB.sql"; done
Restoring a MySQL dump
Restoring a MySQL dump
You can restore a MySQL dump using the mysql
tool. The command general syntax is as follows:
mysql database_name < file.sql
In most cases you’ll need to create a database to import into. If the database already exists, first you need to delete it.
Restore a Single MySQL Database from a Full MySQL Dump
If you backed up all your databases using the -all-databases option and you want to restore a single database from a backup file which contains multiple databases use the –one-database option as shown below:
mysql --one-database database_name < all_databases.sql
Export and Import a MySQL Database in One Command
Instead of creating a dump file from one database and then import the backup into another MySQL database you can use the following one-liner:
mysqldump -u root -p database_name | mysql -h remote_host -u root -p remote_database_name
The command above will pipe the output to a mysql client on the remote host and it will import it into a database named remote_database_name. Before running the command, make sure the database already exists on the remote server.
If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to leave a comment.