If you have older scripts that use the ibbackup command with 2 configuration files specified on the command line, a corresponding mysqlbackup command looks like:

mysqlbackup --only-innodb --no-connection --backup-dir=/path/to/backup backup

The above command does not back up .frm and MyISAM files as ibbackup does.

The my.cnf must include 6 essential parameters in the [mysqld] section or in the [mysqlbackup] section. For example, the my.cnf might look like:

[mysqld]
datadir = /backup/mysql
innodb_data_file_path = ibdata1:256M;ibdata2:256M:autoextend
innodb_log_group_home_dir = /backup/mysql/innodb/log
innodb_data_home_dir = /backup/mysql/innodb/data
innodb_log_file_size = 256M
innodb_log_files_in_group = 3

[mysqlbackup]
backup_innodb_log_group_home_dir = /backup/mysql/innodb/log         [Optional]
backup_innodb_data_file_path = ibdata1:256M;ibdata2:256M:autoextend [Optional]
backup_innodb_data_home_dir = /backup/mysql/innodb/data             [Optional]
backup_innodb_log_file_size = 256M                                  [Optional]
backup_innodb_log_files_in_group = 3                                [Optional]

The backup_innodb_* options typically have the same values as the corresponding innodb_* options, in which case you do not need to specify them.