All backup-related operations either create new files or
reference existing files underneath a specified directory that
holds backup data. Choose this directory in advance, on a file
system with sufficient storage. (It could even be remotely
mounted from a different server.) You specify the path to this
directory with the --backup-dir
option for many invocations of the
mysqlbackup command.
Once you establish a regular backup schedule with automated
jobs, it is preferable to keep each backup within a timestamped
subdirectory underneath the main backup directory. To make the
mysqlbackup command create these
subdirectories automatically, specify the
--with-timestamp
option each time
you run mysqlbackup.
For one-time backup operations, for example when cloning a
database to set up a replication slave, you might specify a new
directory each time, or specify the
--force
option of
mysqlbackup to overwrite older backup files.