5.1.16 Options for Special Backup Types

These options are for backing up database servers that play specific roles in replication, or contain certain kinds of data that require special care in backing up.

• --slave-info

  When backing up a replication slave server, this option captures information needed to set up an identical slave server. It creates a file meta/ibbackup_slave_info inside the backup directory, containing a CHANGE MASTER statement with the binary log position and name of the binary log file of the master server. This information is also printed in the mysqlbackup output. To set up a new slave for this master, restore the backup data on another server, start a slave server on the backup data, and issue a CHANGE MASTER command with the binary log position saved in the ibbackup_slave_info file. See Section 6.1, “Setting Up a New Replication Slave” for instructions.

  Note

  Only use this option when backing up a slave server. Its behavior is undefined when used on a master or non-replication server.

  This option is not compatible with the --no-locking option; using both options together will make mysqlbackup throw an error.

  This option is not compatible with the --only-innodb or --only-innodb-with-frm options.

• --suspend-at-end

  This option pauses the mysqlbackup command when the backup procedure is close to ending. It creates a file called ibbackup_suspended in the backup log group home directory and waits until you delete that file before proceeding. This option is useful to customize locking behavior and backup of non-InnoDB files through custom scripting.

  All tables are locked before suspending, putting the database into a read-only state, unless you turn off locking with the --no-locking or --no-connection option. The --only-innodb and --only-innodb-with-frm options also prevent the locking step. Because locking all tables could be problematic on a busy server, you might use a combination of --only-innodb and --suspend-at-end to back up only certain InnoDB tables.

• --exec-when-locked="utility arg1 arg2 ..."

  Property	Value
  Command-Line Format	--exec-when-locked="utility arg1 arg2 ..."
  Type	String

  You can use this option to run a script that backs up any information that is not included as part of the usual backup. For example, with --exec-when-locked, you can use mysqldump to back up tables from the MEMORY storage engine, which are not on disk.

  Set any variable you want to use within your script before you run mysqlbackup. In the following example, the BACKUP_DIR environment variable is set to point to the current backup directory (quotes are used for the argument of --exec-when-locked, to prevent premature expansion of the variable BACKUP_DIR):

  On Unix or Linux systems:

  export BACKUP_DIR=path_to_backupdir
  mysqlbackup --exec-when-locked='mysqldump mydb t1 > $BACKUP_DIR/t1.sql' other_options mysqlbackup_command

  Or on Windows systems:

  set BACKUP_DIR=path_to_backupdir
  mysqlbackup --exec-when-locked="mysqldump mydb t1 > %BACKUP_DIR%/t1.sql" other_options mysqlbackup_command

  If the utility cannot be executed or returns a non-zero exit status, the whole backup process is cancelled. If you also use the --suspend-at-end option, the utility specified by --exec-when-locked is executed after the suspension is lifted.