Thursday, 14 of September of 2006
To maintain a periodic backup of your blog/data base
Today in this blog on Palm we will concentrate more in the part `blog' that in the part `Palm'. Creo that what comes next can enough be interesting for people, those that do not have blog but another type on watch or Web site that uses data bases, are even already vestibules, forums, etc.
Days ago as you know I updated the version of WordPress (software CMS with that blog works this) to version 2.0.4, that is being stable and for anything problematic. Nevertheless, yes that has arisen a problem. We go by parts.
WordPress brings by defect plugin to make periodic backups of the data base, from which all the can be recovered posts, commentaries, and other information after a disaster, or to clonar blog complete in a new servant. Its name is wp-db-backup and does a work brilliant, with the possibility of keeping the backup in our servant, or of sending it to us by email, and most important, combined with plugin wp-cron, we could program a daily backup, and that arrived to us by email.
Plugin is excellent, and I have used in fact it without problems during months. But unfortunately its development paused a year ago, and in version 2.0.4 of WordPress it has stopped working the capacity to program backups. The same author informs to us in this commentary that has stopped working in him, and it has not proven it with this last version. So unless another developer takes the relief and corrects plugin, it will not return to work in this one and the following versions of WordPress.
Of course it did not want to have to execute every day plugin by hand, because it knew that sooner or later (rather before) it was going to forget to me. So looking for by the network, and proving several alternatives, I have ended up writing simple script in Bash that realises a daily backup of the data base and the guard in the servant, maintaining the N last versions and erasing the previous ones. Also the option could be added to him to send the file by email, but in my servant I do not have possibility of doing it. It would not be more than to add a line of code:
/bin/mail - s “subject” “direction” < archivo="">
So that this script works, the servant in whom you have lodged blog must use Linux, to use MySQL like basic software of data, and daros the possibility of creating periodic works in Cron. Script is the following one:
mysqldump --add-drop-table --to user “nombre_usuario” --password= " password” “base_de_datos” | gzip -9 > /home/ " usuario_cpanel”/“directorio_backup”/“base_de_datos”. `dates --iso-8601 `.gzls - t /home/” usuario_cpanel”/” directorio_backup”/” base_de_datos”. * | tail ” número_copias_más_1 ″ | xargs rm - f
Sight thus seems horrible (in fact they are only two lines, in this close format of column are cut), but a little later I will give a connection you to unload it directly and to form it. Everything what goes in inverted commas is data that you will have to replace by the corresponding values (without the quotation marks). We see its explanation one by one:
- “nombre_usuario”: the name of the user who has access to the data base. He is the one that tuvísteis that to write in the file wp-config.php during the installation.
- “password”: the password to accede to the data base. She is the one that tuvísteis that to write in the file wp-config.php during the installation.
- “base_de_datos”: the name of the data base. Also tuvísteis that to write in the file wp-config.php during the installation.
- “usuario_cpanel”: it is your name of user in the servant of hosting. Surely he is the one that you use to accede to the Control Panel.
- “directorio_backup”: the directory in whom the backups will keep. You must create it for example entering by FTP your account. I recommend to make it in the root directory, the one that nothing else appears to accede. You will have to give writing permissions him so that script can use it (this becomes by means of the attributes of the directory that you finish creating, any program of decent FTP will let change them to you). For example you try with 777 (permission of reading and writing for all). If that directory is outside the directory where the content keeps from your installation of WordPress (typically public_html), nobody will be able to accede via Web to him.
- “número_copias_más_1 ″: simply that. If you want to keep three last copies, you put 4.
In order to understand better script, we see as it would be with concrete data:
mysqldump --add-drop-table --to user alpaca --password=paquito pacodb | gzip -9 > /home/paco_server/mysql_backups/pacodb. `dates --iso-8601 `.gzls - t /home/paco_server/mysql_backups/pacodb. * | tail 3 | xargs rm - f
You can directly unload the code in a text file. You call for example db_backup.sh, cambiais the previous variables of example by yours, and you raise by FTP the root directory to it of your servant. In the attributes of the file, you must give to permission of execution for user and group, for example you put 754. He is already ready to use.
Example of a panel cPanel, where to form the Cron
Now we must create the work in Cron it executes so that it periodically. That becomes from the Control Panel of your account in the servant. For example, the servant who lodges this blog that you read, uses software cPanel like Control Panel, and surely it will be the case of many others, given his popularity. In my case the option is called Cron jobs. We enter and we chose to create one new one. Like commando to execute, we introduce the route to ours script, for example:
/home/pepe/backup.sh
And like regularity, for example every six hours, of every day, months and years. In format Cron de Unix it would be therefore the line to add:
0 */6 * * * /home/pepe/backup.sh
We keep the changes, and script is already programmed the execution of ours every six hours. That is to say, four times to the day a copy will be made of our data base in this directory. The daily archives will be accumulated during the day that we say, and when they are older than that, they will erase. With this system, if someday we put the leg when changing something in blog, we can return easily to a previous state, following these instructions.
I hope that the process has been moderately clear, although if never you have cacharreado with Cron works or data bases, it will be better than somebody more customary to work with servants makes use to you. In return, you will have a backup of yours blog that, creedme, arrived the moment is worth its weight in gold.
By: Tricks
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Cachis, you have gone ahead intention. “I will plagiarize to You”.
For me it is important to be able to send a tablet of the data base to specific a GMail account, is not going to be that the one of the servant is lost (crackeo, breakage of the hard disk,…).
cPanel does not implement it by defect. Two weeks ago, somebody that I know to me, sent my suggestion to them it implements so that it in the next version.
- A greeting in this my first intervention -
PS: it is the annotation more useful than I have read lately. Nevertheless, neither a commentary nor I wag. Country of…
It is not the most elegant solution of the world, but it works, so I decided to share it. That option in cPanel that you comment would be brilliant. Nothing costs to add it, can limit the frequency whereupon the email is sent, to avoid overload in the servant.
A greeting and that you find more interesting things in blog
Maty I believe that you do not have to speak anybody podria thus to take offense if they have not posteado is that talvez has not been able, or there are no leido but habemos many that we followed by all means for years Marks and the Pda de Tungsteno know that if nonposteamos even so is thanked for to him then what for some it is a necessity for another that, I request excuses to you if I then offend to you is not my intention greetings.
@ Jose Cedano
It is a phenomenon generalized in the Hispanic blogosfera. And at the most interesting it is the annotation, minor the number of commentaries. And safe in some sites, the majority of the commentaries as soon as they enrich the annotation.
What nobody can deny, reading trackbacks, is that attempt that my knowing know of this method.
A very interesting entrance. Memory that one of problemillas of plugin which you mention at the outset for backups was this.
Better with bash than with plugin in php, that could contain errors and/or vulnerabilities (of those so frequent in PHP). With bash and cron you will not need to depend on Wordpress
I score your prescription, Marks!