Question

I understand that I can use MySql’s command BACKUP and RESTORE to backup a database and rollback when needed.

My question is, would I be able to execute it this way:

sql="BACKUP my_db TO DISK my_backup_folder WITH FORMAT #";

if ($stmt = $this->connect->prepare($sql)) {    
$stmt->execute();
$stmt->close();
} else {
    $error              = true;
    $message['error']   = true;
    $message['message'] = CANNOT_PREPARE_DATABASE_CONNECTION_MESSAGE;
    return json_encode($message);
}   

And the restoration made in the same fashion:

sql="RESTORE DATABASE my_db FROM DISK my_backup_folder WITH FILE #";

if ($stmt = $this->connect->prepare($sql)) {    
$stmt->execute();
$stmt->close();
} else {
    $error              = true;
    $message['error']   = true;
    $message['message'] = CANNOT_PREPARE_DATABASE_CONNECTION_MESSAGE;
    return json_encode($message);
}   

And in each case what does # stand for, is that .bak ? And is there anything else I should add besides what’s in there ?

Answer 1

A quick peak on the command line shows these are deprecated commands.

mysql> help backup; Name: 'BACKUP TABLE' Description: Syntax: BACKUP TABLE tbl_name [, tbl_name] ... TO '/path/to/backup/directory'

*Note*: This statement is deprecated and is removed in MySQL 5.5. As an alternative, mysqldump or mysqlhotcopy can be used instead.

I’d say any advice on how to use deprecated commands is a bit of a misnomer. Take a peak at mysqldump. There are other options as well such as LVM snapshots etc.