MySQL - database backup using Linux Command Line

In this short article, we would like to show how to make MySQL database backup using Linux Terminal (command line).

Quick solution:

mysqldump -u db_username -pdb_password db_name > /path/to/backup.sql

or:

mysqldump -u db_username -pdb_password -h db_hostname db_name > /path/to/backup.sql

Notes:

• do not use space beetween -p and db_password,
• -h db_hostname is optional (lack means localhost connection).

Practical examples

Example 1:

mysqldump -u root -pSecretPassword -h 127.0.0.1 gallery > ./2020_09_12_17_21_gallery.sql

Example 2:

/usr/bin/mysqldump -u 'root' -p'SecretPa$$word' -h '127.0.0.1' 'gallery' > '/path/to/backup/db/2020_09_12_17_21_gallery.sql'

Where:

• MySQL server is installed on the same machine, so we can use 127.0.0.1 host address,
• we used root account that has access to any database on the server,
• putting parameters to apostrophes allows us to use any characters.

See also

1. MySQL - restore database from backup using Linux Command Line

2. MySQL - database schema backup using Linux Command Line (without data)