New Module: Backup
ExpressionEngine used to have a database backup tool in earlier versions but it was stripped out when problems were discovered with the reliability of backing up large databases. Since then—in EE 1.6 or EE 2— there hasn’t been an easy way to back up your database from within EE. Until now, of course.
CodeIgniter guru, author and EECI speaker Thomas Myer released a new module for EE 2, Backup, that allows you to easily backup your MySQL database.
The Backup module allows ExpressionEngine site admins to easily and quickly generate a SQL backup file for their entire database. This file is automatically downloaded to their Mac or PC and can then be stored in an off-site location, such as a Dropbox folder, FTP site, or other file repository.
The module costs $18 US and is available from the devot:ee add-on store.
Posted on Jun 14, 2010 by Ryan Irelan
Share on Twitter
Anna — 06:59 on 06.14.2010
Congratulations Thomas! But my first reaction is why isn’t EE releasing this functionality as part of the core code? IMHO, this isn’t something that should be a third party module.
lebisol — 13:27 on 06.14.2010
Same here…
How is it that 1 man can outsmart the EL team?
Granted, it is not expensive but seems like EL team is getting more into ‘spreading the word’ than coding and making features. I worry where EE is going to be with all these extensions/modules popping up and longevity.
Don’t get me wrong, kudos to smart and hard working folks out there but one main attraction of EE was the “package” feel not the amount of commercial addon availability which they do not have to (and they don’t) support.
Exciting and scary at the same time…
Bluestrike2 — 19:01 on 06.14.2010
Honestly, the wealth of plugins and modules isn’t that big of a deal. They’re there when you need them, ignored when you don’t.
Personally? I don’t like the idea of a PHP script to run database backups. But, given how few people really work on backing their data up, I completely understand the benefit of the module.
Boyink — 06:02 on 06.15.2010
This functionality was at one time in EE - but removed because under some circumstances it didn’t work (and data was lost) so it was removed. I don’t know what those circumstances were - does this addon get around them?
steve — 16:27 on 06.15.2010
why not for ee 1.0 ? just for 2
Anna Brown — 11:22 on 06.16.2010
Boyink… I had the old EE backup fail on me twice… The issues seemed to be that the backup script would time out on larger databases. Unfortunately, you didn’t receive an error… just the success message… so your assumption was that everything worked correctly.
One of those failures was related to the biggest @#%!-up of my career… for a very high profile project. I had a launch snapshot backup which I came to need after I inadvertently deleted the whole website from the Plesk CP. I thought I was doing one thing, but was really doing another. Anyway, needless to say the sql in the backup file was incomplete. Missing was everything after and including the relationship table.
What a nightmare. I spent weeks rebuilding things.
I started with an old backup that had most of the EE structure (weblogs and fields) but no data. Luckily, in EE I only had a single template… one XML file that was feeding a Flash movie… and I just happened to find a tmp file created by the browser of that XML output which contained most of the data. So I just worked backwards using that xml file to rebuild the data in EE.
From that day on, I’ve made my backups from within phpMyAdmin. I do an export as SQL and one as a zip file.
steve — 11:37 on 06.16.2010
for me works with simple export with phpMyAdmin, import too… I never had issues
Bluestrike2 — 12:35 on 06.16.2010
Anna,
With larger databases, you have the potential for that timeout, including within phpMyAdmin, as both are just database dumps via PHP. The same potential for problems exist with this new Backup module.
runaway — 12:57 on 06.16.2010
Anna I think that this resolve that you say:
http://www.mysqldumper.net/
What is MySQLDumper ?
MySQLDumper is a PHP and Perl based tool for backing up MySQL databases. You can easily dump your data into a backup file and - if needed - restore it. It is especially suited for shared hosting webspaces, where you don’t have shell access. MySQLDumper is an open source project and released under the GNU-license.
The problem
lebisol — 13:50 on 06.16.2010
@Anna…ouch, I know the feeling when the blood slowly leaves your body as you realize what has happened. Good to hear you find a low tech solution
Alternatively…(not to take way from this module) use a desktop application if your host doesn’t provide cronjobs or install of phpMyAdmin or MySQLDumper.
From web developer perspective I would suggest either SQLyog for Windows and/or NaviCat for Mac users. Granted you need remote access to db but you are not limited to server side scripts or host CP. Both apps come with scheduler for back and/or db sync…just to mention a few features. Well worth the investment.
Bluestrike2 — 13:53 on 06.16.2010
If you’re looking for an OS X app, instead of Navicat, take a look at Sequel Pro (http://www.sequelpro.com/)—it’s free, and an absolutely lovely app.
Erik Reagan — 17:54 on 06.16.2010
In my opinion backups are the responsibility of whomever is managing the hosting environment, not that of the site content manager. We have cron jobs run on our servers saving database dumps to offsite locations.
That said, it’s convenient to have add-ons like this for those who prefer to perform backups from the CP.
Raymond Brigleb — 09:01 on 07.23.2010
Price already has gone up, please update article.