Export massive MySQL database, from a shared level hosting account

Question

I need to export a huge database, with thousands of tables and millions of rows. I'm on shared hosting so I can't use command line exports, and I really have no easy way to get to this data other than through phpMyAdmin or php. cPanel's default "export database" tool doesn't work, it exports a blank database. phpMyAdmin's export as gzip or zip also gives a blank database.

I've been downloading this one SQL file for a few hours now, and it's only at 114 mb of approximately 2 gb of actual data.

What's the best way for me to (safely) export all my data? This is really a huge pain and no data can be lost, but it must be exported out. Are there any scripts or programs I can use?

Answer 1

Can you access the database directly? MySqlDump.exe will work remotely in a pinch.

Answer 2

Take a look at :

http://www.siteground.com/tutorials/php-mysql/mysql_export.htm

You'll find a tutorial that will teach you how to export databases using phpmyadmin, installed by default on cpanel.

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Also, cpanel has a backup feature that allows you to backup only databases

https://yourdomain.com:2083/frontend/x3/backup/wizard-backup-type.html?type=mysql

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Alternatively, you can try to use the function below (stolen from http://davidwalsh.name/backup-mysql-database-php) :

backup_tables('localhost','username','password','blog');


/* backup the db OR just a table */
function backup_tables($host,$user,$pass,$name,$tables = '*')
{

    $link = mysql_connect($host,$user,$pass);
    mysql_select_db($name,$link);

    //get all of the tables
    if($tables == '*')
    {
        $tables = array();
        $result = mysql_query('SHOW TABLES');
        while($row = mysql_fetch_row($result))
        {
            $tables[] = $row[0];
        }
    }
    else
    {
        $tables = is_array($tables) ? $tables : explode(',',$tables);
    }

    //cycle through
    foreach($tables as $table)
    {
        $result = mysql_query('SELECT * FROM '.$table);
        $num_fields = mysql_num_fields($result);

        $return.= 'DROP TABLE '.$table.';';
        $row2 = mysql_fetch_row(mysql_query('SHOW CREATE TABLE '.$table));
        $return.= "\n\n".$row2[1].";\n\n";

        for ($i = 0; $i < $num_fields; $i++) 
        {
            while($row = mysql_fetch_row($result))
            {
                $return.= 'INSERT INTO '.$table.' VALUES(';
                for($j=0; $j<$num_fields; $j++) 
                {
                    $row[$j] = addslashes($row[$j]);
                    $row[$j] = ereg_replace("\n","\\n",$row[$j]);
                    if (isset($row[$j])) { $return.= '"'.$row[$j].'"' ; } else { $return.= '""'; }
                    if ($j<($num_fields-1)) { $return.= ','; }
                }
                $return.= ");\n";
            }
        }
        $return.="\n\n\n";
    }

    //save file
    $handle = fopen('db-backup-'.time().'-'.(md5(implode(',',$tables))).'.sql','w+');
    fwrite($handle,$return);
    fclose($handle);
}

Of course, you'll need to provide database credentials to the function, as well as an array of tables you'd like to backup. If you provide a "*" or no tables, a complete database backup will run. The script does the rest!

Don't forget to add set_time_limit(0); to the php file containing the backup_tables() function.

GL!

Answer 3

You could try to use mysqldumper. It's a script that downloads a part of your DB, remembers where it stops, calls itself again and continues to download.

Here is the link: http://www.mysqldumper.net/