What is the difference between me doing a manual mysqldump of my entire Drupal site's database VERSUS using backup_migrate module?

Is backing up the entire Drupal database a big NO-NO?

The reason I ask is that this module because of the entries within advanced backup settings: Exclude the data from the following tables:.

If I was restoring a clean Drupal site with an empty database, then are there TABLEs that should NEVER be restored upon such clean site?

Thanks

Comments

aangel’s picture

aangel commented

It more that those tables are:
a) often really big
b) a pain to move around (because they are really big but for other reasons, too)
c) can be rebuilt easily

Thus the module gives you the option of moving across just their structure but not their data. It's usually a very good thing to follow its advice but if you need watchdog (log) data then you can include it. The search index will be rebuilt by cron in due time.

jeff00seattle’s picture

jeff00seattle commented
Priority: Normal » Minor

Just curious,

If I backup a site with backup_migrate module, then can I restore the site NOT using the same said module?

In other words, if backup_migrate module produces drupal_site_foo_backup.sql.gz, then is it OK to restore using mysql command?:

# mysql -uroot -ppassword
mysql> DROP DATABASE DRUPAL_SITE_FOO;
mysql> CREATE DATABASE DRUPAL_SITE_FOO;
mysql> quit
Bye
# gunzip drupal_site_foo_backup.sql.gz
# mysql -uroot -ppassword DATABASE DRUPAL_SITE_FOO < drupal_site_foo_backup.sql


OR does backup_migrate module do something MORE when restoring a site than is provided by mysql command?

Thanks
aangel’s picture

aangel commented

Yes, you can use the resulting file without using the module.

There may be other things the module does during restore but I've never looked into it. Someone else will need to chip in to give you that answer, or you'll have to look at the code yourself.

ronan’s picture

ronan commented

Just to confirm, yup, you can use the dumps with the mysql command line, or with phpmyadmin if you wish. The restore function does not do any magic.

And as aangel said, the exclude tables are merely to reduce the size of the dumps by removing data which is not essential to the operation of Drupal (like caches, logs etc.)

ronan’s picture

ronan commented
Status: Active » Closed (fixed)