How about a GOOD BACKUP feature?

[Rod.]

My forum is over 8 years old, you can imagine how much data we have in our database. It's about 5 GB large. Right now I'm pulling backups via SSH. What Invision should do is create an automated backup feature. You set the time you want the backup to begin, and it pulls a backup of the mysql db. You can also have parameters where you can input FTP info, and once the backup is complete, it will automatically upload the db to a remote ftp site. Kind of like how WHM does a backup. Or, it can just store the backups on the server; either way.

Every so often apache loses contact with sql, and then I end up with a corrupt database. If a repair doesn't work, I have to restore a backup. If automatic nightly backups were a feature, sure would be less of a headache admin'ing such a large forum.

Thanks for listening...

[Cool Surfer]

ya any inbuilt feature is always a welcome change. :)
Right now I am using deans sql back up task, which does exactly the same, needs no file edits and works like a charm.
D22__Task_Auto_MySQL_Backup

[X3773]

There are a few problems I see.
Like the server I'm using now only has a max memory of 20MB per page load. So if your database is over that limit the code will crash and not work.

That was the case when I try to do back ups of all the files before.

[Rod.]

There are a few problems I see.

Like the server I'm using now only has a max memory of 20MB per page load. So if your database is over that limit the code will crash and not work.

That was the case when I try to do back ups of all the files before.

That's not the case - shouldn't be a problem to implement a built in backup that actually works and isn't limited to only 5MB databases. For those of us who have root ssh access, and are on at least semi-dedicated servers, this feature will work w/o a problem. Keep in mind, there are a lot of huge invision boards out there; I feel this feature is in dire need and shouldn't be passed up.

[Lindsey_]

Maybe a cron job would be the best way to go.

[Rod.]

That's what I'm using now, however it'd be really nice to have a fully featured backup solution built into the admin cp that would allow members to set backup times, restore backups, etc - kind of like how WHM works. Just an idea...

[Michael]

This has been requested before, and IPS has said they wouldn't be adding this. There are options available outside of IPB to backup your database that work just fine, there's no need to reinvent the wheel. And restoring backups from inside of IPB is a bad idea, as what do you then do when the communication gets interrupted while the restore is working, and you are then unable to get back inside the ACP to finish the restore, since some tables the ACP might need didn't get restored?

Your best bet is to use a cron job to do your backups, and a tool like bigdump to restore them.

[Amy T]

I would say Michael is right.
For me I just download the database via the control panel and I do that every night.
The fiels are already backed up except for uplaods which I do every week.

[bfarber]

The technical limitations set on most servers (memory limits and execution timeout limits) would prevent this from working on nearly all but the smallest databases unfortunately. If you have a database that is 5GB in size, you're going to have to use proper tools meant to handle that sort of situation.

[W13]

Backup cannot be handled by IPB. Most databases are too large for that, like bfarber said.

In fact, why not just remove that feature altogether?

Man, even if some admin does "OPTIMIZE" on the posts table using ACP, the server dies.