hi, thanks for the scripts! One question though, how do i know if they are working or not? I set up the job to send me a database (email) ever minute... i didn't get any error reports or anything though... anyway to tell other than sitting and waiting?

I am having some trouble getting these scripts to work; seems to be a filepath problem.

I tried using the full site backup file but I get the following error:
"Connected to ftp.domain.org, for user user_nameFTP upload has failed.
Warning: unlink(site-2005-09-17_19-59-25.gz): No such file or directory in /home/domain/public_html/crons/siteback.php on line 57"

Then, I tried using the database backup and while it works fine when I put
$filename= backup-$datestamp.sql.gz";
I receive the following error when I put
$filename= "/home/user_name/backup-$datestamp.sql.gz";

Connected to ftp.domain.org, for user user_name
Warning: ftp_put(): Rename/move failure: No such file or directory in /home/user_name/public_html/crons/database.php on line 41
FTP upload has failed.

The two errors seem kind of related, so I guess it's the same problem.

Can someone please help me? Thanks.

I am changing it to my actual usernames and so on.

I've replaced the settings to correspond with my domain, and the database backup will work if I specify nothing for the folder. But the site backup won't work, and I can't put the database backup in another folder.

I’ve really come late to this party. :\ I’ve tried my best to read through everything, so if I repeat something, please forgive me.

The problem, as I understand it, is managing automated backup procedures for your MySQL database. I went through the whole business of writing code to be run on the host via cron, and then FTP the result to my home server. Your situation may be quite different, but here is what I did to resolve the problem to my satisfaction.

What I needed was a process to be run on a schedule that would backup my MySQL database onto a computer here at home. (It could be a computer anywhere, really.) I have a server running WinXP Professional, in this case. I downloaded and use a product called “ncron” to run on WinXP. (It was designed for NT.) I then wrote a script to run on a schedule. Locally, I maintain a MySQL server. It is not specifically required for what I need, but the utility “mysqldump” is.

I created a script that includes the following:


Let’s call that script “backup.bat”. I then added an entry in the ncron schedule file such as:


The cron job is then run at the prescribed hours and runs the mysqldump program. It connects to Lunarpages MySQL server and runs the backup query. The compressed result is received by my server, then stored and compressed with gzip.

For this to work you must take care to insure that your home (or other) server’s address is listed on the CPanel page for MySQL Databases / Access Hosts. If set up correctly, your home server (or desktop for that matter) will connect to Lunarpages, run a backup query on your MySQL database, and store a copy safely on your computer.

http://www.lunarforums.com/forum/index.php?topic=29249.0 -> here is a script that will allow you to ftp or scp your home directory to wherever you want, from wherever you want. I'm using it so far without a problem.

It will also backup your databases and your emails by the way. It is a complete backup of your account on lunarpages.

I can't imagine it is a missing quotes (or something like that) cause I get an error at line 2 when all I have done is copied the code from this forum post, saved the file, and uploaded it to the server (haven't even changed the variables).  Then I remove the comments after the line with the date function and the error goes away showing a new error at line 5 (which has comments after it too).  I work my way all the way down the file getting error after error cleaned up until I have no more lines with comments after them.  That is when at line 31 it starts telling me I have "T_ECHO" errors.  This is where I am stuck.

Re: The "MySQL backup via cron - Emailed to You" script

Small correction needed here:

This...


Should instead be...


Or else the email attachment won't be a real .gz file 

Hi scanman,

application/octet-stream is considered an 'ambiguous' MIME type and a .gz file won't be downloaded correctly from some of the POP3 email services (it's hit and miss, thus it will work ok for some but not all).

application/x-gzip OTOH, is considered a 'specific' MIME type and is the correct one to use for .gz files.

http://www.w3schools.com/media/media_mimeref.asp