mariadb-hotcopy is a Perl script that was originally written and contributed by Tim Bunce. It uses FLUSH
TABLES, LOCK TABLES, and cp or scp to make a database backup. It is a fast way to make a backup of the
database or single tables, but it can be run only on the same machine where the database directories are
located. mariadb-hotcopy works only for backing up MyISAM and ARCHIVE tables. It runs on Unix and
NetWare.
To use mariadb-hotcopy, you must have read access to the files for the tables that you are backing up,
the SELECT privilege for those tables, the RELOAD privilege (to be able to execute FLUSH TABLES), and the
LOCK TABLES privilege (to be able to lock the tables).
shell> mariadb-hotcopydb_name[/path/to/new_directory]
shell> mariadb-hotcopydb_name_1...db_name_n/path/to/new_directory
Back up tables in the given database that match a regular expression:
shell> mariadb-hotcopydb_name./regex/
The regular expression for the table name can be negated by prefixing it with a tilde (“~”):
shell> mariadb-hotcopydb_name./~regex/mariadb-hotcopy supports the following options, which can be specified on the command line or in the
[mariadb-hotcopy] and [client] option file groups.
• --help, -?
Display a help message and exit.
• --addtodest
Do not rename target directory (if it exists); merely add files to it.
• --allowold
Do not abort if a target exists; rename it by adding an _old suffix.
• --checkpoint=db_name.tbl_name
Insert checkpoint entries into the specified database db_name and table tbl_name.
• --chroot=path
Base directory of the chroot jail in which mariadbd operates. The path value should match that of the
--chroot option given to mariadbd.
• --debug
Enable debug output.
• --dryrun, -n
Report actions without performing them.
• --flushlog
Flush logs after all tables are locked.
• --host=host_name, -hhost_name
The host name of the local host to use for making a TCP/IP connection to the local server. By
default, the connection is made to localhost using a Unix socket file.
• --keepold
Do not delete previous (renamed) target when done.
• --method=command
The method for copying files (cp or scp). The default is cp.
• --noindices
Do not include full index files for MyISAM tables in the backup. This makes the backup smaller and
faster. The indexes for reloaded tables can be reconstructed later with myisamchk-rq.
• --old-server
Connect to old MySQL-server (before v5.5) which doesn't have FLUSH TABLES WITH READ LOCK fully
implemented..
• --password=password, -ppassword
The password to use when connecting to the server. The password value is not optional for this
option, unlike for other MariaDB programs.
Specifying a password on the command line should be considered insecure. You can use an option file
to avoid giving the password on the command line.
• --port=port_num, -Pport_num
The TCP/IP port number to use when connecting to the local server.
• --quiet, -q
Be silent except for errors.
• --record_log_pos=db_name.tbl_name
Record master and slave status in the specified database db_name and table tbl_name.
• --regexp=expr
Copy all databases with names that match the given regular expression.
• --resetmaster
Reset the binary log after locking all the tables.
• --resetslave
Reset the master.info file after locking all the tables.
• --socket=path, -Spath
The Unix socket file to use for connections to localhost.
• --suffix=str
The suffix to use for names of copied databases.
• --tmpdir=path
The temporary directory. The default is /tmp.
• --user=user_name, -uuser_name
The MariaDB user name to use when connecting to the server.
Use perldoc for additional mariadb-hotcopy documentation, including information about the structure of
the tables needed for the --checkpoint and --record_log_pos options:
shell> perldocmariadb-hotcopy