Hi I am trying to make a bash file to dump my mysql database for backup but also append the current date so I know which version it is, this is my current code

NOWDATE=`date +%d%m%y`
mysqldump -uroot -ppwd --otp db1 > /backup/db1$NOWDATE.sql

I'm not sure if the mysqldump command can support adding the date if there is a step Iv missed I would love to hear your input.

(database name and password removed for obvious reasons )

Thanks

I wrote up a script that worked for me several years ago. You are welcome to look at it, in case it helps.

http://www.pineviewfarm.net/weblog/?p=3113

The display loses some of the plain text formatting.

I don't use it anymore because I no longer self-host.

Actually your script sets the data in bash. If you want to append the data at the end of the file, then do as below:

OK

Note the double >. This is important.

I did it in BASH because I wanted to do more stuff than just a mysql dump and I wanted to run it as a daily cron job. It seemed to me that a script was the best option.

And thank you for the command reference. I've made a note of it.

MySQL is so huge that any help I can get with using it is always appreciated.

I'm confused by AnanthaP's response and frankbell's second response. The script segment in the original post should be fine. It appends the date to the filename so that you can tell when the backup was done (which version of the backup). The output of mysqldump is being sent to the file. The shell won't care how you made up the filename.

Using `date >> dumpfile.sql` doesn't make sense to me. The dump file consists of the sql statements necessary to rebuild the database. You import it back into mysql to restore. A raw date is not an sql statement as far as I know. It would generate an error message on recovery.

Well the OP said "but also append the current date" but it seemed quite obvious from the example that it was as a suffix to the filename, not desired in the file as you rightly point out.

Unless I misunderstood, AnanthaP was showing how to append the date to the dump file as part of the mysqldump command without writing a script, though the two lines posted could make a convenient little script.

Understood. But why either of you would think that is a good idea is the puzzle. The dump file consists of sql commands necessary to rebuild the database. Extraneous cruft at the end of the file will generate error messages. So just put the date in the filename where it is more useful and easier to see anyway.