Back Up an Exoscale Managed MySQL Database

Overview

This guide backs up an Exoscale Managed MySQL database using mysqldump streamed through Plakar to Exoscale Object Storage (SOS). The result is an encrypted, deduplicated snapshot stored separately from your database infrastructure.

Architecture

Prerequisites

• Exoscale account with billing configured

Create MySQL Database

Provision database

1. Log in to Exoscale Portal
2. Go to DBAAS → Services
3. Click on the button with an ellipsis icon then select Add MySQL Service from the dropdown
4. Configure:
   • Zone: Select location
   • Database name
   • Plan: Select instance size
   • IP Filters, click on Add CIDR and enter your IP address to access the database or use 0.0.0.0/0 to access it from any IP
5. Click Add

Download connection details

1. In the database connection data tab, download your CA Certificates and get the other connection details.
2. In the users tab, save your database user password

Install Tools

Install MySQL client:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install mysql-client

Install Plakar per the installation guide.

Configure MySQL Connection

Set environment variables from connection details:

export MYSQL_HOST=<DB_HOST>
export MYSQL_TCP_PORT=21699
export MYSQL_USER=<DB_USER>
export MYSQL_PWD=<DB_PASSWORD>

Configure SSL/TLS with CA certificate:

# Place CA certificate in a secure location
sudo mkdir -p /etc/mysql/certs
sudo cp ca.pem /etc/mysql/certs/
sudo chmod 644 /etc/mysql/certs/ca.pem

Create MySQL configuration file:

cat > ~/.my.cnf << 'EOF'
[client]
ssl-ca=/etc/mysql/certs/ca.pem
ssl-mode=REQUIRED
EOF
chmod 600 ~/.my.cnf

Test connection:

mysql -e "SELECT VERSION();"

Configure Object Storage

Install S3 integration

plakar login -email you@example.com
plakar pkg add s3

Create Object Storage bucket

If not already configured, follow: Exoscale Object Storage setup

Add storage connector

plakar store add exoscale-sos-mysql \
  location=s3://<SOS_ENDPOINT>/<BUCKET_NAME> \
  access_key=<ACCESS_KEY> \
  secret_access_key=<SECRET_KEY> \
  use_tls=true

Replace:

• <SOS_ENDPOINT>: e.g., sos-ch-dk-2.exo.io
• <BUCKET_NAME>: e.g., plakar-backups
• <ACCESS_KEY> and <SECRET_KEY>: From Exoscale IAM

Initialize store

plakar at "@exoscale-sos-mysql" create

Back Up Database

mysqldump --single-transaction \
  --routines \
  --triggers \
  --events \
  <DB_NAME> | plakar at "@exoscale-sos-mysql" backup stdin:dump.sql

Verify:

plakar at "@exoscale-sos-mysql" ls

Restore Database

Retrieve snapshot ID:

plakar at "@exoscale-sos-mysql" ls

Restore single database

plakar at "@exoscale-sos-mysql" cat <SNAPSHOT_ID>:dump.sql | mysql <DB_NAME>

Troubleshooting

Connection refused

• Verify MYSQL_HOST, MYSQL_TCP_PORT, MYSQL_USER, MYSQL_PWD environment variables
• Check database is running in Exoscale Portal
• Verify network access/firewall rules

Authentication failed

• Confirm user credentials

S3 upload errors

• Check S3 credentials: plakar store show exoscale-sos-mysql
• Verify endpoint URL and bucket name
• Confirm bucket exists in Exoscale Portal

mysqldump not found

• Install MySQL client: sudo apt install mysql-client