Logical backups with SQL dumps

Last reviewed: 2026-04-13 / Plakar v1.1.0

Overview

The Plakar MySQL integration uses mysqldump (MySQL) or mariadb-dump (MariaDB) to produce logical backups. These are standard SQL files that are portable, human-readable, and restorable without Plakar if needed.

Two URI schemes map to independent sets of binaries:

Protocol	Target	Dump tool	Restore tool
`mysql://`	MySQL 5.7 / 8.x	`mysqldump`	`mysql`
`mysql+mariadb://`	MariaDB 10.x / 11.x	`mariadb-dump`	`mariadb`

For a deeper understanding of logical backups and MySQL backup strategies, refer to the official MySQL documentation on mysqldump.

Requirements

A running MySQL or MariaDB server.
A database user with sufficient privileges (see Required privileges).
mysqldump and mysql in $PATH for MySQL, or mariadb-dump and mariadb for MariaDB.

Install the package

$ plakar pkg add mysql

What gets stored in a snapshot

File	Description
`/manifest.json`	Server metadata: version, configuration, databases, tables, routines, triggers, events.
`/<database>.sql`	Single-database dump (when `database` is specified).
`/all.sql`	Full-server dump (when `database` is omitted).

Back up a single database

# MySQL
$ plakar source add mydb mysql://dbuser:secret@db.example.com/mydb
$ plakar at /var/backups backup @mydb

# MariaDB
$ plakar source add mydb mysql+mariadb://dbuser:secret@db.example.com/mydb
$ plakar at /var/backups backup @mydb

Back up all databases

Omit the database name from the URI to use --all-databases:

# MySQL
$ plakar source add alldb mysql://root:secret@db.example.com
$ plakar at /var/backups backup @alldb

# MariaDB
$ plakar source add alldb mysql+mariadb://root:secret@db.example.com
$ plakar at /var/backups backup @alldb

Restore a single database

The target database must already exist:

$ plakar destination add mydbdst mysql://dbuser:secret@target.example.com/mydb
$ plakar at /var/backups restore -to @mydbdst <snapshot_id>

To have Plakar create the database automatically, set create_db=true:

$ plakar destination add mydbdst mysql://dbuser:secret@target.example.com/mydb \
    create_db=true
$ plakar at /var/backups restore -to @mydbdst <snapshot_id>

Restore all databases

$ plakar destination add mydbdst mysql://root:secret@target.example.com
$ plakar at /var/backups restore -to @mydbdst <snapshot_id>

List snapshots

$ plakar at /var/backups ls

Source options

Option	Default	Description
`location`	—	Connection URI: `mysql://[user[:password]@]host[:port][/database]`
`host`	`127.0.0.1`	Server hostname. Overrides the URI host.
`port`	`3306`	Server port. Overrides the URI port.
`username`	—	Username. Overrides the URI user.
`password`	—	Password. Overrides the URI password. Passed via `MYSQL_PWD`, never on the command line.
`database`	—	Database to back up. Overrides the URI path. If omitted, all databases are backed up.
`single_transaction`	`true`	Use `--single-transaction` for a lock-free InnoDB snapshot.
`routines`	`true`	Include stored procedures and functions.
`events`	`true`	Include event scheduler events.
`triggers`	`true`	Include triggers.
`no_data`	`false`	Dump schema only, no data.
`no_create_info`	`false`	Dump data only, no schema.
`no_tablespaces`	`true`	Suppress tablespace statements.
`hex_blob`	`false`	Encode BINARY/BLOB columns as hex.
`ssl_mode`	—	TLS mode: `disabled`, `preferred`, `required`, `verify_ca`, `verify_identity`.
`ssl_cert`	—	Path to the client SSL certificate (PEM).
`ssl_key`	—	Path to the client SSL private key (PEM).
`ssl_ca`	—	Path to the CA certificate (PEM).
`mysql_bin_dir`	—	Directory containing MySQL binaries. MySQL only.
`column_statistics`	`true`	Query `COLUMN_STATISTICS`. Set to `false` when using mysqldump 8.0 against MySQL 5.7. MySQL only.
`set_gtid_purged`	`AUTO`	GTID mode: `AUTO`, `ON`, or `OFF`. MySQL only.
`mariadb_bin_dir`	—	Directory containing MariaDB binaries. MariaDB only.

Destination options

Option	Default	Description
`location`	—	Connection URI: `mysql://[user[:password]@]host[:port][/database]`
`host`	`127.0.0.1`	Server hostname. Overrides the URI host.
`port`	`3306`	Server port. Overrides the URI port.
`username`	—	Username. Overrides the URI user.
`password`	—	Password. Overrides the URI password.
`database`	—	Target database. Inferred from the dump filename if omitted.
`create_db`	`false`	Issue `CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS` before restoring.
`force`	`false`	Continue on SQL errors during restore.
`ssl_mode`	—	TLS mode (same values as source).
`ssl_cert`	—	Path to the client SSL certificate (PEM).
`ssl_key`	—	Path to the client SSL private key (PEM).
`ssl_ca`	—	Path to the CA certificate (PEM).
`mysql_bin_dir`	—	Directory containing the `mysql` binary. MySQL only.
`mariadb_bin_dir`	—	Directory containing the `mariadb` binary. MariaDB only.

Required privileges

Single database backup

GRANT SELECT, SHOW VIEW, TRIGGER, EVENT ON mydb.* TO 'backup'@'%';
GRANT PROCESS ON *.* TO 'backup'@'%';

With single_transaction=true (default), LOCK TABLES is not required for InnoDB tables.

All-databases backup

GRANT SELECT, SHOW VIEW, TRIGGER, LOCK TABLES, EVENT, RELOAD ON *.* TO 'backup'@'%';
GRANT PROCESS ON *.* TO 'backup'@'%';

Considerations

MySQL vs MariaDB binaries

Always use binaries that match your server. On Debian and Ubuntu, apt install default-mysql-client installs MariaDB’s mysqldump by default. MariaDB’s mysqldump is not compatible with MySQL 8 for all-databases backups and will produce dumps that fail to restore.

Verify you have the correct binary:

$ mysqldump --version
# MySQL:   mysqldump  Ver 8.x Distrib 8.x, for Linux (x86_64)
# MariaDB: mysqldump from 11.x.x-MariaDB ...

If both are installed, point the integration to the correct directory using mysql_bin_dir.

InnoDB and MyISAM

single_transaction (enabled by default) produces a consistent InnoDB snapshot without locking tables. For databases with MyISAM tables, single_transaction does not prevent locks on those tables. If you need a consistent backup across MyISAM tables, set single_transaction=false to use --lock-all-tables instead, accepting write locks during the dump.

GTIDs

When the server has GTIDs enabled, the dump includes SET @@GLOBAL.GTID_PURGED statements that will cause restore to fail on a server that already has GTID history. Set set_gtid_purged=OFF on the source to omit GTID information, or run RESET MASTER on the target before restoring.

User and grant migration

Single-database backups do not include user accounts or grants. To migrate users, use an all-databases backup, export grants manually with a tool like pt-show-grants, or recreate accounts manually on the target.

Compression

Do not enable compression at the dump level. Plakar deduplicates and compresses data automatically. Pre-compressed dumps reduce deduplication effectiveness across snapshots.

Kloset store location

The examples above use /var/backups as the Kloset store. Any supported store backend can be used instead. See Create a Kloset store for details.

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