UBB.threads PHP Forum Software Community Forums UBB.threads 7 Version 7 Support Backups w/o shell access

I read the great FAQ Giz wrote on backups. Network Solutions won't allow access to a shell account to execute commands. I have 7.1 of the product installed by Rick. I closed the board this morning to try running the backup function in the product. My website is in a folder called htdocs and the product is underneath that. Above the root is a cgi-bin directory and a backup directory used by Network Solutions to give me a backup of the html files every night. (They do not allow me to write to that directory and I am not allowed to add a directory above ht-docs UNLESS I create new directories in the cgi-bin directory.)

When I execute back up all tables the execution goes to the table just after ubbt_user_posts and just quits. Nothing is written into the backup directory. I tried just backing up the ubb_user_posts table by itself and same thing. At the moment I'm trying to send the backups to a backup folder in the cgi-bin directory thinking where the backup is going is causing it to fail.

...but then I remember Giz wrote that backups done inside the product might time out. Rats.

I do have access to the myPHP database access screen. I've jumped up there to repair tables before. Keep in mind I understand just enough to be dangerous. I do try to be careful and ask questions before I break something.

Can I backup the entire database there?

Getting help from the ISP is fruitless. I spent over an hour trying to get a telephone answering rep to understand my plight. They follow scripts and understand less than I do. No is the only word they understand. It took them seven days after one of my rants to tell me they don't allow access to a shell account for backups and THEN OFFERED NO SOLUTION to the problem. Nothing, zip, nada. With some ISP's you're all alone on a desert island and have to fend for yourself I guess.

WordPress has an internal widget that allows me to backup data but even it will timeout on large tables. I reduce the size of a growing table to 1 week's worth data from 1 month and I can now get through a backup. A great backup program by Lester (Gamerz) can't be used because the ISP won't tell anyone the path to mysqldump and the conventional variables or directory names do not work.

It concerns me that I can't get through a backup of one table in UBB though. Perhaps the only answer is doing them all one at a time and using a unique file name?

What kind of a file is produced and where does it go if it doesn't go to the place shown in the backup screen? The directory path test good and is writable. Has anyone done a step by step process for using the PHP interface to the database? Is there an SQL backup script I can run there? What do I need to ask the ISP to fix so that backups finish?

I am lost in Backup Land but UBB still rocks!

I just tried to backup one tiny table and got a backup complete message. I checked the directory using my FTP client and nothing was there. Last run of the entire table set achieved the fairly routine INTERNAL SERVER ERROR plaguing Network Solution's database servers for over two years now.

OK. Reading glasses might help. In the FTP program I cannot just leave a directory and come back in to check for files. I have to push the F5 refresh key. Looks like a bunch of table backups are there. Tonight I'll try another backup to see what happens.

I am a big fan of UBB's internal backup system to backup your MySQL databases.

While it is very slow, it doesn't time out, it doesn't freeze up the mysql server, and does a great job at just backuping up all the mysql tables you got.

Don't do it table by table, just select all tables and go.

How would you restore if you have to by doing it that way. I always see how to backup but never to restore anything.

You don't want to use UBB.threads to restore a backup of itself, but if you've got that backup you can provide it to your host to restore, restore using phpmyadmin, restore using any number of other php scripts, or just move to a new host.

The important thing is, at least you've got that backup in a pinch. There is no way to restore if you don't even have a backup.

Well you might want to think about another provider if they have such restrictions. There are tons of other sites out there to host your site that don't have such restrictions.