Database Dump Question

[slloyd]

I'm trying to dump my sql database so that I can move it to another server; however, I don't know exactly what that means and how to do it.

Can someone walk me through the steps to do it? I've searched and searched the internet for detailed instructions, but can't find any. I need to know what to click on and how to name it/save it/dump it.

What I've tried before caused some error when trying to import it again. That makes me think I'm not dumping it correctly.

[Greg]

Check this post from Elijah  http://forum.cmsmadesimple.org/index.php/topic,9472.0.html

[slloyd]

I truly appreciate your attempt to help me, but I have no idea what a "cron" is or how to set one up. That's why I asked for detailed instructions on how to dump a database. This seems to be such a simple thing to some people, but to me it's a foreign language.

Is there someone out there that can explain this to an idiot like me? 

[Dee]

cron is a program used to schedule tasks.
There are several ways to make a database backup and it's a basic administrative task using any db.
Assuming you are using MySQL you can use mysqldump or a web interface to it, like the export function provided by PHPMyAdmin or - probably the easiest - the Mysql Dump module.

Regards,
D

[kermit]

phpMyAdmin is an easy web-based way to export & import databases. If you've got it available on both servers, use it.

Here's a quickie walkthrough on exporting and importing databases using phpMyAdmin...

1. login as the database user with privs on the database.. select that database on the left.

2. click on the appropriate link, export or import, at the top

3a. when exporting, be sure to select all tables.

3b. to download the backup, choose 'file' and zip (if desired), then click go to download

4. importing is even easier. just browse to your previously made backup and GO. NOTE: when migrating from one server to another, you'll want to be importing to an empty database.

• you also need to have a mysql username/password on the new server, and to create a new empty database to have something to import to...  phpmyadmin can do that, but many shared hosts have a separate control panel function (outside of phpmyadmin) for creating databases and database users.
• TIP: don't dump the hosting account, files or database on the old server until you know everything is working on the new one.

[Vin]

There is also a mysql dump module.

[slloyd]

Thank you to all who responded! I will give it a try.