Backing up Moodle

[Hightower]

This is probably been discussed many times, but I can't seem to find a 'full' solution from start to finish. We are starting to use our Moodle after half-term and I need to start backing it up. I will be backing up to a NAS box (FreeNAS with SMB setup).

 

I don't know what to backup or how to backup. Can anybody give me a solution? (scripts for cron jobs etc would be grand )

[strawberry]

You can back up courses and config from within moodle, moodle.org will have details. Best if you backup the db and other files as well though, I stop the db from running then use ntbackup to copy the info. This has the added advantage that you then have a backup of the backup so if you need to go back a way you can.

[Hightower]

Ok, forgot to say my Moodle install is sitting on a Ubuntu server. I want an automated solution - something I don't have to think about (or remember to do).

[Geoff]

I do a mysqlhotcopy (can be done on-line) of the database

 

MySQL :: MySQL 5.1 Reference Manual :: 4.6.9 mysqlhotcopy ? A Database Backup Program

 

then use rdiff-backup to backup the filesystem

 

rdiff-backup: Main

 

to an Openfiler box.

 

Openfiler — Openfiler - Open Source Storage Management Appliance

 

Some perversion of the rsyncd config on Openfiler is required to make this work.

[sideh]

Moodle itself can backup the courses for you (and users,blogs etc...). You can set the various backup options under:

 

Site Administration > Courses > Backups (/admin/settings.php?section=backups)

 

The moodle cron script (/moodle/admin/cron.php) must be run regularly for this to work. You'll end up with a bunch of zip files in the backup folder, one for each course. eg: backup-hrm-20090527-2201.zip

 

You can either have the backup folder mounted over the network or use another script to rsync the files to the nas.

 

More info here: Backup and restore FAQ - MoodleDocs

 

The alternative is to use a combination or mysqldump and rsync in a script. Examples: Site backup - MoodleDocs