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README.txt in Backup and Migrate 5

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Backup and Migrate for Drupal 5.x
  by Ronan Dowling, Gorton Studios - ronan (at) gortonstudios (dot) com	
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DESCRIPTION:
This module makes the task of backing up your Drupal database and migrating data
from one Drupal install to another easier. It provides a function to backup the
entire database to file or download, and to restore from a previous backup. You
can also schedule the backup operation. Compression of backup files is also
supported.

There are options to exclude the data from certain tables (such as cache or
search index tables) to increase efficiency by ignoring data that does not need
to be backed up or migrated.

The backup files are a list of SQL statements which can be executed with a tool
such as phpMyAdmin or the command-line mysql client.

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INSTALLATION:
* Put the module in your drupal modules directory and enable it in 
  admin/build/modules. 
* Go to admin/user/permissions and grant permission to any roles that need to be 
  able to backup or restore the databse.
* Configure and use the module at admin/content/backup_migrate

OPTIONAL:
* Enable token.module to allow token replacement in backup file names.

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VERY IMPORTANT SECURITY NOTE:
Backup files may contain sensitive data and by default, are saved to your web
server in a directory normally accessible by the public. This could lead to a
very serious security vulnerability. Backup and Migrate attempts to protect
backup files using a .htaccess file, but this is not guaranteed to work on all
environments (and is guaranteed to fail on web servers that are not apache). You
should test to see if your backup files are publicly accessible, and if in doubt
do not save backups to the server.

OTHER WARNINGS:
A failed restore can destroy your database and therefore your entire Drupal
installation. ALWAYS TEST BACKUP FILES ON A TEST ENVIRONMENT FIRST. If in doubt
do not use this module.

This module has only be tested with MySQL and probably does not work with any
other dbms. If you have experiences with Postres or any other dbms and are
willing to help test and modify the module to work with it, please contact the
developer at ronan (at) gortonstudios (dot) com.

Make sure your php timeout is set high enough to complete a backup or restore
operation. Larger databases require more time. Also, while the module attempts
to keep memory needs to a minimum, a backup or restore will require
significantly more memory then most Drupal operations.

If your backup file contains the 'sessions' table you will likely be logged out
after you run a restore. To avoid this, exclude the sessions table when creating
your backups. Be aware though that you will need to recreate the sessions table
if you use this backup on an empty database.

Do not change the file extension of backup files or the restore function will be
unable to determine the compression type the file and will not function
correctly.

IF A RESTORE FAILS:
Don't panic, the restore file should work with phpMyAdmin's import function, or
with the mysql command line tool. If it does not, then it is likely corrupt; you
may panic now. MAKE SURE THAT THIS MODULE IS NOT YOUR ONLY FORM OF BACKUP.

NOTE TO DEVEL USERS:
If you experience memory limit errors while restoring, try disabling the
'Collect query info' setting in devel.

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File

README.txt
View source
  1. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  2. Backup and Migrate for Drupal 5.x
  3. by Ronan Dowling, Gorton Studios - ronan (at) gortonstudios (dot) com
  4. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  5. DESCRIPTION:
  6. This module makes the task of backing up your Drupal database and migrating data
  7. from one Drupal install to another easier. It provides a function to backup the
  8. entire database to file or download, and to restore from a previous backup. You
  9. can also schedule the backup operation. Compression of backup files is also
  10. supported.
  11. There are options to exclude the data from certain tables (such as cache or
  12. search index tables) to increase efficiency by ignoring data that does not need
  13. to be backed up or migrated.
  14. The backup files are a list of SQL statements which can be executed with a tool
  15. such as phpMyAdmin or the command-line mysql client.
  16. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  17. INSTALLATION:
  18. * Put the module in your drupal modules directory and enable it in
  19. admin/build/modules.
  20. * Go to admin/user/permissions and grant permission to any roles that need to be
  21. able to backup or restore the databse.
  22. * Configure and use the module at admin/content/backup_migrate
  23. OPTIONAL:
  24. * Enable token.module to allow token replacement in backup file names.
  25. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  26. VERY IMPORTANT SECURITY NOTE:
  27. Backup files may contain sensitive data and by default, are saved to your web
  28. server in a directory normally accessible by the public. This could lead to a
  29. very serious security vulnerability. Backup and Migrate attempts to protect
  30. backup files using a .htaccess file, but this is not guaranteed to work on all
  31. environments (and is guaranteed to fail on web servers that are not apache). You
  32. should test to see if your backup files are publicly accessible, and if in doubt
  33. do not save backups to the server.
  34. OTHER WARNINGS:
  35. A failed restore can destroy your database and therefore your entire Drupal
  36. installation. ALWAYS TEST BACKUP FILES ON A TEST ENVIRONMENT FIRST. If in doubt
  37. do not use this module.
  38. This module has only be tested with MySQL and probably does not work with any
  39. other dbms. If you have experiences with Postres or any other dbms and are
  40. willing to help test and modify the module to work with it, please contact the
  41. developer at ronan (at) gortonstudios (dot) com.
  42. Make sure your php timeout is set high enough to complete a backup or restore
  43. operation. Larger databases require more time. Also, while the module attempts
  44. to keep memory needs to a minimum, a backup or restore will require
  45. significantly more memory then most Drupal operations.
  46. If your backup file contains the 'sessions' table you will likely be logged out
  47. after you run a restore. To avoid this, exclude the sessions table when creating
  48. your backups. Be aware though that you will need to recreate the sessions table
  49. if you use this backup on an empty database.
  50. Do not change the file extension of backup files or the restore function will be
  51. unable to determine the compression type the file and will not function
  52. correctly.
  53. IF A RESTORE FAILS:
  54. Don't panic, the restore file should work with phpMyAdmin's import function, or
  55. with the mysql command line tool. If it does not, then it is likely corrupt; you
  56. may panic now. MAKE SURE THAT THIS MODULE IS NOT YOUR ONLY FORM OF BACKUP.
  57. NOTE TO DEVEL USERS:
  58. If you experience memory limit errors while restoring, try disabling the
  59. 'Collect query info' setting in devel.
  60. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------