DB Backup

Create automated database backup scripts with compression, rotation, and scheduling.

Instructions

1. Ask user for: Database type, name(s), connection details, backup dir (default: ~/backups/db/), retention (default: 7 days), schedule (default: daily 2 AM)

2. Generate script based on database type:

PostgreSQL

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail
BACKUP_DIR="${BACKUP_DIR:-$HOME/backups/db}"
RETENTION_DAYS="${RETENTION_DAYS:-7}"
TS=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
DB="DATABASE_NAME"
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR" && chmod 700 "$BACKUP_DIR"
pg_dump -Fc "$DB" > "$BACKUP_DIR/${DB}_${TS}.dump"
chmod 600 "$BACKUP_DIR/${DB}_${TS}.dump"
find "$BACKUP_DIR" -name "${DB}_*.dump" -mtime +$RETENTION_DAYS -delete
echo "[$(date)] ✅ Backup: ${DB}_${TS}.dump"

MySQL

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail
BACKUP_DIR="${BACKUP_DIR:-$HOME/backups/db}"
RETENTION_DAYS="${RETENTION_DAYS:-7}"
TS=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
DB="DATABASE_NAME"
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR" && chmod 700 "$BACKUP_DIR"
mysqldump --single-transaction "$DB" | gzip > "$BACKUP_DIR/${DB}_${TS}.sql.gz"
chmod 600 "$BACKUP_DIR/${DB}_${TS}.sql.gz"
find "$BACKUP_DIR" -name "${DB}_*.sql.gz" -mtime +$RETENTION_DAYS -delete
echo "[$(date)] ✅ Backup: ${DB}_${TS}.sql.gz"

SQLite

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail
BACKUP_DIR="${BACKUP_DIR:-$HOME/backups/db}"
RETENTION_DAYS="${RETENTION_DAYS:-7}"
TS=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
DB_FILE="PATH_TO_DB.sqlite"
DB_NAME=$(basename "$DB_FILE" .sqlite)
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR" && chmod 700 "$BACKUP_DIR"
sqlite3 "$DB_FILE" ".backup '$BACKUP_DIR/${DB_NAME}_${TS}.sqlite'"
gzip "$BACKUP_DIR/${DB_NAME}_${TS}.sqlite"
chmod 600 "$BACKUP_DIR/${DB_NAME}_${TS}.sqlite.gz"
find "$BACKUP_DIR" -name "${DB_NAME}_*.sqlite.gz" -mtime +$RETENTION_DAYS -delete
echo "[$(date)] ✅ Backup: ${DB_NAME}_${TS}.sqlite.gz"

3. Set up cron:

   chmod +x backup.sh
   (crontab -l 2>/dev/null; echo "0 2 * * * /path/to/backup.sh >> /path/to/backup.log 2>&1") | crontab -
   

4. Verify: Run manually once and check output

Security

• NEVER hardcode passwords — use ~/.pgpass (PostgreSQL), ~/.my.cnf (MySQL), or env vars
• Set chmod 600 on all dump files, chmod 700 on backup directory
• Add backup directory to .gitignore
• For remote storage: pipe to aws s3 cp or rclone copy

Troubleshooting

• "permission denied": Check DB user privileges and file permissions
• "command not found": Install postgresql-client, mysql-client, or sqlite3
• Disk full: Check df -h before backup; add pre-check to script
• Locked DB (SQLite): Ensure no write transactions during .backup

Requirements

• Database client tools: pg_dump, mysqldump, sqlite3, or mongodump
• gzip, find, crontab (standard Unix)
• No API keys needed