Backup/Export your database
There are two options with which you can backup your Vbulletin database:
Method 1: Database backup from the vBulletin Options section.
It can be done from the main vBulletin Options section, there is the ability to backup the options of each product including vBulletin itself.
This is useful when backing up a board or moving an install from one site to another, or for replicating a board from a test environment to a live site.
To perform a backup of your database, you can go to Maintenance -> Database Backup. You will be presented with a screen similar to this:
Here you are presented with two methods of backing up:
- Database tables to include in backup - this will output a backup of the selected tables directly to you. Please select all the tables using "all yes" button.
- Backup database to a file on the server - this will output a backup of all tables in the database to the specified file on the server.
This file must be writable by the user that PHP is running as (usually the web server). This can generally be accomplished by using chmod 0755 on the directory you wish to write.
Method 2: Database backup from PhpMyAdmin
You can export your Vbulletin database by using PHPMyAdmin. Find out how to reach the PHPMyAdmin here.
Once you've reached the phpMyAdmin tool, please find out how to backup/restore your MySQL database.
Backup all your files
To learn how to backup all of your files and folders inside your Vbulletin installation please, click here: how to create a backup of your files and folders.
Due to limitations with PHP, backups may not be complete on larger databases. Please ensure that the final line of your backup contains:
### VBULLETIN DATABASE DUMP COMPLETED ###
Once you have the Vbulletin installation files and the database exported on your hard drive, you have your Vbulletin backed up! Congratulations!
