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Back Up Your Database
A MySQL database is not a single file. It is a collection of files. As with any files, it is a good idea to maintain a backup of your database. The MySQL server can be configured to keep its data anywhere, but in a standard OS X MySQL installation, the data is located in the /usr/local/mysql/data/ directory. If your database is named 'myemaildb', for example, the files for that database will be located in /usr/local/mysql/data/myemaildb/. These directories are not normally visible in the OS X Finder. You have to access them in a terminal window, and you have to be the OS X system 'root' user in order to do it. Here is a link that explains how to enable the OS X system root user: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1528 Using UNIX commands you can navigate to this location and make a copy of your database directory as a backup, but there is an easier way to maintain a backup of your database. If you do a Browse and list all of the email in your database, you can then click on the Export drop-down and choose 'SQL File...' from the menu. This will export your entire database in an SQL format that you can always import back into a MySQL database by selecting 'Import MailSteward SQL File...' from the File menu. It is important to note that the name you give to the exported SQL file will be the name of the database that is created or added to when the SQL file is imported back into a database. Here is a link to some instructions detailing how to move a MySQL database to a different location, such as an external disk drive: http://mailsteward.com/nickstek/?p=22 |