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Take a backup with Docker

This tutorial describes how to create a backup volume, run Percona XtraBackup in a Docker container, and take a prepared backup of a Percona Server for MySQL database.

Learning objectives

This tutorial covers the following tasks:

  • Create a Docker volume to store backup files

  • Connect Percona XtraBackup to a running Percona Server container

  • Take a full backup using xtrabackup --backup

  • Prepare the backup using xtrabackup --prepare

Prerequisites

Complete the following steps before starting this tutorial:

Architecture overview

Percona XtraBackup runs in a separate Docker container and connects to the Percona Server for MySQL container. This connection allows the backup tool to access the database files for backup and restore operations.

For more information about how Percona XtraBackup works, see How Percona XtraBackup works.

Step 1: Create a backup volume

Docker volumes provide persistent storage that remains accessible across container restarts and updates. Creating a dedicated backup volume offers the following benefits:

  • Data persists independently of container lifecycle

  • Multiple containers can access the same backup data

  • Backup files remain available for restore operations

Create the backup volume with the following command:

docker volume create backupvol
Expected output 
backupvol

Step 2: Take and prepare the backup

The backup process requires connecting the Percona XtraBackup container to the Percona Server container. The --user root option grants the necessary permissions to access the MySQL data directory.

Understand the command options

The following table describes each option used in the backup command:

Option Description
--name pxb Assigns the name pxb to the container
--volumes-from psmysql Mounts volumes from the psmysql container to access database files
-v backupvol:/backup_84 Mounts the backupvol volume at /backup_84 inside the container
-it Allocates a pseudo-terminal for interactive password entry
--user root Runs the container as root to access the MySQL data directory
--password Prompts for the MySQL root password

Run the backup command

Select the command for your system architecture:

docker run --name pxb --volumes-from psmysql -v backupvol:/backup_84 -it --user root percona/percona-xtrabackup:8.4 /bin/bash -c "xtrabackup --backup --datadir=/var/lib/mysql/ --target-dir=/backup_84 --user=root --password; xtrabackup --prepare --target-dir=/backup_84"

docker run --name pxb --volumes-from psmysql -v backupvol:/backup_84 -it --user root percona/percona-xtrabackup:8.4-aarch64 /bin/bash -c "xtrabackup --backup --datadir=/var/lib/mysql/ --target-dir=/backup_84 --user=root --password; xtrabackup --prepare --target-dir=/backup_84"

Enter the password secret when prompted:

2024-10-07T13:55:47.640100-00:00 0 [Note] [MY-011825] [Xtrabackup] recognized server arguments: --datadir=/var/lib/mysql/
2024-10-07T13:55:47.641887-00:00 0 [Note] [MY-011825] [Xtrabackup] recognized client arguments: --backup=1 --target-dir=/backup_84 --user=root --password
Enter password:
Expected output 
xtrabackup version 8.4.0-1 based on MySQL server 8.4.0 Linux (x86_64) (revision id: 3792f907)
2024-10-07T13:55:51.255518-00:00 0 [Note] [MY-011825] [Xtrabackup] perl binary not found. Skipping the version check
2024-10-07T13:55:51.256080-00:00 0 [Note] [MY-011825] [Xtrabackup] Connecting to MySQL server host: localhost, user: root, password: set, port: not set, socket: not set
2024-10-07T13:55:51.270222-00:00 0 [Note] [MY-011825] [Xtrabackup] Using server version 8.4.0-1
2024-10-07T13:55:51.272839-00:00 0 [Note] [MY-011825] [Xtrabackup] Executing LOCK TABLES FOR BACKUP

...

2024-10-07T13:55:55.550829-00:00 0 [Note] [MY-011825] [Xtrabackup] completed OK!

The command executes two xtrabackup operations:

  • xtrabackup --backup - Copies data files from /var/lib/mysql/ to /backup_84

  • xtrabackup --prepare - Applies transaction logs to make the backup consistent

For more information about the backup and prepare process, see Create a full backup and Prepare a full backup.

Password visibility

Specifying the password directly with --password=secret exposes the password in docker ps, docker history, and system process listings. Use the interactive prompt for production environments.

Step 3: Verify the backup

Check the backup container logs to confirm the backup completed:

docker container logs pxb
Expected output 
...
2024-10-07T13:55:55.550829-00:00 0 [Note] [MY-011825] [Xtrabackup] completed OK!

The message completed OK! confirms the backup and prepare operations finished.

Summary

This tutorial covered the following completed tasks:

  • Created the backupvol Docker volume for backup storage

  • Connected the Percona XtraBackup container to the psmysql database container

  • Executed xtrabackup --backup to copy database files

  • Executed xtrabackup --prepare to make the backup consistent

The backup stored in backupvol is ready for restoration.

Next steps

Restore the backup