Quoting Michael Paoli (Michael.Paoli@cal.berkeley.edu):
BALUG backup of mysql database for transfer ...
So, BALUG has some old content in mysql database (PostNuke - MySQL + PHP) hosted on DreamHost, and we're moving away from DreamHost hosting.
So, recommendations on best ways to save any and all of that mysql data content, for later examination/restoration/extraction, etc.?
Your existing solution is, AFAIK, the best possible. mysqldump output is a raw *.sql file that, if executed, zeroes out a mysql tablespace, makes the necessary table from scratch, and then runs INSERT commands to build back the contents to exactly the state they were in at the moment of dump.
Of course, your backup doesn't separate out the PostNuke data from the wiki, forum, blog, Web, and whatever-else-there-is other bits -- but is that necesary? If someone ever decides to revive PostNuke, load the dump file, examine tables to decide what tablespaces PostNuke does _not_ need, DROP those, and you're done. Meanwhile, diskspace for backups is cheap.
Same procedure applies if someone decides to revive the wiki/forum/blog type stuff, etc.
(The quick & dirty implementation you actually do beats the perfect one you swear you'll complete any day now. Or, to put it another way, 'good enough' is your friend.)
It's possible there's some complication I'm missing. (A week of the flu will do that. ;-> )