Backup & Restore MySQL database on CentOS/Linux/Ubuntu in C# with MySqlBackup.NET

The idea is to build a project in .NET Core and publish it as Linux package.

MySqlBackup.NET is an open source .NET Library (C#/VB.NET) to backup & restore MySQL database.

Here, we’re looking into how MySqlBackup.NET can be run on CentOS/Linux to perform backup & restore of MySQL database.

We can test this out with a simple Console App.

Starts by creating a .net core Console linux project:

Check the project properties, ensure the project is built with .NET Core framework:

Install Nuget Package of MySqlBackup.NET (with MySqlConnector):

A simple sample code to test out:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    try
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Enter the MySQL Connection String: ");
        Console.WriteLine();

        string constr = Console.ReadLine();

        Console.WriteLine();
        Console.WriteLine();

        Console.WriteLine(("Begin MySQL backup process..."));

        string folder = Environment.CurrentDirectory;
        string file = Path.Combine(folder, "backup.sql");

        using (MySqlConnection conn = new MySqlConnection(constr))
        {
            using (MySqlCommand cmd = new MySqlCommand())
            {
                using (MySqlBackup mb = new MySqlBackup(cmd))
                {
                    conn.Open();
                    cmd.Connection = conn;

                    mb.ExportToFile(file);

                    conn.Close();
                }
            }
        }

        Console.WriteLine("MySQL backup file saved at: " + file);
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        Console.WriteLine();
        Console.WriteLine("Error: " + ex.Message);
    }

    Console.WriteLine();
    Console.WriteLine("Press any key to exit...");

    Console.ReadKey();
}

Next, is to publish the project for .NET Core (Linux):

There two way to build the .NET Core projects for Linux:

• Method 1: Publish the the package with runtime support installed on CentOS
• Method 2: Publish as “self-contained” binary

Method 1: Publish the package with runtime support installed on CentOS

First, publish the project.

Set the target runtime to linux-x64

In above example, the Linux compiled binaries are located at:

\bin\Release\netcoreapp3.1\publish\linux-x64

Copy the DLL in above folder and paste it to your CentOS

At the CentOS, make sure that you have installed Dotnet runtime by following command:

sudo dnf install dotnet-sdk-<version>

For example:

sudo dnf install dotnet-sdk-3.1
sudo dnf install dotnet-sdk-5.0

Assume that you have copied your .NET Core DLL files at the following folder:

/home/<username>/testapp

Then you can test out your app with following command:

cd /home/admin/testapp
dotnet ConsoleApp.dll

Method 2: Publish as “self-contained” binary

.NET Core App can also be run without installing dotnet runtime, which is by compiling the project into single “self-contained” binary.

Here is the screenshot for publishing the “self-contained” binary:

Here is the example of how it looks like after publishing, there is only 1 single file:

Copy the compiled binary to CentOS

At the terminal, browse to the folder that contains the self-contained binary, for example:

cd /home/admin/testapp

Next, is to allow execution permission to the file:

sudo chmod 777 ConsoleApp2

Run the app:

./ConsoleApp2

For more information on publishing “self-contained” binary, read more at:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/deploying/single-file

Source Code / Sample Project:

Download: https://github.com/MySqlBackupNET/MySqlBackup.Net/files/7938714/ConsoleApp2.zip