Make MySql data portable, adjusting AppArmor
Posted under » MySQL » Ubuntu on 2 December 2010
To make mysql portable, you should be able to put the data in a place convenient for backup using rsync for eg.
However, for security consideration, its best to just keep the data at "/var/lib/mysql". After all, that is why AppArmor is for. You can rsync your data directly there.
First stop mysql.
Copy the existing data directory
cp -R -p /var/lib/mysql /path/to/new/datadir
Edit the MySQL configuration file
gksu gedit /etc/mysql/my.cnf
Ubuntu uses some security software called AppArmor that specifies the areas of your filesystem applications are allowed to access. Unless you modify the AppArmor profile for MySQL, you’ll never be able to restart MySQL with the new datadir location.
gedit /etc/apparmor.d/usr.sbin.mysqld
Restart the AppArmor profiles
/etc/init.d/apparmor reload
Restart MySQL
To confirm that mysql is indeed running from the new directory, go to phpmyadmin > variables.
It can get more complicated if the data is to be used on another system or setup. It is important that you have the same version of MySQL.
Rsync to another computer often result with the wrong ownership or group. If the mysql won't run or "file is in use" error, you need to ensure the owner and group is "mysql".
