To operate, GLPI requires a database server MySQL version greater than or equal to 4.23 (MyISAM engine). Today that is likely to be MariaDB Server 5.5.x on updated and new server setups.
Backing up a database is not a trivial task for beginners, luckily GLPI has a built-in feature to create a database backup within its web interface. To create a backup navigate to Administration – Maintenance a click the SQL Dump button. Dumping the database should take only a short while on small instances, you can see other backups on the screen below. There is also an option to Restore a backup and to Download it.
It is a great practice to have an off-site backup available, take care to download every archive after dumping the database.
Since this tool works slightly different as Linux mysqldump command, it will take minutes, if not longer to dump a database bigger than 15 – 20MB. Once you reach that point, we recommend switching to automated cron-based MySQL dumping and archiving your GLPI instance.
