MySQL database backup using PHP

Well, I went through a lot of articles with respect to the above mentioned topic, but I was unable to find one which I really wanted. Most of the articles informs you how to backup the data and send a mail to the user from where they can download the archived file.

My requirement was to download the archived file at the click of the button without sending a mail to the end user. The user should be able to download the file from the browser interface.

require('../config/config.php');
if($_GET["filename"]!="")
{
$filename=$_GET["filename"];
$handle = @fopen($filename, 'r');
if (!$handle) {
exit(0);
}
$time= date('Ymd');
header("Content-type: application/force-download");
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=psp-".$time.".zip");
while(!feof($handle) and (connection_status()==0)) {
print(fread($handle, 1024*8));
flush();
}
fclose($handle);
}
else
{
system("mysqldump -u $dbusername --password=$dbpasswd psp > /tmp/psp.sql");
system("cd /tmp;zip -r psp psp.sql >/dev/null");
header( "Location: http://$domainname/custom/mysqlbackup.php?filename=/tmp/psp.zip"););
}

`config.php` includes all the configuration parameters for connecting to the database. Since we are using a single file for posting, we check in the `url` whether the file name has been passed or not. In case the file name has been passed, we add headers to the content-type for download. You need change the download filename. As per my requirements I have used `psp` followed by the date when the download takes place.

I have used `mysqldump` for backing up the database. This is not an efficient way of taking a backup since the `username` and the `password` are sent across the network in plain text. Any user using a network sniffing tool can get hold of the `username` and the `password`. I preferred to use in this way as my script is not exposed to the internet. The last line indicates the reloading of the same page with the archived file name.