Use the command line mysqldump utility to dump all database contents to an external file. This utility should ideally be run before regular backups occur so the dumped file will be backed up properly. The command line mysqlhotcopy utility can be used to copy all data from a database (this one is not supported by all database engines). You can also use MySQL to dump all data to an external file using BACKUP TABLE or SELECT INTO OUTFILE. Both statements take the name of a system file to be created, and that file must not already exist or an error will be generated. Data can be restored using RESTORE TABLE.