backing up an asp database

[J. Frank Parnell]

hello, i dont know asp at all, but i have been asked to backup a database
that is used on a site which uses .aspx.

i dont need to do anything with it, just copy it and send it along to
someone who will. I have the IP, username, password.

i have allready got all the files off the site with ftp, is the database in
there? i dont really even know what i'm looking for, but i dont see any .mdb
or .sql right off the bat.

thanks,
j

 

[McKirahan]

hello, i dont know asp at all, but i have been asked to backup a database
that is used on a site which uses .aspx.

i dont need to do anything with it, just copy it and send it along to
someone who will. I have the IP, username, password.

i have allready got all the files off the site with ftp, is the database in
there? i dont really even know what i'm looking for, but i dont see any ..mdb
or .sql right off the bat.

thanks,
j

What database -- MS-Access, MS-SQL, MySQL, Oracle, or what?

 

[Bob Barrows [MVP]]

hello, i dont know asp at all, but i have been asked to backup a
database that is used on a site which uses .aspx.

There was no way for you to know it, but this is a classic asp newsgroup.
While you may be lucky enough to find a dotnet-savvy person here who can
answer your question, you can eliminate the luck factor by posting your
question to a newsgroup where the dotnet-savvy people hang out. I suggest
microsoft.public.dotnet.framework.aspnet.

i dont need to do anything with it, just copy it and send it along to
someone who will. I have the IP, username, password.

Well then, this question has nothing to do with either asp or asp.net.

i have allready got all the files off the site with ftp, is the
database in there? i dont really even know what i'm looking for, but
i dont see any .mdb or .sql right off the bat.

Somebody (probably the person who asked you to do the "backup") needs to
tell you what kind of database is being used on the site, and what name they
have given it if it is a file-based database as opposed to a server-based
one. The fact that you are having to ask this question here frankly makes me
a little suspicious.

HTH,
Bob Barrows

 

[Evertjan.]

Bob Barrows [MVP] wrote on 03 mrt 2005 in
microsoft.public.inetserver.asp.general:

Somebody (probably the person who asked you to do the "backup") needs
to tell you what kind of database is being used on the site, and what
name they have given it if it is a file-based database as opposed to a
server-based one. The fact that you are having to ask this question
here frankly makes me a little suspicious.

Well Bob, but confining myself to a .mbd under ASP,
I sometimes ask myself the following:

I "irregularily" backup that db by downloading the same by [autenticated]
ftp to my home pc.

Could the .mdb be in the middle of a transaction at that time, resulting in
a unusable backup?

Or is the .mdb locked for ftp-download during such transaction?

 

[McKirahan]

What database -- MS-Access, MS-SQL, MySQL, Oracle, or what?

In another thread you said it's an MBD file.

I presume you mean an MDB file.


MS-Access databases can be downloaded directly:

http://your-domain/your-folder/your-database.mdb


To script the download use XMLHTTP.

Const cURL = "http://your-domain/your-folder/your-database.mdb"
Const cXML = "C:\your-folder\your-database.mdb"
Fetch(cURL,cXML)

Function Fetch(xURL,xOUT)
'***
'* Fetch()
'*
'* Fetch a file over the Internet.
'***
On Error Resume Next
Err.Clear
Dim b
With CreateObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP")
.Open "GET",xURL,False
.Send
b = .ResponseBody
If Err.Number <> 0 Or .Status <> 200 Then
Fetch = False
Exit Function
End If
End With
With CreateObject("ADODB.Stream")
.Type = 1
.Open
.Write b
.SaveToFile xOUT,2
End With
Fetch = Err.Number = 0
End Function

 

[Bob Barrows [MVP]]

Bob Barrows [MVP] wrote on 03 mrt 2005 in
microsoft.public.inetserver.asp.general:


Well Bob, but confining myself to a .mbd under ASP,

I presume you mean "mdb".

I sometimes ask myself the following:

I "irregularily" backup that db by downloading the same

.... whose name you know, correct? You are not ignorant of the name of the
file when you do this, are you?

by
[autenticated] ftp to my home pc.

Could the .mdb be in the middle of a transaction at that time,
resulting in a unusable backup?

Or is the .mdb locked for ftp-download during such transaction?

I'm sorry, but I do not see how this is relevant to the point I was making:
that the OP does not seem to know the type or name of the database he is
being "asked to backup". To me, this seems a little suspicious. I'm just
saying ...

Bob Barrows

 

[Evertjan.]

Bob Barrows [MVP] wrote on 03 mrt 2005 in
microsoft.public.inetserver.asp.general:

I presume you mean "mdb".

Yes, sorry.

I sometimes ask myself the following:

I "irregularily" backup that db by downloading the same

... whose name you know, correct? You are not ignorant of the name of
the file when you do this, are you?

by
[autenticated] ftp to my home pc.

Could the .mdb be in the middle of a transaction at that time,
resulting in a unusable backup?

Or is the .mdb locked for ftp-download during such transaction?

I'm sorry, but I do not see how this is relevant to the point I was
making: that the OP does not seem to know the type or name of the
database he is being "asked to backup". To me, this seems a little
suspicious. I'm just saying ...

It is not relevant,
I is just that the OQ revived my longtime insecurity,
so could you answer my question.

Of course I know the name of the db I download with an ftp programme.

 

[Bob Barrows [MVP]]

It is not relevant,
I is just that the OQ revived my longtime insecurity,
so could you answer my question.

Ohh!! My bad! Let me look at the question again:

Frankly, I am not sure (somebody jump in here please). Backup software (the
package my company uses) refuses to back up a file that is locked/in use.
Can ftp be configured to refuse to get a locked file? If not, then yes, the
database could be in the middle of a transaction when the file is retrieved,
causing the backup to miss the ongoing transaction. However, won't the next
backup catch that transaction? Remember, uncommitted transactions are not
written to the physical database, so you won't be seeing data changes
resulting from an uncommitted transaction.

Bob Barrows

 

[Evertjan.]

Bob Barrows [MVP] wrote on 03 mrt 2005 in
microsoft.public.inetserver.asp.general:

Ohh!! My bad! Let me look at the question again:


Frankly, I am not sure (somebody jump in here please). Backup
software (the package my company uses) refuses to back up a file that
is locked/in use. Can ftp be configured to refuse to get a locked
file? If not, then yes, the database could be in the middle of a
transaction when the file is retrieved, causing the backup to miss the
ongoing transaction. However, won't the next backup catch that
transaction? Remember, uncommitted transactions are not written to the
physical database, so you won't be seeing data changes resulting from
an uncommitted transaction.

Thanks.

The site is used mainly locally and at 01:00 at night the number of
visitors is usually less than one / 5 minutes, so backing up at that late
hour never gave me any trouble. It would be nice to know if it is safe,
however.

When reinstalling a backup one always misses some transactions, that is
acceptable, but an inconsistent database is not.

 

[J. Frank Parnell]

Somebody (probably the person who asked you to do the "backup") needs to
tell you what kind of database is being used on the site, and what name
they
have given it if it is a file-based database as opposed to a server-based
one. The fact that you are having to ask this question here frankly makes
me
a little suspicious.

I'm neither surprised nor offended by your suspicions, given the nature of
my question. Just to say it, i have been asked by a (non-programming)client
of a (graphic designer)friend to get this database. Apparently there has
been some mishandling of the website, and i am trusted to at least get the
files off there and send them along.

Well, the client wouldnt have any idea what kind of database it is. I know
a little php and a little cold fusion, and the fact that the site that i
have downloaded (thru the ftp info given to me by the client of the friend)
has no *.mdb in it would make me think its a server based db. I dont see
any files that are big enough to be it(this db is pretty big, i do know
that.)

anyway, i guess i can check out the ng you recommended.

j