How to Schedule a Database Backup with Cron

Automated database backups protect dynamic sites between your full backups. A short cron job dumps your database to a file on a schedule.

Step-by-step

1. Create a backups folder outside public_html (e.g. /home/youruser/db-backups) in File Manager so dumps are not web-accessible.
2. Open Advanced → Cron Jobs and set a daily schedule, e.g. 30 3 * * * (3:30 am).
3. Enter a mysqldump command (replace placeholders):
   /usr/bin/mysqldump -u DBUSER -p'DBPASS' DBNAME > /home/youruser/db-backups/db-$(date +\%F).sql
4. Add the job. Each run writes a dated .sql file so you keep a history.
5. Prune old dumps with a second weekly cron, e.g. delete files older than 14 days, so they do not fill your disk.
6. Download copies off-server periodically — a backup on the same server is not a true backup. See full backups.