This tutorial explains how to backup and restore MySQL or MariaDB databases from the command line using the mysqldump utility. The backup files created by the mysqldump utility are basically a set of SQL statements that can be used to recreate the original database. If you don’t backup your databases, a software bug or a hard-drive failure could be disastrous. To help save you lots of time and frustration, it is strongly recommended that you take the precaution of regularly backing up your MySQL databases. You can also use the mysqldump utility to transfer your MySQL database to another MySQL server.