What best practices should be followed when using shell scripts for database backups in PHP?

When using shell scripts for database backups in PHP, it is important to follow best practices to ensure the security and reliability of the backups. One best practice is to use environment variables to store sensitive information such as database credentials, rather than hardcoding them in the script. Additionally, it is recommended to properly sanitize user input to prevent SQL injection attacks when constructing backup commands. 

// Example of using environment variables for database credentials
$host = getenv('DB_HOST');
$username = getenv('DB_USERNAME');
$password = getenv('DB_PASSWORD');
$database = getenv('DB_NAME');

// Example of sanitizing user input for constructing backup command
$table = escapeshellarg($_POST['table']);
$backupFile = escapeshellarg('/path/to/backup.sql');

// Example of executing shell command for database backup
$command = "mysqldump -h $host -u $username -p$password $database $table > $backupFile";
exec($command);

Keywords

shell scripts database backups PHP cron jobs error handling

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