Laravel DB Export

A Laravel package for database exports with profile-based exclusions, anonymization, and zero-impact exports.

Features

• Profile-based exports - Predefined configurations for different use cases
• Zero-impact exports - Uses --single-transaction and --quick for minimal database load
• Compression - Automatic gzip compression with streaming for large databases
• Size estimation - Pre-flight disk space validation
• Structure-only tables - Export schema without data for large tables
• Anonymization - Mask or fake sensitive data (PII)
• Cleanup - Automatically remove old exports

Installation

composer require xve/laravel-db-export

Publish the configuration:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=db-export-config

Configuration

MySQL/MariaDB Binary Path

If mysqldump is not in your PATH, set it in config/db-export.php or .env:

'mysql_options' => [
    'dump_binary_path' => env('DB_EXPORT_DUMP_BINARY_PATH'),
    // ...
],

DB_EXPORT_DUMP_BINARY_PATH=/usr/local/mysql/bin
# or for Herd/MariaDB:
DB_EXPORT_DUMP_BINARY_PATH=/Users/Shared/Herd/services/mariadb/10.11.6/bin

MariaDB Compatibility

For MariaDB, ensure MySQL-specific options are disabled:

'mysql_options' => [
    'set_gtid_purged' => null,      // MySQL-only
    'column_statistics' => null,     // MySQL 8+ only
],

Cleanup Old Exports

Automatically delete old exports before creating new ones:

'cleanup' => [
    'enabled' => true,
    'keep_recent' => 0,  // 0 = delete all, or set number to keep
],

Commands

Setup / Find mysqldump

Find the mysqldump binary and get configuration instructions:

php artisan db:export:setup

This command searches common locations for mysqldump and displays:

• Found binary paths with versions
• Configuration instructions for .env or config/db-export.php
• Current configuration status

List Profiles

php artisan db:export:list-profiles
php artisan db:export:list-profiles --detailed

Estimate Export Size

php artisan db:export:estimate
php artisan db:export:estimate --detailed

Export Database

# Export with default profile
php artisan db:export

# Skip confirmation prompt
php artisan db:export --force

# Dry run (show what would be exported)
php artisan db:export --dry-run

# Export only telescope/audits for debugging
php artisan db:export --profile=inspection

Prune Exports

Delete all export files:

php artisan db:export:prune

Export Profiles

Command Options

Table Selection

# Exclude specific tables
--exclude=large_table --exclude=another_table

# Only include specific tables
--include-only=users --include-only=orders

# Export structure only (no data)
--structure-only=audits --structure-only=logs

# Override structure-only (include data)
--include-data=audits

Output Options

# Custom output path
--path=/backups/db

# Custom filename
--filename=backup_2024.sql.gz

# Disable compression
--no-compress

# Use different database connection
--connection=mysql_replica

Other Options

# Exclude views
--no-views

# Disable foreign key wrapper
--no-fk-wrapper

# Dry run
--dry-run

# Skip confirmation
--force

Examples

Standard Export

php artisan db:export --force

Exports everything with structure-only for logs/cache/sessions and anonymized PII.

Include Audit Data

php artisan db:export --include-data=audits --force

Override structure-only to include audit data.

Debug Export

php artisan db:export --profile=inspection --force

Exports only telescope and audit tables for debugging.

Specific Tables

Export only the tables you need — no profile required:

# Single table
php artisan db:export --include-only=users --force

# Multiple tables
php artisan db:export --include-only=bunkering --include-only=klant --include-only=facturen --force

Structure Only (No Data)

php artisan db:export --structure-only="*" --force

Profiles Configuration

Define custom profiles in config/db-export.php:

'profiles' => [
    'my-profile' => [
        'description' => 'My custom export profile',
        'exclude' => [
            'telescope_*',
            '*_logs',
        ],
        'structure_only' => [
            'audits',
            'activity_log',
        ],
        'include_only' => null,  // null = all tables
        'anonymize' => [
            'users' => [
                'email' => ['strategy' => 'faker', 'method' => 'safeEmail'],
                'password' => ['strategy' => 'hash', 'value' => 'password'],
            ],
        ],
    ],
],

Anonymization Strategies

Anonymization works with or without fakerphp/faker. If faker is installed, you get realistic fake data. Without it, simple fallbacks are used (e.g., User_a1b2c3d4, user_a1b2c3d4@example.com).

# Optional: Install faker for realistic fake data
composer require fakerphp/faker

'anonymize' => [
    'users' => [
        // Faker - generate fake data (or fallback if faker not installed)
        'name' => ['strategy' => 'faker', 'method' => 'name'],
        'email' => ['strategy' => 'faker', 'method' => 'safeEmail'],
        'phone' => ['strategy' => 'faker', 'method' => 'phoneNumber'],

        // Hash - bcrypt hash a value
        'password' => ['strategy' => 'hash', 'value' => 'password'],

        // Mask - partially hide value
        'credit_card' => ['strategy' => 'mask', 'keep_last' => 4],

        // Null - set to null
        'remember_token' => ['strategy' => 'null'],

        // Fixed - set to specific value
        'status' => ['strategy' => 'fixed', 'value' => 'active'],
    ],
],

Preserve Admin/Developer Accounts

Skip anonymization for rows where specific columns match certain email domains:

// config/db-export.php
'preserve_rows' => [
    'users' => [
        'column' => 'email',
        'domains' => ['xve.be', 'company.com'],
    ],
    'customers' => [
        'column' => 'contact_email',
        'domains' => ['xve.be'],
    ],
],

Users with @xve.be or @company.com emails will keep their original data while all other users are anonymized. Each table can specify which column to check.

Production Usage

Zero-Impact Exports

The Problem: Traditional mysqldump commands can severely impact production databases:

• Table locks block all writes during export
• Large result sets consume server memory
• Long-running exports cause timeouts and slow queries

The Solution: This package uses mysqldump options that eliminate these issues:

With these options, you can safely export a production database while the application continues serving requests with no degradation.

Best Practices

1. Use a read replica for exports when possible:

   php artisan db:export --connection=replica
   

2. Schedule during low-traffic hours

3. Use structure-only for large tables like audits:

   'structure_only' => ['audits', 'activity_log'],
   

4. Monitor during export:

   watch -n1 "mysql -e \"SHOW GLOBAL STATUS LIKE 'Threads_running';\""
   

Output Location

Default: storage/app/db-exports/

Files are named: {database}_{date}_{time}_{profile}.sql.gz

Example: my_app_2026-01-15_14h30_default.sql.gz

See Also

• Package Comparison - SWOT analysis vs other Laravel backup packages

License

MIT