Linux:mysql:dumps

Read the manual on mysqldump, especially option --opt. Also, check the section "Database backups", under "Solving common problems with MySQL".

You can dump the database into a file using:

 mysqldump -h hostname -u user --password=password databasename > filename 

you can restore the info to the database again using:

 mysql -h hostname -u user --password=password databasename < filename