How to back up your MU Online server database

A server without backups is a disaster waiting to happen. Disk failure, ransomware, an accidental SQL DROP, a bad configuration change — any of these can wipe months of player progress in seconds. Backups are the only thing standing between a catastrophe and a quick recovery.

What needs to be backed up

MU ONLINE SERVER DATA — WHAT TO BACK UP:

CRITICAL (must back up daily):
→ MuOnline database — accounts, characters, items, Zen, stats, skill trees
→ EventMU / RankingMU database — rankings, kill counts, event history
→ LogServer database — login logs, transaction history (useful for dispute resolution)

IMPORTANT (back up when changed):
→ MuServer configuration files (.ini files for all server components)
→ Custom event files (maps, quests, NPC configs)
→ Website configuration files (db.php, config.php — exclude passwords from VCS)
→ GameServer.exe and DataServer.exe (if you've applied patches or modifications)

NOT CRITICAL (recoverable separately):
→ MuServer binary files (re-download from your distribution)
→ Client files (redistribute to players)

Manual backup via SSMS

STEP-BY-STEP MANUAL BACKUP:

1. Open SSMS → connect to your SQL Server
2. Expand "Databases" in the left panel
3. Right-click "MuOnline" → Tasks → Back Up...
4. In the backup dialog:
   → Backup type: Full
   → Backup component: Database
   → Destination: click "Add" → choose a path like D:\backups\MuOnline.bak
5. Click OK — wait for completion (usually 30 seconds to 2 minutes)
6. Repeat for EventMU, RankingMU, LogServer

VERIFY THE BACKUP FILE:
→ Check the file exists and has a reasonable size (not 0 KB)
→ A MuOnline.bak file that's too small is a red flag — check for errors

Automated backup with SQL Server Agent

CREATE AUTOMATED DAILY BACKUP JOB:

ENABLE SQL SERVER AGENT:
1. In SSMS: expand "SQL Server Agent" in the left panel
2. If it says "SQL Server Agent (Agent XPs disabled)":
   → Right-click → Start
   → If it won't start: open "SQL Server Configuration Manager"
   → "SQL Server Services" → right-click "SQL Server Agent" → Start

CREATE THE JOB:
1. Right-click "Jobs" under SQL Server Agent → New Job
2. Name: "MuOnline Daily Backup"
3. Go to "Steps" tab → New:
   → Step name: "Backup All MU Databases"
   → Type: Transact-SQL Script (T-SQL)
   → Command: (paste the T-SQL from the next section)
4. Go to "Schedules" tab → New:
   → Name: "Daily 3 AM"
   → Frequency: Daily
   → Time: 03:00:00
5. Click OK to save the job

T-SQL backup script

-- FULL BACKUP WITH TIMESTAMP IN FILENAME
-- Run this in SSMS or use as an SQL Server Agent Job step

DECLARE @BackupDate VARCHAR(20)
SET @BackupDate = CONVERT(VARCHAR, GETDATE(), 112)  -- yyyymmdd format

-- Backup MuOnline
BACKUP DATABASE MuOnline
TO DISK = 'D:\backups\MuOnline_' + @BackupDate + '.bak'
WITH FORMAT, INIT, COMPRESSION, STATS = 10;

-- Backup EventMU
BACKUP DATABASE EventMU
TO DISK = 'D:\backups\EventMU_' + @BackupDate + '.bak'
WITH FORMAT, INIT, COMPRESSION, STATS = 10;

-- Backup RankingMU (if it exists)
BACKUP DATABASE RankingMU
TO DISK = 'D:\backups\RankingMU_' + @BackupDate + '.bak'
WITH FORMAT, INIT, COMPRESSION, STATS = 10;

PRINT 'All MU databases backed up successfully.'

Backup rotation — keeping last 7 days

DELETE OLD BACKUPS AUTOMATICALLY (PowerShell script):

Create file: D:\scripts\CleanOldBackups.ps1

$BackupPath = "D:\backups"
$DaysToKeep = 7
$CutoffDate = (Get-Date).AddDays(-$DaysToKeep)

Get-ChildItem -Path $BackupPath -Filter "*.bak" |
    Where-Object { $_.LastWriteTime -lt $CutoffDate } |
    Remove-Item -Force

Write-Host "Old backups removed. Keeping last $DaysToKeep days."

SCHEDULE THE CLEANUP SCRIPT:
→ Windows Task Scheduler → Create Basic Task
→ Trigger: Daily at 04:00 (after the backup job)
→ Action: PowerShell.exe -File "D:\scripts\CleanOldBackups.ps1"

DIRECTORY LAYOUT (example):
D:\backups\
  MuOnline_20260701.bak      (yesterday — keep)
  MuOnline_20260702.bak      (today — keep)
  EventMU_20260701.bak
  EventMU_20260702.bak
  ...

Copying backups off-server

OFF-SERVER COPY — THE CRITICAL STEP:

THE PROBLEM:
→ If the server disk fails, any backup stored ONLY on that disk is gone
→ Local backup = same disk = not a backup for disk failure scenarios

OPTIONS FOR OFF-SERVER COPY:

OPTION 1 — SECOND DISK/VOLUME:
→ If your VPS has multiple disks: back up to the second disk (D: if C: has the system)
→ Gives protection against one disk failure but not server-level failure

OPTION 2 — FTP/SFTP TO ANOTHER SERVER:
→ Use WinSCP (Windows) to copy .bak files to a separate server after backup
→ Can be scripted with WinSCP's built-in scripting engine

OPTION 3 — CLOUD STORAGE (recommended):
→ Google Drive (free up to 15 GB) — rclone can mount it as a Windows drive
→ Backblaze B2 — very cheap ($0.006/GB/month), reliable
→ Amazon S3 — enterprise-grade, more expensive

OPTION 4 — COPY TO YOUR LOCAL PC:
→ Simple FTP/SFTP download from the VPS to your home PC after backup
→ Use FileZilla on a schedule or manually after each backup run

Restoring from backup

RESTORE PROCEDURE:

STEP 1 — STOP THE MUSERVER:
→ Stop GameServer, DataServer, JoinServer, ConnectServer, EventServer
→ Do NOT restore while the server is reading/writing the database

STEP 2 — RESTORE IN SSMS:
1. Right-click the database → Tasks → Restore → Database
2. Source: Device → select your .bak file
3. In "Options" tab: check "Overwrite the existing database (WITH REPLACE)"
4. Click OK → wait for completion (usually 1-5 minutes)

STEP 3 — VALIDATE:
→ Open SSMS → browse some tables (e.g., Character table in MuOnline)
→ Check if your expected data is there
→ Start the MuServer services
→ Test with a player login

ALTERNATIVE — T-SQL RESTORE:
USE master;
RESTORE DATABASE MuOnline
FROM DISK = 'D:\backups\MuOnline_20260701.bak'
WITH REPLACE, STATS = 10;

Testing your restore

MONTHLY RESTORE TEST — DO THIS:

WHY TEST?
→ A backup that's never been tested may be: empty, corrupted, from wrong database,
  or using settings incompatible with your current SQL Server version

HOW TO TEST:
1. Restore the most recent backup to a different database name:
   RESTORE DATABASE MuOnline_TEST
   FROM DISK = 'D:\backups\MuOnline_today.bak'
   WITH MOVE 'MuOnline_Data' TO 'D:\data\MuOnline_TEST.mdf',
        MOVE 'MuOnline_Log'  TO 'D:\data\MuOnline_TEST.ldf',
        REPLACE, STATS = 10;

2. Browse the restored database — check Character count, Item counts
3. If everything looks right: your backup is valid
4. Drop the test database: DROP DATABASE MuOnline_TEST;

WHAT COUNTS AS A VALID BACKUP:
→ Characters exist with correct names and levels
→ Inventory items are present
→ Account table shows the right number of accounts
→ No SQL errors during restore

Pair this guide with the SQL Server configuration tutorial (for setting up the SQL Server instance where backups originate), the database migration tutorial (for moving backups between servers when upgrading), and the VPS connection tutorial (for setting up file transfers to move backups off the server).

Frequently asked questions