Mariabackup creates the following files:

backup-my.cnf

During the backup, any server options relevant to Mariabackup are written to the backup-my.cnf option file, so that they can be re-read later during the --prepare stage.

ib_logfile0

In MariaDB 10.2.10 and later, Mariabackup creates an empty InnoDB redo log file called ib_logfile0 as part of the --prepare stage. This file has 3 roles:

1. In the source server, ib_logfile0 is the first (and possibly the only) InnoDB redo log file.
2. In the non-prepared backup, ib_logfile0 contains all of the InnoDB redo log copied during the backup. Previous versions of Mariabackup would use a file called xtrabackup_logfile for this.
3. During the --prepare stage, ib_logfile0 would previously be deleted. Now during the --prepare stage, ib_logfile0 is initialized as an empty InnoDB redo log file. That way, if the backup is manually restored, any pre-existing InnoDB redo log files would get overwritten by the empty one. This helps to prevent certain kinds of known issues. For example, see Mariabackup Overview: Manual Restore with Pre-existing InnoDB Redo Log files.

xtrabackup_logfile

In MariaDB 10.2.9 and before, Mariabackup creates xtrabackup_logfile to store the InnoDB redo log, In later versions, ib_logfile0 is created instead.

xtrabackup_binlog_info

This file stores the binary log file name and position that corresponds to the backup.

This file also stores the value of the gtid_current_pos system variable that correspond to the backup.

For example:

mariadb-bin.000096 568 0-1-2

The values in this file are only guaranteed to be consistent with the backup if the --no-lock option was not provided when the backup was taken.

xtrabackup_binlog_pos_innodb

Mariabackup inherited this file from Percona XtraBackup 2.3. However, this file is only safe to use with Percona Server versions that have a special lockless binary log feature.

This feature is described by the Percona Server documentation:

And the way it's used by Percona XtraBackup 2.3 is described by the Percona XtraBackup 2.3 documentation:

Mariabackup no longer creates this file starting with MariaDB 10.1.39, MariaDB 10.2.23, MariaDB 10.3.14, and MariaDB 10.4.4.

See MDEV-18917 for more information.

xtrabackup_checkpoints

The xtrabackup_checkpoints file contains metadata about the backup.

For example:

backup_type = full-backuped
from_lsn = 0
to_lsn = 1635102
last_lsn = 1635102
recover_binlog_info = 0

See below for a description of the fields.

If the --extra-lsndir option is provided, then an extra copy of this file will be saved in that directory.

backup_type

If the backup is a non-prepared full backup or a non-prepared partial backup, then backup_type is set to full-backuped.

If the backup is a non-prepared incremental backup, then backup_type is set to incremental.

If the backup has already been prepared, then backup_type is set to log-applied.

from_lsn

If backup_type is full-backuped, then from_lsn has the value of 0.

If backup_type is incremental, then from_lsn has the value of the log sequence number (LSN) at which the backup started reading from the InnoDB redo log. This is internally used by Mariabackup when preparing incremental backups.

This value can be manually set during an incremental backup with the --incremental-lsn option. However, it is generally better to let Mariabackup figure out the from_lsn automatically by specifying a parent backup with the --incremental-basedir option.

to_lsn

to_lsn has the value of the log sequence number (LSN) of the last checkpoint in the InnoDB redo log. This is internally used by Mariabackup when preparing incremental backups.

last_lsn

last_lsn has the value of the last log sequence number (LSN) read from the InnoDB redo log. This is internally used by Mariabackup when preparing incremental backups.

xtrabackup_info

The xtrabackup_info file contains information about the backup. The fields in this file are listed below.

If the --extra-lsndir option is provided, then an extra copy of this file will be saved in that directory.

uuid

If a UUID was provided by the --incremental-history-uuid option, then it will be saved here. Otherwise, this will be the empty string.

name

If a name was provided by the --history or the ---incremental-history-name options, then it will be saved here. Otherwise, this will be the empty string.

tool_name

The name of the Mariabackup executable that performed the backup. This is generally mariabackup.

tool_command

The arguments that were provided to Mariabackup when it performed the backup.

tool_version

The version of Mariabackup that performed the backup.

ibbackup_version

The version of Mariabackup that performed the backup.

server_version

The version of MariaDB Server that was backed up.

start_time

The time that the backup started.

end_time

The time that the backup ended.

lock_time

The amount of time that Mariabackup held its locks.

binlog_pos

This field stores the binary log file name and position that corresponds to the backup.

This field also stores the value of the gtid_current_pos system variable that correspond to the backup.

The values in this field are only guaranteed to be consistent with the backup if the --no-lock option was not provided when the backup was taken.

innodb_from_lsn

This is identical to from_lsn in xtrabackup_checkpoints.

If the backup is a full backup, then innodb_from_lsn has the value of 0.

If the backup is an incremental backup, then innodb_from_lsn has the value of the log sequence number (LSN) at which the backup started reading from the InnoDB redo log.

innodb_to_lsn

This is identical to to_lsn in xtrabackup_checkpoints.

innodb_to_lsn has the value of the log sequence number (LSN) of the last checkpoint in the InnoDB redo log.

partial

If the backup is a partial backup, then this value will be Y.

Otherwise, this value will be N.

incremental

If the backup is an incremental backup, then this value will be Y.

Otherwise, this value will be N.

format

This field's value is the format of the backup.

If the --stream option was set to xbstream, then this value will be xbstream.

If the --stream option was not provided, then this value will be file.

compressed

If the --compress option was provided, then this value will be compressed.

Otherwise, this value will be N.

xtrabackup_slave_info

If the --slave-info option is provided, then this file contains the CHANGE MASTER command that can be used to set up a new server as a slave of the original server's master after the backup has been restored.

Mariabackup does not check if GTIDs are being used in replication. It takes a shortcut and assumes that if the gtid_slave_pos system variable is non-empty, then it writes the CHANGE MASTER command with the MASTER_USE_GTID option set to slave_pos. Otherwise, it writes the CHANGE MASTER command with the MASTER_LOG_FILE and MASTER_LOG_POS options using the master's binary log file and position. See MDEV-19264 for more information.

xtrabackup_galera_info

If the --galera-info option is provided, then this file contains information about a Galera Cluster node's state.

The file contains the values of the wsrep_local_state_uuid and wsrep_last_committed status variables.

The values are written in the following format:

wsrep_local_state_uuid:wsrep_last_committed

For example:

d38587ce-246c-11e5-bcce-6bbd0831cc0f:1352215

<table>.delta

If the backup is an incremental backup, then this file contains changed pages for the table.

<table>.delta.meta

If the backup is an incremental backup, then this file contains metadata about <table>.delta files. The fields in this file are listed below.

page_size

This field contains either the value of innodb_page_size or the value of the KEY_BLOCK_SIZE table option for the table if the ROW_FORMAT table option for the table is set to COMPRESSED.

zip_size

If the ROW_FORMAT table option for this table is set to COMPRESSED, then this field contains the value of the compressed page size.

space_id

This field contains the value of the table's space_id.