Backup MySQL database with CodeIgniter

Question

I have been looking into the user guide which came with CodeIgniter. I became very interested with the dbutil() method. Particularly the following line of code:

Answer 1

function backup($fileName='db_backup.zip'){
    // Load the DB utility class
    $this->load->dbutil();

    // Backup your entire database and assign it to a variable
    $backup =& $this->dbutil->backup();

    // Load the file helper and write the file to your server
    $this->load->helper('file');
    write_file(FCPATH.'/downloads/'.$fileName, $backup);

    // Load the download helper and send the file to your desktop
    $this->load->helper('download');
    force_download($fileName, $backup);
}

Easy way to backup database using codeigniter