How to Perform Point-in-Time Recovery Using the Binary Log?
Aug 01, 2025 am 07:13 AMTo restore the MySQL database to a specific point in time, you must first restore the complete backup, and then use binary logs to replay the changes. The specific steps are: 1. Use mysqldump and other tools to restore the most recent complete backup to bring the database back to the state at the time; 2. Use mysqlbinlog to analyze the binary logs in combination with time range or location information to locate the time point or event location that needs to be restored; 3. Use mysqlbinlog to read the binary log from the backup time to the target time point, and redirect its output to the MySQL server to perform, thereby replaying all legal operations within this time period; To ensure accuracy, it is recommended to use log location instead of timestamps, and test the recovery process in a non-production environment. At the same time, --skip-write-binlog can be enabled to avoid the recovery operation from generating new binary logs, and finally restore the database to the exact state at the specified time point.
Recovering a MySQL database to a specific point in time using the binary log (binlog) is a critical skill for minimizing data loss after accidental deletions, corruption, or deployment errors. Here's how to do it properly.

Understand Binary Logs and Prerequisites
Binary logs record all changes made to the database structure and data (eg, INSERT
, UPDATE
, DELETE
, CREATE
, DROP
). To perform point-in-time recovery (PITR), you must have:
- Binary logging enabled (
log_bin
in MySQL configuration). - A full backup (eg, from
mysqldump
or physical backup tools like Percona XtraBackup). - Access to the binary log files generated after the backup was taken.
Without a base backup, you can't start the recovery process—binlogs alone aren't sufficient.

Step 1: Restore the Base Backup
Start by restoring your most recent full backup. If you used mysqldump
, do:
mysql -u root -p < backup.sql
This brings the database to the state it was in at the time of the backup. Any changes after that time will be reapplied using the binary logs.

Step 2: Identify the Target Recovery Point
Decide the exact point in time to which you want to recover. This could be:
- A timestamp just before a problematic query (eg,
DROP TABLE users;
) - A specific transaction or event in the binlog
Use mysqlbinlog
to inspect the logs:
mysqlbinlog --start-datetime="2024-04-05 10:00:00" \ --stop-datetime="2024-04-05 10:30:00" \ /var/lib/mysql/binlog.000001 | more
Look for suspicious or unwanted SQL statements and note the exact time or position.
Step 3: Apply Binary Logs Up to the Desired Point
Once you've identified the recovery point, replay the logs up to (but not including) the bad event.
For example, if an error occurred at 2024-04-05 10:25:30
, recover up to 10:25:00
:
mysqlbinlog --stop-datetime="2024-04-05 10:25:00" \ /var/lib/mysql/binlog.000001 \ /var/lib/mysql/binlog.000002 | mysql -u root -p
This applies all changes from the binlogs up to that moment.
Note: If you have multiple binlog files, list them in order or use
--read-from-remote-server
withmysqlbinlog
if fetching from a remote host.
Tips for Accuracy
- Use log positions instead of timestamps for more precision. Look for
at <position>
in binlog output. Example:mysqlbinlog --stop-position=1456 /var/lib/mysql/binlog.000001 | mysql -u root -p
- Always test recovery on a non-production server first.
- Enable
--skip-write-binlog
on the target MySQL instance during recovery if you don't want the replayed events to generate new binlogs (avoiding log pollution). - Ensure binlog format is
ROW
,STATEMENT
, orMIXED
—ROW
is safe for accurate recovery. - Rotate and back up binlogs regularly to avoid losing them.
- Automate monitoring and alerting on critical DDL/DML operations to reduce recovery guesswork.
Final Notes
Basically, PITR = restore backup replay binlogs up to a safe point. It's not complex, but attention to timing and log integrity is cruel.
The above is the detailed content of How to Perform Point-in-Time Recovery Using the Binary Log?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

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