[Opensim-users] Question on migrating database from Linux to Windows and vice versa

[Chris Kennedy]

Hi, I want to migrate my OpenSim MySQL database from Linux to Windows 
and vice versa (for traveling reasons) using the MySQL Admin's SQL dump 
( MySQL Admin Backup) feature.

Is there anything special that I need to know or to look out for when 
doing this (besides making sure Max Packet Size is set to 16 MB on the 
target system)?

The way I normally do my database backup in the Linux environment is to 
shut down the OpenSim server, go to the backup tool in MySQL Admin, 
create a backup project (if it doesn't already exist) for my OpenSim 
schema making sure all the tables are selected for backup. Then I go 
into advanced options and click on Normal Backup, and check Complete 
Backup and run the backup to save my database to a .sql file. This 
method has worked perfectly fine for me under Linux with no data loss 
after a restore from backup that I can tell. I have even restored my 
database to a Windows environment from a Linux created MySQL dump file 
with no problems that I can see.

My concern is creating a database backup in a Windows environment and 
then restoring it to Linux (or even another Windows environment). Would 
this, under normal circumstances, cause data loss?

The reason I ask is: I have successfully been able to restore my Windows 
created SQL dump file to Linux and other Windows systems running XP... 
But the moment I try to restore my database to a Windows 7 system I get 
an error that says "Object Type not recognized" (or it might have said 
Object Type not Found, I don't remember off the top of my head) and the 
restore fails.

In a nutshell, is it safe to port my backups between different operating 
systems like this? Or am I better off creating OARs of my regions and 
IAR of my inventory(s)? I always make both OAR/IAR and SQL dump backups 
just to be safe, but I would like to know.

Any suggestions and/or tips would be much appreciated! =)