mysql db backup excluding specific tables Are there any mysql scripts for taking a database backup by excluding specified tables?

Also, what is the best way to take backup of a running mysql system?
You can backup databases and tables using the mysqldump command.  There are parameters for excluding certain tables.

mysqldump -u username -ppasswword -h servername --ignore-table=dbname.tabletoskip dbname


If you need to get fast backups of MyISAM or ARCHIVE tables, you can also use mysqlhotcopy.  That has more restrictions though.