mysql db backup and restore withought mysqldump. only tar? on my linux system all databases reside in /var/lib/mysql.
Let's say my db is /var/lib/mysql/test1_db

Is it possible and/or advisable to just tar the db directry?
And then use the resulting .tar file to restore it.
Yes, I am stopping mysqld during the process.

If this is ill advised is there something like sql instant file init for linux?
Yes.


Stop mysqld
tar that directory
Start mysqld


It will backup everything except the config file(s) such as my.cnf.

LVM snapshot is much faster, but requires setup.