If a MySQL server was started with the --log-bin option to enable binary logging, you can use the mysqlbinlog utility to recover data from the binary log files, starting from a specified point in time (for example, since your last backup) until the present or another specified point in time. For information on enabling the binary log and using mysqlbinlog, see Section 5.11.4, “The Binary Log”, and Section 8.8, “mysqlbinlog — Utility for Processing Binary Log Files”.

To restore data from a binary log, you must know the location and name of the current binary log file. By default, the server creates binary log files in the data directory, but a pathname can be specified with the --log-bin option to place the files in a different location. Typically the option is given in an option file (that is, my.cnf or my.ini, depending on your system). It can also be given on the command line when the server is started. To determine the name of the current binary log file, issue the following statement:

mysql> SHOW BINLOG EVENTS\G

If you prefer, you can execute the following command from the command line instead:

shell> mysql -u root -p -E -e "SHOW BINLOG EVENTS"

Enter the root password for your server when mysql prompts you for it.