mysqldump -u DBUSER -pDBPASS DBNAME > dump.sql

Replace text in uppercase with the appropriate information:

• DBUSER - Database user with privileges to the database
• DBPASS - Password for the database user
• DBNAME - Database name

Please note, if your password contains special characters (* ? [ < > & ; ! | $), you will either need to escape them with a backslash, put the password between single quotes, or leave the password out (you'll be prompted to enter password). Here are some examples:

Escaped Password

mysqldump -u DBUSER -pM\*Y\?P\[A\<S\>S\&W\;O\!R\|D\$ DBNAME > dump.sql

Password In Quotes

>mysqldump -u DBUSER -p'M*Y?P[A<S>S&W;O!R|D$' DBNAME > dump.sql

No Password

mysqldump -u DBUSER -p DBNAME > dump.sql

Also, if you're trying to export a database that's located on a different server, you'll need to set the database server hostname (by default the hostname is localhost or 127.0.0.1):

mysqldump -h DBHOST -u DBUSER -p DBNAME > dump.sql