Davide Bianchi <davideyeahsure@onlyforfun.net> wrote:
>> logged into my server an hour ago just to find that the root partition
>> is 100% filled:
>>
>> Because of that (I think), the data directory associated with my MySQL
>> installation got shot (read: disappeared!).
>
> My experience is that directories don't disappear "automagically", someone
> zapped it or the disk is b0rken.
>
>> What would be the best way to recover the mysql data?
>
> Restore from a backup. You *do* have backups, right?
>
> Davide

Davide? Sounds more like Peter....

Questions to the original poster:

- Is the MySQL data directory in the root partition or on another
filesystem?

- Did you run a file system check before you looked in lost+found? Only
a filesystem check puts data there.

Things for you to do:

- Boot the system from a rescue CD and check the root file system.

- Verify that the MySQL data reside on the root partition (check with
/etc/fstab).

- If all looks good, mount the root partition read-write and delete some
files.

- If things do not look good, do not mount the partition read-write.
If necessary, contract a professional who can help you salvage the data.

Things to do next time to avoid the problem:

- Do backups.

- Do not keep application data on the root partition.

Yours,
Laurenz Albe