It is strongly recommended that you backup your WordPress database on a regular basis and especially before an upgrade.

There are various means of backing up your WordPress database. You can check out http://codex.wordpress.org/Backing_Up_Your_Database for a list of the various methods of backing up your database.

However, if you are like me and prefer to do it the quick and easy way, I would recommend the WordPress Database Backup Plugin (wp-db-backup.php) by Austin Matzko. You can download it from the WordPress.org website at http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-db-backup/.

Here are the steps to backup your WordPress database using the plugin:

1. Download the “wp-db-backup.2.1.5.zip” file to your computer and unzip it.
2. FTP the “wp-db-backup” folder to your WordPress wp-content/plugins directory.
3. Login to your WordPress site wp-admin administration dashboard.
4. Click on Plugins.
5. Scroll to the WordPress Database Backup plugin and click “Activate”.
6. Next click on Manage and then Backup.
7. Select the tables you want to backup. Some of the tables are selected by default.
8. Select the Backup Options
   What to do with the backup file:
   – Save to server (wp-content/backup …)
   – Download to your computer
   – Email backup to _________________

   Schedule:
   – Never
   – Once Hourly
   – Once Daily
   – Once Weekly

9. Click Submit

If you select Save to Server or Download to your computer as the Backup Option, you can click the “Backup” button to generate the backup file immediately.

Once you have backup your database, Restoring your database from backup is then possible if something goes wrong.