Recovering MySQL database from crashed drive - innodb tables

Question

I have a machine that crashed that contained a VERY important MySQL crash. My automated daily backups were in one of the locations where the data was fragged. So all I have is my physical /var/lib/mysql folder.

SO I installed mariadb on a new server, and copied over my db files. Started Maria DB and see all of my databases. Look at the list of tables, and they're all there. Finally, try to do a mysqldump so i can move these to a new location (different host provider), and none of the Innodb tables are recognized. One of these:

mysqldump: Got error: 1146: "Table 'dbname.tablename' doesn't exist" when using LOCK TABLES

So, I have no actual dumps to restore from or I would, and innodb is not being kind. How can I get access to this data so I can dump it for a new host?

Answer 1

I got this figured.

Originally, I had copied over the old my.cnf and the actual database folders from within the/var/lib/mysql folder. This was showing me the databases and tables inside of MySQL, and I could query the MyIsam tables, but not the innodb tables.

The part I was missing, was to bring over the ibdata1 file from outside of the individual db folders as well (/var/lib/mysql/ibdata1). Once I brought this over and started MySQL, I then had access to the innodb table data. After that, the MySQLDUMP performed perfectly, as well, and I have all of my data.