A quick snippet for doing a compressed mysql dump with a pv to monitor progress

mysqldump.sh

mysqldump [database] | pv | gzip -c > [file].sql.gz

Note that PV will begin immediately so you must supply your mysql password in the command as the prompt won't work

to connect without supplying your password in the command (don't do that!)

add a ~/.my.cnf with

[client]
user=username
password=password

OVEREXPLAIN$ chmod 600 ~/.my.cnf as always with sensitive files.

You can also use pv -W to have it wait until transfer starts to begin reporting, allowing you to enter password via prompt

the -W flag suggested by @mrvdot is required, otherwise the transfer will start without the password and effectively nothing will happen since there's no connection.