Simple mysql dump shell script, that uses the actual date for the file. Works with crontab! (Date escaped). Note that there is no space between the -p and the password.

mysql dump database script

#!/bin/bash
NOW=`/bin/date +"%m%d%Y-%H%M%S"`
if [[ "$?" != "0" ]]; then
 NOW="UNKNOWN_DATE"
 fi
mysqldump -h hostname -u username -pPassword databasename > /opt/databasebackup/$NOW.sql
if [[ "$?" != "0" ]]; then
 echo "$0: backup failed with error code $?"
 fi