Any mySQL gurus around here?

fmueller

I need some urgent mySQL help, and know nothing about that kind of stuff as of yet. Grateful for any help, and sorry about this being so long!

I am running a very simple (no plug-ins, no gadgets) Wordpress web site (www.brasch-group.com) that is hosted by 1&1. Recently the site became inaccessible - just a blank screen. I am assuming that 1&1 upgraded their server software, which made it incompatible with the ancient version of Wordpress I was using (2.6.5). The fix is a long story, but I sort of managed to upgrade to the latest version of Wordpress (3.0). At least the site is viewable again, but to complete the upgrade and allow me to work on the site again, Wordpress needs to upgrade the mySQL database it uses for the site at the very end of the upgrade process. Unfortunately I get an error message:

"You cannot upgrade because WordPress 3.0 requires MySQL version 4.1.2 or higher. You are running version 4.0.27."

I contacted 1&1 because of this, and they told me I can choose to use mySQL 5.0 with my hosting package. To do that I need to enable PHP5, which I have done following their instructions. Then I need to create a new database, which will automatically be in mySQL 5.0. That worked as well! Last but not least, I need to export the old database, and import it into the new one.

Unfortunately the import process doesn't work out for me at all. I have the option of using SSH and myPHPAdmin. I tried the latter, because I don't even know what SSH is - very daunting. Anyhow, my database exceeds the maximum file size allowed for myPHPAdmin import ever so slightly. So I tried with zip, gzip, and bzip, but nothing worked.

The problem could be the character set. The default for export is en-ISO-8859-1, but I can't choose that for import. The default for import is UTF-8 Unicode (utf8) with connection collation utf8_general_ci. That's why I chose en-utf-8 for the export, but I still get the following error message when attempting the import:

There is a chance that you may have found a bug in the SQL parser. Please examine your query closely, and check that the quotes are correct and not mis-matched. Other possible failure causes may be that you are uploading a file with binary outside of a quoted text area. You can also try your query on the MySQL command line interface. The MySQL server error output below, if there is any, may also help you in diagnosing the problem. If you still have problems or if the parser fails where the command line interface succeeds, please reduce your SQL query input to the single query that causes problems, and submit a bug report with the data chunk in the CUT section below:
----BEGIN CUT----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----END CUT----

Again, any help is appreciated!

ardichoke

If you're having file size problems, you're probably going to have to go SSH method. SSH is a method of command line remote access. I assume you're using Windows, so download PuTTY, get your SSH info from 1&1 and use PuTTY to connect. Then, to dump the database you want to run this command

mysqldump [old database name] > database.sql

You'll want to replace [old database name] with the actual database name of course. You might need to put in your MySQL username and password in order to do the dump. If you don't know it, that info is in your WordPress configuration file. Finally, to import the data to your new database you would want to run the following.

mysql [new database name] < database.sql

After that is done, you'll need to change your WordPress configuration to use the new database name, as well as the correct MySQL username and password.

As a side note, all of this is something that, if you ask me, your hosting company should be willing to do for you. For a technician that is familiar with their systems this work should only take them a couple minutes. If their support isn't willing to do something as simple as that you might want to look for better hosting. (Full disclosure: I work for a competing hosting company, one that does this kind of work for our customers that are paying for support on a regular basis).

primesuspect

And full disclosure: We are their customers, and are very happy with their support.

I was going to say the same thing: Your hosting company should be doing this for you. If they're not, it may be time to switch.

fmueller

Thanks for the advice! 1&1's FAQ also advise to go the SSH / PuTTY route. I was just a bit apprehensive about that. I'll give it a try today.

Regarding the hosting, I have been pretty happy with 1&1 so far. I have been using them for quite a few years now, and only once had a problem in the very beginning, when my site was hijacked and started spewing spam emails in all directions. I really had no idea what to do about it, but 1&1 sorted the hole mess out within half an hour - no kidding, they were that fast! Communications about the issue were also excellent, friendly and factual. That all despite me using their absolute rock-bottom cheapest beginner hosting package, which shouldn't exactly make me a preferred customer. The issue I am having now is with Wordpress, which I installed and am maintaining myself. I believe you can get hosting packages that are tailored for Wordpress, but more $$$. 1&1 is actually planning to upgrade from mySQL4 to mySQL5, but only in a couple of months, and I need it now. Anyhow, if I ever decide to get quality hosting, I'll get in touch with you folks right away, but unfortunately I am horribly cheap :bigggrin: