Import and export a database with phpMyAdmin

phpMyAdmin lets you work with your databases from your browser. This guide shows you how to export a database (take a copy) and import one (load a copy in), for example when moving a website to Hoopla Hosting or before making big changes.

Before you start

• To import, you need an empty database to import into. If you don't have one yet, see Create a MySQL database and user in cPanel.
• Your database file should be a .sql file, or a compressed .sql.gz or .zip file containing one.

Open phpMyAdmin

1. Log in to cPanel from your service page under Services → My Services (https://www.hooplahosting.co.nz/client/clientarea.php?action=services).
2. Open phpMyAdmin (type it in the cPanel search bar). It opens in a new tab and logs you in automatically.
3. Your databases are listed on the left. Click the one you want to work with.

Export a database

1. With the database selected on the left, click the Export tab at the top.
2. Leave Export method on Quick and Format on SQL.
3. Click Export (or Go). Your browser downloads a .sql file.

For a large database, choose Custom instead, and under Output set Compression to gzipped. The download will be much smaller, and you can import the .sql.gz file directly later.

We also back up your databases every day. You can download any of the last 14 days' copies from JetBackup in cPanel. See Do you perform backups?

Import a database

1. Click the empty database you want to import into on the left. Make sure you've selected the right one, because importing will overwrite any tables with the same names.
2. Click the Import tab.
3. Click Choose File (or Browse) and pick your .sql, .sql.gz or .zip file. The maximum upload size is shown next to the button.
4. Leave the other settings as they are and click Import (or Go) at the bottom.
5. When it finishes you'll see a green "Import has been successfully finished" message, and the tables will appear on the left.

If you're moving a website, remember to update the site's config file with the new database name, user and password. For WordPress, that's wp-config.php.

File too big to import?

• Compress it first. A .sql file usually shrinks to around a tenth of its size as .sql.gz or .zip, which often brings it under the limit.
• Raise the limit. The upload limit comes from your PHP settings (upload_max_filesize and post_max_size), which you can increase in cPanel's MultiPHP INI Editor.
• Ask us. For very large databases, upload the file to your account with File Manager or FTP (see Upload your website with File Manager or FileZilla), then open a ticket with the file name and database name and we'll import it for you.

Common import errors

• #1044 - Access denied for user ... to database: your file contains a CREATE DATABASE or USE line with the old database name. Open the file in a text editor (such as Notepad++ or VS Code), delete those lines near the top, save it and import again.
• #1273 - Unknown collation: 'utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci': the file was exported from MySQL 8, which uses a collation MariaDB doesn't have. Open the file in a text editor, replace every utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci with utf8mb4_unicode_ci, save and import again.
• #1050 - Table already exists: the database isn't empty. Select all the tables, choose Drop from the "With selected" menu (only if you're sure you don't need them), then import again.
• The import stops part way or times out: compress the file, or ask us to import it for you as above.

Need help?

If you get stuck, open a support ticket and we'll help.