Last modified: October 12, 2023

Overview

This interface allows the root user or resellers with root -level privileges to manage MySQL® or MariaDB® version upgrades (for example, when you upgrade from MySQL 5.7 to 8.0). After you select your server’s MySQL or MariaDB version, WHM automatically keeps your database engine up-to-date. This means, for example, that whenever the vendor releases a new patch for your server’s version of MySQL or MariaDB, WHM automatically applies the patch to your installation.

Before installation

Back up your server’s databases before you upgrade its database version or change to MariaDB.

Installation limitations

When upgrading or installing MySQL or MariaDB, the following limitations apply:

The system considers MariaDB to be an upgrade from MySQL. If you change the database engine to MariaDB, you cannot change back to MySQL.

We do not support the use of MySQL’s sha256_password plugin for MySQL 5.7, MySQL 8, MariaDB 10.2, or MariaDB 10.3.

This feature does not support downgrades of database engine versions. We strongly recommend that you do not attempt to downgrade MySQL or MariaDB.

CloudLinux’s MySQL Governor

If CloudLinux’s™ MySQL Governor exists on your server, MySQL upgrades will not work via this interface. If you wish to remove MySQL Governor, read CloudLinux’s MySQL Governor documentation and research how this affects you.

The phpinfo file

The phpinfo file may display a different version of MySQL than the version that you select.

The API version that you see in the phpinfo file is the built-in MySQL API that PHP includes.

If the buildapache application uses the MySQL libraries and headers on the server itself, and you change the MySQL version, Apache cannot function correctly. Because cPanel & WHM updates MySQL RPMs whenever Red Hat releases updates, this could automatically break thousands of servers within a few hours. For this reason, cPanel, L.L.C. always builds Apache and PHP with the -builtin option.

Amazon Relational Database Service

You can use MySQL version 5.7 or 8.0 on Amazon Relational Database™ Service (RDS) servers. We do not support MariaDB on Amazon RDS servers.

Available versions

The following versions of MySQL are available:

MySQL 8.0

The following versions of MariaDB are available:

MariaDB 10.5

MariaDB 10.6

MariaDB 10.11

We will only support long-term release versions of MariaDB starting after MariaDB 10.6. For more information on MariaDB release cycles, read the MariaDB documentation.

Upgrade or reinstall MySQL or MariaDB

You cannot upgrade MySQL 8 to MariaDB 10.x due to incompatibilities between these versions . For more information, read MariaDB’s documentation.

System administrators can choose either MySQL or MariaDB during the cPanel & WHM installation process. For more information, read our Installation Guide .

To upgrade or reinstall your server’s version of MySQL or MariaDB, perform the following steps:

Select the version of MySQL or MariaDB that you wish to upgrade or reinstall.

Click Continue . A new interface will appear with warning messages, and the system will validate the /etc/my.cnf file.

Select the checkbox next to each warning to acknowledge that you are aware of the potential consequences of the upgrade.

Click Continue .

Select the type of upgrade that you wish to perform:

Unattended Upgrade — This option automatically upgrades MySQL or MariaDB.

Interactive Upgrade — This option steps you through the MySQL or MariaDB upgrade process.

Click Continue . The upgrade process interface will appear.

Select or deselect the Autoscroll output checkbox to change whether the output display scrolls as the upgrade runs.

If you selected the Interactive Upgrade type on the previous screen, the interface will prompt you to continue through each step as the upgrade progresses. The interface may also provide instructions for additional tasks that you may need to complete before continuing through the upgrade.

When the upgrade finishes, the interface will display a message. The message will say whether the upgrade succeeded or errors exist that you will need to address to complete the upgrade.

The MySQL Upgrade Checker Utility

The MySQL Upgrade Checker Utility tool checks whether a MySQL database upgrade will work on the current MySQL version.

To run the MySQL Upgrade Checker Utility tool, perform the following steps:

Click Install and Run Checker . A progress window will appear, and it will display the results of the upgrade check.

Resolve any upgrade check issues.

Click Re-Run Checker to run the MySQL Upgrade Checker utility again.

Continue your MySQL upgrade if there are no new issues.

MySQL upgrade log

The system stores the MySQL and MariaDB log files in the /var/cpanel/logs directory. The log files use the mysql_upgrade_log.YYYYMMDD-hhmmss naming convention with the following designators:

YYYY — Four-digit year.

MM — Two-digit month.

DD — Two-digit day.

hh — Two-digit hour.

mm — Two-digit minute.

ss — Two-digit second.