Import MySQL dump files

This article explains how to move dump file contents to MySQL server using the most popular tools.

1. MySQL console client (mysql)
Syntax of the command line depends on the structure of the dump file. If the dump file contains 'CREATE DATABASE' statement you should call MySQL console client as follows:

mysql --host=... --user=... --password=... -vvf < dump_file_name

Otherwise:

mysql --host=... --user=... --password=... -vvf MySQL_database_name < dump_file_name

where 'MySQL_database_name' is a name of an existing database.

2. phpMyAdmin
Note, that phpMyAdmin allows to import dump file into an existing MySQL database only, so the dump file should not contain 'CREATE DATABASE' statement.

Step 1. Click on the appropriate database name in the left frame.

Step 2. Click 'SQL' tab on the top of the screen.

Step 3. Enter full path to the dump file in 'Location of the textfile' field or click 'Browse' button to locate it through the directory tree.

Step 4. Click 'Go' button.