3 Best Methods to Export MySQL Database

At times, you may need to export your database in MySQL in order to transfer it to another destination such as a data warehouse. This may be required to integrate data from other sources for carrying out a more comprehensive and holistic analysis.

In this post, you will learn different methods to export the MySQL database. Before that, let’s take a short look at the basics of the MySQL database to understand the context better.

What is a MySQL Database?

MySQL is an open-source relational database management system. It works under the terms of the GNU General public license. It is a component of the LAMP web application software stack.

It is used by many popular websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube. It was declared DBMS of the year 2019 from the DB-engines ranking.

Note: A crucial aspect of database management is understanding how to save database in MySQL; this involves regular backups to prevent data loss.

It is offered under two different editions:

• The open-source MySQL community server. 
• The proprietary Enterprise server.

What are the Functions of a MySQL Database?

As mentioned earlier, the MySQL database was declared DBMS of the year 2019, so it must have some useful functions and features.

Some of the major features available in MySQL 5.6 are:

• Cross-platform support.
• A broad subset of ANSI SQL 99 and its extensions.
• Stored procedures.
• Triggers.
• Updatable views.
• Cursors.
• Information schema.
• A set of SQL mode options that control runtime behaviour, that include a strict mode to better adhere to SQL standards.
• Online data definition language (DDL) when using the InnoDB storage engine.
• Transactions with savepoints when using the InnoDB storage engine.
• NDB Cluster storage engine that supports transactions.
• SSL supports.
• Query coaching.
• Full-text indexing and searching.
• Unicode support.

Now, let’s dive into different methods to export your MySQL database.

You would also love to read our article about how to replicate MySQL database.

Method 1: Using Hevo Data

Hevo Data is a new and modern way to export MySQL database to another platform or data warehouse. But before heading to the steps of exporting MySQL database using Hevo Data, let’s take a quick look at what it actually does.

Important Features of Hevo Data

• Easy setup and Intuitive User Interface: It has a minimal learning curve and the user can set it up in a few minutes. 
• Fully Managed: You do not require either coding or pipeline maintenance.
• Data Transformation: It provides you with a simple interface to perfect, modify, and enrich the data you want to export. 
• Automatic Schema Mapping: Hevo Data has metadata mapping which maps the schema from the source automatically.
• Real-time Data Transfer: Hevo Data works on the batch as well as real-time data. It can also resume the pipeline in case of failures.
• Out-of-the-box Integrations: Hevo can provide connectivity to numerous cloud-based and on-site assets.

Steps to Export MySQL Database using Hevo Data

Now, let’s move to the steps of exporting MySQL database to a data warehouse, let’s say Snowflake. 

The way to export MySQL database using Hevo data involves 2 simple steps:

• Connect to your MySQL database using Hevo platform and configure it as a source.

• Configure your data warehouse (such as Redshift, Snowflake etc.) as a destination and start moving data instantly. Read more on configuring MySQL as a source here.

For any information on the comparative study of PostgreSQL vs MySQL, you can visit the former link.

Method 2: Using phpMyAdmin 

Before heading to the steps, you need to understand what phpMyAdmin is and how it works.

PhpMyAdmin is a free administration tool that is used for MySQL and MariaDB. It has become one of the most used and popular MySQL management tools because it is a convenient web application that is written in PHP.

Important Features of phpMyAdmin

• MySQL and MariaDB database management.
• Import data from CSV and SQL.
• Export data to various formats such as CSV, SQL, XML, PDF, WORD, EXCEL, etc.
• Renovate stored data into different formats with the help of a set of predefined functions. For example, it displays BLOB-data as image.
• It makes complex SQL easier to work with.

How to Export MySQL Database Using phpMyAdmin

Using the phpMyAdmin web interface, you can export a MySQL database. Below are the steps to do so:

• Log in to cPanel.

Click phpMyAdmin in the database section of the cPanel home screen.

• In the left pane of the phpMyAdmin page, click on the database that you want to export.

• Click the Export tab.

• Under the Export method, you can proceed in two ways:

i) Select ‘Quick’: This option helps in letting you download the SQL file immediately.

Or

ii) Select ‘Custom’: This provides you with more control over the data.

Note: You may be using an older version of phpMyAdmin and it will not have the ‘Quick’ option. In this case, click “Select All” in the ‘Export’ section and select the ‘Save as File’ checkbox and click on “Go”.

• Confirm that SQL is selected under format.
• Click “Go”.
• Type the file name and select the directory where your exported database is to be saved in the ‘Save File’ dialogue box on your local computer.
• Click “Save” and the process of exporting will start.

Method 3: Using the mysqldump Program

Mysqldump is a database backup program. It is used to do logical backups, generating a set of SQL statements that can be executed to regenerate the main/original database.

It can also produce output in CSV, other limited text, or XML format. When considering how to send MySQL database file to another server, one common method is to use the mysqldump utility to create a .sql file, which can then be transferred via secure copy protocol (SCP).

For databases larger than 50MB, it’s recommended to use this method to avoid timeouts during export and prevent corrupt backup files.

Important Features of mysqldump Program

Some of the main features that mysqldump program provides are:

• Option syntax.
• Invocation syntax.
• Option file-options.
• Debug options.
• DDL options.
• Format options.
• Internationalization options.
• Replication options.

These features make mysqldump a very good choice for exporting MySQL database to another platform.

Steps to Export your MySQL Database using mysqldump

The mysqldump utility is commonly used for MySQL save database to file, resulting in a .sql file that contains the database’s data as SQL statements. Using this program you can export a MySQL database from the command line. Following are the steps to do this:

• Access the command line on the computer where the database is stored. It means that if your required database is on another web hosting account, log in to that account. Or, if you have physical availability to that computer you can open a DOS or terminal window to access.
• Type the following command, and click on enter.

mysqldump -u username -p dbname > dbexport.sql

• Replace ‘username’ with your username and ‘dbname’ with your database name.
• Enter your password in the “Enter Password” column.

mysqldump -u [user name] –p [password] [options] [database_name] [tablename] > [dumpfilename.sql]

This way you will be able to export MySQL database using the mysqldump program. Best practices for export database MySQL include exporting the database during low-traffic periods to minimize impact on server performance.

Method 4: Using MySQL Data Export and Import Wizard

The Data Export and Import Wizard in MySQL Workbench is a tool that helps you move your SQL data in and out of MySQL databases. You can either use the program’s built-in functions or the ‘ mysqldump ‘ command.

You can find this tool in the Navigator sidebar or under the Server menu. From there, you can choose either Data Import or Data Export.

Exporting Data: The Data Export Tab, allows you to select the schemas you want to export and even choose specific objects or tables within each schema. You can export to a project folder or a self-contained SQL file, and you can also choose to include or exclude table data, events, and stored routines.

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Advanced Options: Advanced options allow you to customize the export operation. For example, you can use replace instead of insert statements, add table locks, and quote identifiers with backtick characters.

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Starting the Export: Once you’ve made your selections and set your options, you can click Start Export to begin the export process. Please note that this tool only works with the MySQL SQL format.

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