I would like to write a script which copies my current database sitedb1 to sitedb2 on the same mysql database instance. I know I can dump the sitedb1 to a sql script:
mysqldump -u root -p sitedb1 >~/db_name.sql and then import it to sitedb2. Is there an easier way, without dumping the first database to a sql file?
As the manual says in Copying Databases you can pipe the dump directly into the mysql client:
mysqldump --routines --triggers db_name | mysql new_db_name If you're using MyISAM you could copy the files, but I wouldn't recommend it. It's a bit dodgy.
Integrated from various good other answers
Both mysqldump and mysql commands accept options for setting connection details (and much more), like:
mysqldump -u <user name> --password=<pwd> <original db> | mysql -u <user name> -p <new db> Also, if the new database is not existing yet, you have to create it beforehand (e.g. with echo "create database new_db_name" | mysql -u <dbuser> -p).
mysqldump -uroot -p database1 | mysql -uroot -p database2. I get prompted for both pws but can only put in one. The prompt looks like this: Enter password: Enter password: . After giving the first pw, the process waits forever.The MySQL Utilities contain the nice tool mysqldbcopy which by default copies a DB including all related objects (“tables, views, triggers, events, procedures, functions, and database-level grants”) and data from one DB server to the same or to another DB server. There are lots of options available to customize what is actually copied.
So, to answer the OP’s question:
mysqldbcopy \ --source=root:your_password@localhost \ --destination=root:your_password@localhost \ sitedb1:sitedb2 
mysqldump based solution was failing.
sudo apt-get install mysql-utilities, but this is very neat. Can I leave out the password and be prompted to enter it?
mysqldbcopy ask you for the password; at least I couldn’t find anything like that in the documentation. You could build this functionality yourself, though. In Bash that could look somewhat like this: mysqldbcopy --source=root:"$(read -sp 'Source password: ' && echo $REPLY)"@localhost --destination=root:"$(read -sp 'Destination password: ' && echo $REPLY)"@localhost sitedb1:sitedb2
--force to the mysqldbcopy command because I had already created the destination database. Thanks!Best and easy way is to enter these commands in your terminal and set permissions to the root user. Works for me..!
:~$> mysqldump -u root -p db1 > dump.sql :~$> mysqladmin -u root -p create db2 :~$> mysql -u root -p db2 < dump.sql 
mysqldump -u <user> -p <pwd> db_name | mysql -u <user> -p <pwd> new_db_name can be problematic with large databases.
mysqladmin create DB_name -u DB_user --password=DB_pass && \ mysqldump -u DB_user --password=DB_pass DB_name | \ mysql -u DB_user --password=DB_pass -h DB_host DB_name 
You could use (in pseudocode):
FOREACH tbl IN db_a: CREATE TABLE db_b.tbl LIKE db_a.tbl; INSERT INTO db_b.tbl SELECT * FROM db_a.tbl; The reason I'm not using the CREATE TABLE ... SELECT ... syntax is to preserve indices. Of course this only copies tables. Views and procedures are not copied, although it can be done in the same manner.
See CREATE TABLE.
SET FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS = 0 ?
CREATE TABLE; FOREACH: INSERT;You need to run the command from terminal / command prompt.
mysqldump -u <user name> -p <pwd> <original db> | mysql -u <user name> <pwd> <new db> e.g: mysqldump -u root test_db1 | mysql -u root test_db2
This copies test_db1 to test_db2 and grant the access to 'root'@'localhost'
A simple way to do so if you installed phpmyadmin:
Go to your database, select "operation" tab, and you can see the "copy database to" block. Use it and you can copy the database.
First create the duplicate database:
CREATE DATABASE duplicateddb; Make sure the permissions etc are all in place and:
mysqldump -u admin -p originaldb | mysql -u backup -p password duplicateddb; As mentioned in Greg's answer, mysqldump db_name | mysql new_db_name is the free, safe, and easy way to transfer data between databases. However, it's also really slow.
If you're looking to backup data, can't afford to lose data (in this or other databases), or are using tables other than innodb, then you should use mysqldump.
If you're looking for something for development, have all of your databases backed up elsewhere, and are comfortable purging and reinstalling mysql (possibly manually) when everything goes wrong, then I might just have the solution for you.
I couldn't find a good alternative, so I built a script to do it myself. I spent a lot of time getting this to work the first time and it honestly terrifies me a little to make changes to it now. Innodb databases were not meant to copied and pasted like this. Small changes cause this to fail in magnificent ways. I haven't had a problem since I finalized the code, but that doesn't mean you won't.
Systems tested on (but may still fail on):
We've since switched to docker and a simple copy of the entire mysql data folder, so this script is no longer maintained. Leaving it in case it's able to help anyone in the future.
sudo privilege and verifies you have enough storage space to clone the databasemysqldumpOn a 3gb database, using mysqldump and mysql would take 40-50 minutes on my machine. Using this method, the same process would only take ~8 minutes.
We had our SQL changes saved alongside our code and the upgrade process is automated on both production and development, with each set of changes making a backup of the database to restore if there's errors. One problem we ran into was when we were working on a long term project with database changes, and had to switch branches in the middle of it to fix a bug or three.
In the past, we used a single database for all branches, and would have to rebuild the database whenever we switched to a branch that wasn't compatible with the new database changes. And when we switched back, we'd have to run the upgrades again.
We tried mysqldump to duplicate the database for different branches, but the wait time was too long (40-50 minutes), and we couldn't do anything else in the meantime.
This solution shortened the database clone time to 1/5 the time (think coffee and bathroom break instead of a long lunch).
Switching between branches with incompatible database changes takes 50+ minutes on a single database, but no time at all after the initial setup time with mysqldump or this code. This code just happens to be ~5 times faster than mysqldump.
Here are some common tasks and roughly how long they would take with each method:
mysqldump: 50-60 minutesmain for a bugfix, make an edit on the feature branch, and merge:mysqldump: 50-60 minutesmain for a bugfix 5 times while making edits on the feature branch inbetween, and merge:mysqldump: 50-60 minutesDo not use this unless you've read and understood everything above. It is no longer maintained, so it is more and more likely to be broken as time goes on.
#!/bin/bash set -e # This script taken from: https://stackoverflow.com/a/57528198/526741 function now { date "+%H:%M:%S"; } # Leading space sets messages off from step progress. echosuccess () { printf "\e[0;32m %s: %s\e[0m\n" "$(now)" "$1" sleep .1 } echowarn () { printf "\e[0;33m %s: %s\e[0m\n" "$(now)" "$1" sleep .1 } echoerror () { printf "\e[0;31m %s: %s\e[0m\n" "$(now)" "$1" sleep .1 } echonotice () { printf "\e[0;94m %s: %s\e[0m\n" "$(now)" "$1" sleep .1 } echoinstructions () { printf "\e[0;104m %s: %s\e[0m\n" "$(now)" "$1" sleep .1 } echostep () { printf "\e[0;90mStep %s of 13:\e[0m\n" "$1" sleep .1 } MYSQL_CNF_PATH='/etc/mysql/mysql.conf.d/recovery.cnf' OLD_DB='YOUR_DATABASE_NAME' USER='YOUR_MYSQL_USER' # You can change NEW_DB to whatever you like # Right now, it will append the current git branch name to the existing database name BRANCH=`git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD` NEW_DB="${OLD_DB}__$BRANCH" THIS_DIR=./site/upgrades DB_CREATED=false tmp_file () { printf "$THIS_DIR/$NEW_DB.%s" "$1" } sql_on_new_db () { mysql $NEW_DB --unbuffered --skip-column-names -u root -p$PASS 2>> $(tmp_file 'errors.log') } general_cleanup () { echoinstructions 'Leave this running while things are cleaned up...' if [ -f $(tmp_file 'errors.log') ]; then echowarn 'Additional warnings and errors:' cat $(tmp_file 'errors.log') fi for f in $THIS_DIR/$NEW_DB.*; do echonotice 'Deleting temporary files created for transfer...' rm -f $THIS_DIR/$NEW_DB.* break done echonotice 'Done!' echoinstructions "You can close this now :)" } error_cleanup () { exitcode=$? # Just in case script was exited while in a prompt echo if [ "$exitcode" == "0" ]; then echoerror "Script exited prematurely, but exit code was '0'." fi echoerror "The following command on line ${BASH_LINENO[0]} exited with code $exitcode:" echo " $BASH_COMMAND" if [ "$DB_CREATED" = true ]; then echo echonotice "Dropping database \`$NEW_DB\` if created..." echo "DROP DATABASE \`$NEW_DB\`;" | sql_on_new_db || echoerror "Could not drop database \`$NEW_DB\` (see warnings)" fi general_cleanup exit $exitcode } trap error_cleanup EXIT mysql_path () { printf "/var/lib/mysql/" } old_db_path () { printf "%s%s/" "$(mysql_path)" "$OLD_DB" } new_db_path () { printf "%s%s/" "$(mysql_path)" "$NEW_DB" } get_tables () { (sudo find /var/lib/mysql/$OLD_DB -name "*.frm" -printf "%f\n") | cut -d'.' -f1 | sort } STEP=0 authenticate () { printf "\e[0;104m" sudo ls &> /dev/null printf "\e[0m" echonotice 'Authenticated.' } echostep $((++STEP)) authenticate TABLE_COUNT=`get_tables | wc -l` SPACE_AVAIL=`df -k --output=avail $(mysql_path) | tail -n1` SPACE_NEEDED=(`sudo du -s $(old_db_path)`) SPACE_ERR=`echo "$SPACE_AVAIL-$SPACE_NEEDED" | bc` SPACE_WARN=`echo "$SPACE_AVAIL-$SPACE_NEEDED*3" | bc` if [ $SPACE_ERR -lt 0 ]; then echoerror 'There is not enough space to branch the database.' echoerror 'Please free up some space and run this command again.' SPACE_AVAIL_FORMATTED=`printf "%'d" $SPACE_AVAIL` SPACE_NEEDED_FORMATTED=`printf "%'${#SPACE_AVAIL_FORMATTED}d" $SPACE_NEEDED` echonotice "$SPACE_NEEDED_FORMATTED bytes needed to create database branch" echonotice "$SPACE_AVAIL_FORMATTED bytes currently free" exit 1 elif [ $SPACE_WARN -lt 0 ]; then echowarn 'This action will use more than 1/3 of your available space.' SPACE_AVAIL_FORMATTED=`printf "%'d" $SPACE_AVAIL` SPACE_NEEDED_FORMATTED=`printf "%'${#SPACE_AVAIL_FORMATTED}d" $SPACE_NEEDED` echonotice "$SPACE_NEEDED_FORMATTED bytes needed to create database branch" echonotice "$SPACE_AVAIL_FORMATTED bytes currently free" printf "\e[0;104m" read -p " $(now): Do you still want to branch the database? [y/n] " -n 1 -r CONFIRM printf "\e[0m" echo if [[ ! $CONFIRM =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then echonotice 'Database was NOT branched' exit 1 fi fi PASS='badpass' connect_to_db () { printf "\e[0;104m %s: MySQL root password: \e[0m" "$(now)" read -s PASS PASS=${PASS:-badpass} echo echonotice "Connecting to MySQL..." } create_db () { echonotice 'Creating empty database...' echo "CREATE DATABASE \`$NEW_DB\` CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci" | mysql -u root -p$PASS 2>> $(tmp_file 'errors.log') DB_CREATED=true } build_tables () { echonotice 'Retrieving and building database structure...' mysqldump $OLD_DB --skip-comments -d -u root -p$PASS 2>> $(tmp_file 'errors.log') | pv --width 80 --name " $(now)" > $(tmp_file 'dump.sql') pv --width 80 --name " $(now)" $(tmp_file 'dump.sql') | sql_on_new_db } set_debug_1 () { echonotice 'Switching into recovery mode for innodb...' printf '[mysqld]\ninnodb_file_per_table = 1\ninnodb_force_recovery = 1\n' | sudo tee $MYSQL_CNF_PATH > /dev/null } set_debug_0 () { echonotice 'Switching out of recovery mode for innodb...' sudo rm -f $MYSQL_CNF_PATH } discard_tablespace () { echonotice 'Unlinking default data...' ( echo "USE \`$NEW_DB\`;" echo "SET foreign_key_checks = 0;" get_tables | while read -r line; do echo "ALTER TABLE \`$line\` DISCARD TABLESPACE; SELECT 'Table \`$line\` imported.';"; done echo "SET foreign_key_checks = 1;" ) > $(tmp_file 'discard_tablespace.sql') cat $(tmp_file 'discard_tablespace.sql') | sql_on_new_db | pv --width 80 --line-mode --size $TABLE_COUNT --name " $(now)" > /dev/null } import_tablespace () { echonotice 'Linking imported data...' ( echo "USE \`$NEW_DB\`;" echo "SET foreign_key_checks = 0;" get_tables | while read -r line; do echo "ALTER TABLE \`$line\` IMPORT TABLESPACE; SELECT 'Table \`$line\` imported.';"; done echo "SET foreign_key_checks = 1;" ) > $(tmp_file 'import_tablespace.sql') cat $(tmp_file 'import_tablespace.sql') | sql_on_new_db | pv --width 80 --line-mode --size $TABLE_COUNT --name " $(now)" > /dev/null } stop_mysql () { echonotice 'Stopping MySQL...' sudo /etc/init.d/mysql stop >> $(tmp_file 'log') } start_mysql () { echonotice 'Starting MySQL...' sudo /etc/init.d/mysql start >> $(tmp_file 'log') } restart_mysql () { echonotice 'Restarting MySQL...' sudo /etc/init.d/mysql restart >> $(tmp_file 'log') } copy_data () { echonotice 'Copying data...' sudo rm -f $(new_db_path)*.ibd sudo rsync -ah --info=progress2 $(old_db_path) --include '*.ibd' --exclude '*' $(new_db_path) } give_access () { echonotice "Giving MySQL user \`$USER\` access to database \`$NEW_DB\`" echo "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON \`$NEW_DB\`.* to $USER@localhost" | sql_on_new_db } echostep $((++STEP)) connect_to_db EXISTING_TABLE=`echo "SELECT SCHEMA_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.SCHEMATA WHERE SCHEMA_NAME = '$NEW_DB'" | mysql --skip-column-names -u root -p$PASS 2>> $(tmp_file 'errors.log')` if [ "$EXISTING_TABLE" == "$NEW_DB" ] then echoerror "Database \`$NEW_DB\` already exists" exit 1 fi echoinstructions "The hamsters are working. Check back in 5-10 minutes." sleep 5 echostep $((++STEP)) create_db echostep $((++STEP)) build_tables echostep $((++STEP)) set_debug_1 echostep $((++STEP)) discard_tablespace echostep $((++STEP)) stop_mysql echostep $((++STEP)) copy_data echostep $((++STEP)) start_mysql echostep $((++STEP)) import_tablespace echostep $((++STEP)) set_debug_0 echostep $((++STEP)) restart_mysql echostep $((++STEP)) give_access echo echosuccess "Database \`$NEW_DB\` is ready to use." echo trap general_cleanup EXIT If everything goes smoothly, you should see something like:
You can do something like the following:
mysqldump -u[username] -p[password] database_name_for_clone | mysql -u[username] -p[password] new_database_name You can do:
CREATE DATABASE copy_of_db; create table copy_of_db.table LIKE source_db.table; If you want to copy data too: INSERT INTO copy_of_db.table SELECT * FROM source_db.table; Repeat for all tables, functions, procedures, etc
(mysqldump is the proper way, but this is a quick and dirty solution useful in many cases)
This statement was added in MySQL 5.1.7 but was found to be dangerous and was removed in MySQL 5.1.23. It was intended to enable upgrading pre-5.1 databases to use the encoding implemented in 5.1 for mapping database names to database directory names. However, use of this statement could result in loss of database contents, which is why it was removed. Do not use RENAME DATABASE in earlier versions in which it is present.
To perform the task of upgrading database names with the new encoding, use ALTER DATABASE db_name UPGRADE DATA DIRECTORY NAME instead: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/alter-database.html
Using Mydumper
sudo apt install mydumper Generate dump
mydumper --user=YOUR_USER --password=YOUR_PASSWORD -B YOUR_CURRENT_DB \ --triggers --routines --events --outputdir YOUR_OUTPUT_DIR Load dump
myloader --user=YOUR_USER --password=YOUR_PASSWORD --database=YOUR_NEW_DB \ --directory=YOUR_OUTPUT_DIR Using MySQL Workbench you can use Database > Migration Wizard to copy database to the same or to the other server instance. I believe it works server-side so it should be a good solution for duplicating large databases.
In addition to Greg's answer, this is the easiest and fastest way if the new_db_name doesn't yet exist:
echo "create database new_db_name" | mysql -u <user> -p <pwd> mysqldump -u <user> -p <pwd> db_name | mysql -u <user> -p <pwd> new_db_name If you have triggers in your original database, you can avoid the "Trigger already exists" error by piping a replacement before the import:
mysqldump -u olddbuser -p -d olddbname | sed "s/`olddbname`./`newdbname`./" | mysql -u newdbuser -p -D newdbname 