How to import an SQL file using the command line i

Question

I have a .sql file with an export from phpMyAdmin. I want to import it into a different server using the command line.

I have a Windows Server 2008 R2 installation. I placed the .sql file on the C drive, and I tried this command

database_name < file.sql

It is not working I get syntax errors.

• How can I import this file without a problem?
• Do I need to create a database first?

Answer 1

To import a single database, use the following command.

mysql -u username -p password dbname < dump.sql

To import multiple database dumps, use the following command.

mysql -u username -p password < dump.sql

Answer 2

Among all the answers, for the problem above, this is the best one:

 mysql> use db_name;
 mysql> source file_name.sql;

Answer 3

For backup purposes, make a BAT file and run this BAT file using Task Scheduler. It will take a backup of the database; just copy the following line and paste in Notepad and then save the .bat file, and run it on your system.

@echo off
for /f "tokens=1" %%i in ('date /t') do set DATE_DOW=%%i
for /f "tokens=2" %%i in ('date /t') do set DATE_DAY=%%i
for /f %%i in ('echo %date_day:/=-%') do set DATE_DAY=%%i
for /f %%i in ('time /t') do set DATE_TIME=%%i
for /f %%i in ('echo %date_time::=-%') do set DATE_TIME=%%i

"C:\Program Files\MySQL\mysql server 5.5\bin\mysqldump" -u username -ppassword mysql>C:/%DATE_DAY%_%DATE_TIME%_database.sql

Answer 4

For importing multiple SQL files at one time, use this:

# Unix-based solution
for i in *.sql;do mysql -u root -pPassword DataBase < $i;done

For simple importing:

# Unix-based solution
mysql -u root -pPassword DataBase < data.sql

For WAMP:

#mysqlVersion replace with your own version
C:\wamp\bin\mysql\mysqlVersion\bin\mysql.exe -u root -pPassword DataBase < data.sql

For XAMPP:

C:\xampp\mysql\bin\mysql -u root -pPassword DataBase < data.sql

Answer 5

Add the --force option:

mysql -u username -p database_name --force < file.sql

Answer 6

While most answers here just mention the simple command

mysql -u database_user -p [db_name] < database_file.sql

today it's quite common that databases and tables have utf8-collation where this command is not sufficient. Having utf8-collation in the exported tables it's required to use this command:

mysql -u database_user -p --default-character-set=utf8 [db_name] < database_file.sql

Surley this works for other charsets too, how to show the right notation can be seen here:

https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/show-collation.html

One comment mentioned also that if a database never exists an empty database had to be created first. This might be right in some cases, but depends on the export file. If the exported file includes already the command to create the database then the database never has to be created in a separated step, which even could cause an error on import. So on import it's advisable to have a look first in the file to know which commands are included there, on export it's advisable note the settings, especially if the file is very large and hard to read in an editor.

There are still more parameters for the command which are listed and explained here:

https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/mysql-command-options.html

If you use another database-version consider searching for the corresponding version of the manual too. The mentioned links refer to MySQL version 5.7.