How to restore a MySQL backup

You already have your backup and decided to restore this on your MySQL database? In this article, we will tackle how to restore a MySQL backup using a simple command.

Table of Contents

Prerequisites

• MySQL installed
• MySQL user credentials
• A MySQL backup file; if you don't already have one, SimpleBackups provides an automated MySQL backup
• An existing database

How to restore a MySQL backup

The following steps assume you already have a MySQL backup:

1. Create a new MySQL database where you will restore your backup, or use an existing database.

2. To restore the backup, use the command:

   mysql -u [user] -p [database_name] < [filename].sql

   • mysql - this is our main mysql program
   • -u [user] - this flag is used to specify which user we will use to access the database
   • -p - this flag signals that our user uses a password
   • [database_name] - this will be our database's name where we will restore our backup
   • < [filename].sql - this means that we will input(import) the contents of [filename].sql file into our [database_name] database

Notes:

• After entering this command, you may be asked to enter the password for the MySQL user that you used.
• Please be careful when using an existing database that has records as this command will overwrite your existing database and end up losing your records.