When phpMyAdmin is not enough.
WHY
phpMyAdmin runs inside a web request and is subject to time and size limits. Large databases exceed them.
The command line has neither limitation.
EXPORTING
Over SSH, mysqldump produces a complete SQL file. Redirect it to a file and compress it.
Supply the database name, username and password.
IMPORTING
Feed the SQL file into the mysql client, specifying the target database.
For a compressed file, decompress and pipe it in without writing an intermediate file.
WHY THIS IS MORE RELIABLE
No execution time limit No upload size limit Clear error messages if something fails Considerably faster
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE SSH
Check whether your plan includes it. If not, open a ticket and ask.
We can also run a dump or an import for you. Say what you need and which database.
THE PRACTICAL RULE
Anything over a few tens of megabytes belongs on the command line rather than in a browser.
