Once a database has been created it can be very useful to be able to export the data and then import it on another server.

This procedure is very simple and can greatly ease any migration of data.

Let's get right in and look at exporting the database.

Export

In this example, we will export the 'mytestdb' database into a file called 'mytestdb.sql':

mysqldump -u root -p mytestdb > mytestdb.sql

Er, that's it.

Once done, the sql file can be copied to a new server ready to be imported into MySQL.

Import

Importing the data is just as easy but involves two steps.

The first step is to create a blank database ready to receive the data (remember this is on the server to which the database is going to imported):

mysqladmin -u root -p create mytestdb2

Once done, all that is left is to actually import the data:

mysql -u root -p mytestdb2 < mytestdb.sql