How do I export a database over SSH?

phpMyAdmin allows you to export databases up to 256 MB (sometimes a little less, if the database has a lot of rows). If exporting with phpMyAdmin failed, you can export your database using SSH. Here are the steps:

Step 1 - Preparation

First, you would need to gather your database’s parameters, including the password. if you are not confident in the exact value of your database password - change it.

Step 2 - Connecting

Connect to your hosting account via SSH.
Make sure you are in your desired directory (the database will be exported to your current directory). To navigate between directories use cd and ls commands.

Step 3 - Export

Use this command to export the database:

mysqldump -u database_username -p database_name > file.sql

If the parameters of your database are:

MySQL Database name: u123456789_database
MySQL Username: u123456789_admin

And you wish to save the database as backup.sql, then the command will look like this:

mysqldump -u u123456789_admin -p u123456789_database > backup.sql

After that you will need to enter the database password - the exporting process will start. The export will take some time depending on the size of your database. When it is completed, a new line will appear:

-bash-4.2$

This line means that the exporting process is done, you will see your database file appear in File Manager. 😊

That’s it! Now you know how to export your MySQL database.

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