I need to change the name of my MySQL database but I’m not sure about the safest approach.
Right now I export the entire database and then import it back with the different name I want. This works fine for smaller databases but becomes really slow and impractical when dealing with large databases that have tons of data.
I heard there used to be a command like ALTER DATABASE old_name RENAME TO new_name but from what I read online, this command was removed because it caused serious issues and data corruption in many cases.
My database uses InnoDB storage engine, so I need a solution that works properly with InnoDB tables since they handle data storage differently compared to MyISAM tables. What would be the most reliable method to rename my database without risking data loss or corruption?
Hit this exact problem last year with a production database. Dump and restore is definitely your safest option, especially with InnoDB tables - they’ve got complex foreign key relationships and tablespace dependencies that make direct file manipulation too risky. What really sped things up for me was using the --single-transaction flag with mysqldump for consistency, then piping straight to mysql instead of creating temp files. Try mysqldump --single-transaction old_db | mysql new_db - cuts way down on disk I/O time. For huge databases, I did it during maintenance windows and used --quick flag to grab rows one at a time instead of loading everything into memory. Takes longer but prevents the server from choking. Yeah, it’s tedious but data integrity beats speed every time.
yea, mysqldump is slow but safe. def dont rename tables directly, that can b risky. best to run it off-peak. for big dbs, MySQL Workbench’s migration wizard can do a nice job lifting the load.
Been through this headache tons of times. Yeah, mysqldump is your safest option, but here’s a trick that might speed things up. Create the new database first, then rename each table individually: RENAME TABLE old_db.table_name TO new_db.table_name. Works great with InnoDB - keeps all your foreign keys and references intact without touching the data files. Way faster than dump/restore on big datasets since it’s based on table count, not data size. Just lock writes while you’re doing it and test everything in dev first. Only catch is you’ll need double the disk space since both databases exist during the switch.