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Manage Your Databases Using the Cloudways Database Manager
Manage Your Databases Using the Cloudways Database Manager

In this KB, you will learn what is DBMS and also how to use the Cloudways Database Manager to manage the databases you own.

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Written by Cloudways Product
Updated over a week ago

Table of Contents

In this article, you will learn about databases, DBMS, and Database Manager and how to use the Cloudways Database Manager to manage the databases.

What is the Database?

A database is a structured, organized set of data. A Web database is an application designed to be managed and accessed online or electronically from a computer system. In terms of computing terminology, a database refers to software used to store and organize data. Think of it as a file cabinet where you store data in different sections called tables. When you need a particular file, you look into that specific section (table) and get the file (data) you need.

What is the DBMS & Database Manager?

DBMS refers to Database Management System; it is a software or set of software programs to control the retrieval, storage, and modification of organized data in a database. MYSQL is a ubiquitous example of DBMS. Database Manager is part of DBMS, which handles the organization, retrieval, and storage of data. A database manager creates a bridge or links two or more files together and is the foundation for developing conventional business systems. This contrast with file manager, which works with only one file at a time and is typically used interactively on a personal computer for managing personal and independent data and files.

How to Use Cloudways Database Manager

You can use the Cloudways Database Manager to manage your application databases from within the console.

Important

Cloudways Database Manager is unsuitable for managing large databases (i.e. larger than 200MB). To manage massive databases, please use other Cloudways-supported methods, such as MySQL remote connections or SSH tunnel for MySQL clients.

Step #1

Log in to the Cloudways Platform with your credentials. Click on Applications in the top menu bar and select your target application from the list.

Classic Interface

New Interface

Step #2

Under Application Management, click Access Details and Launch Database Manager under the MySQL Access option.

Classic Interface

New Interface

The Database Manager is secured using a self-signed certificate, but it may generate a warning in your browser, although it is valid. You can safely ignore it if you see it (don’t ignore it when connecting to other sites unless you know what you are doing). Here’s how you can proceed further:

  1. Click on Advanced first.

  2. Now, click on Proceed to Unsafe to accept the self-signed certificate.

The Cloudways Database Manager will open in a new tab, and you can start working with your database.

How to Import and Export Databases

From time to time we need to import or export databases either to perform a migration from one server to another, to have backups of your databases or to import additional data to an existing database. In this article we will see two of the easiest options to import and export databases.

Import Database using Database Manager:

  1. Login to your Cloudways account.

  2. Look for the application in question. This can be done by clicking the Applications tab on top of the screen.

  3. Once you have located the application, click on it and go to Application Management -> Access Details -> MySQL Access and there click on button LAUNCH DATABASE MANAGER.

  4. A new browser tab will open. Click “Import” underneath the DB drop-down menu:

  5. Click “Choose Files” and browse your local files for the database dump to import.

  6. Finally, click “Execute” and wait for a few minutes. Your database should be imported successfully. If the database dump is taking long time to import and causing timeout errors on browser, then it is best to import it using command line method as it is much faster and there are no time out issues with this method.

Import Database using MySQL:

For this method, you will need to login using SSH. Detailed steps on how to login via SSH is available in this article.

Once you have logged in. Please follow these steps:

  1. Look for the application in question. This can be done by clicking the Applications tab on top of the screen.

  2. Once you have located the application, click on it and go to Application Management, Access Details, MYSQL ACCESS. We will use the details listed in this section.

  3. If you have not uploaded the .sql dump file yet, you can do so via SFTP.

  4. Once you have uploaded the .sql dump file, run the following command:

mysql -u [Username] -p [DB Name] < [File Name].sql

Note: Make sure to replace “Username” and “DB Name” with the details listed in MYSQL ACCESS and “File Name” with the full path to the file that you uploaded. You also need to remove the square brackets. If you uploaded the file to your applications/APP_ID/private_html/ directory and the file name is backup.sql then you would need to use /home/master/applications/APP_ID/private_html/backup.sql

You will be prompted for the database password which is also listed in MYSQL ACCESS. Type your password (it will not be visible while you type), then hit Enter.

The import process can take a few minutes depending on the size of the database. If the import process is successful, it will not return any output.

Note: If you uploaded the .sql dump file to public_html , we highly recommend removing it from this location or moving it to a safe location such as private_html to prevent security incidents.

Export Database using Database Manager:

  1. Login to your Cloudways account.

  2. Look for the application in question. This can be done by clicking the Applications tab on top of the screen.

  3. Once you have located the application, click on it and go to Application Management, Access Details, MYSQL ACCESS, and click the button LAUNCH DATABASE MANAGER.

  4. A new browser tab will open. Click “Export” underneath the DB drop-down menu:

  5. By default, all tables will be selected. Select an output method:

    • Open: Select this option if you would like to see the content of the database in a new browser’s tab (This may take a few seconds depending on the size of the database).

    • Save: Select this to download a .sql file if you leave SQL selected as format (Recommended).

    • Gzip: Select this to download a compressed archive of your database.

  6. Click Export to download the database to your computer.

Export Database using MySQL:

For this method you will need to login using SSH. Detailed steps on how to login via SSH is available in this article:

Once you have logged in. Please follow these steps:

  1. Look for the application in question. This can be done by clicking the Applications tab on top of the screen.

  2. Once you have located the application, click on it and go to Application Management, Access Details, MYSQL ACCESS. We will use the details listed in this section.

  3. Run the following command:

    mysqldump -u [Username] -p [DB Name] > [DB Name].sql

Note: Make sure to replace “Username” and “DB Name” with the details listed in MYSQL ACCESS.

You will be prompted for the database password which is also listed in MYSQL ACCESS. Type the password ( it will not be visible), then hit Enter.

At this time, if you run the command ls you will see a .sql file with the name of the database ready to be downloaded, which can be done via SFTP.

Note: If you move the file to public_html to be able to download it via HTTP, we strongly recommend to delete it or move it to a safe directory such as private_html as soon as the download is finished for security reasons.

That’s it! We hope this article was helpful. If you need any help, then feel free to search your query on Cloudways Support Center or contact us via chat (Need a Hand > Send us a Message). Alternatively, you can also create a support ticket.

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