Shared hosting here runs MariaDB, not Oracle’s MySQL Server. At the time of writing the version is 10.11.16. For almost every site that makes no difference: MariaDB started as a drop-in successor to MySQL, speaks the same SQL and connects the same way.
The command-line client is still called mysql for compatibility, and the phpMyAdmin in cPanel works like the one anywhere else. What is worth knowing is where the two families part ways, because that is where an imported file fails.
How to confirm what your account runs
| 1 |
Open phpMyAdmin in cPanel. The start page shows the database server and its version.
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| 2 |
On the SQL tab type SELECT VERSION(); and run it. The result contains the word MariaDB.
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What changes and what does not
| Topic |
In practice |
| WordPress, Joomla and most installer applications |
Work without changes. They were written to run on MySQL and on MariaDB alike. |
| Connecting from PHP, Python or Node |
The same. The usual libraries (mysqli, PDO, mysql2, PyMySQL) talk to MariaDB. See the PHP example. |
.sql copies from an older MySQL |
Import normally in the vast majority of cases. |
.sql copies from MySQL 8 |
May carry a collation MariaDB does not know, such as utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci. The error reads Unknown collation. |
| Functions only MySQL 8 has |
If your code relies on one, it will not run here. Rare in ordinary sites. |
| Users and passwords |
Created in cPanel and already in the right format. You do not choose the authentication method. |
The classic failure: you import a copy made on MySQL 8 and phpMyAdmin stops with #1273 Unknown collation. The fix is to open the .sql file in an editor and replace utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci with utf8mb4_unicode_ci (and do the same for the charset if needed). See character sets and collations.
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And the version, who picks it?
On shared hosting the engine version is the server’s, not a setting on your account: you cannot choose or change it. MariaDB and MySQL version numbers cannot be compared: MariaDB 10.11 is not “older” than MySQL 8, they are different lines. When an application asks for “MySQL 5.7 or higher”, check whether its documentation mentions MariaDB in the requirements (most do) or ask the author. An application that says “MySQL 8” does not always truly need it: many were simply tested on that version. If you really must have it, the route is a VPS.
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Do you really need MySQL 8? On a VPS you pick the engine and the version, because you have root. Installing and maintaining it is then your job, as with any unmanaged VPS. See managed or unmanaged VPS.
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Not sure your application works with MariaDB? Tell us its name and version and we will look at it with you.
Open a support ticket
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