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Overview

PlanetScale provides an import tool in the dashboard that allows you to painlessly import an existing internet-accessible MySQL or MariaDB database into a PlanetScale database with no downtime.
You must be an Organization Administrator to use this feature.
Before you begin, it may be helpful to check out our general MySQL compatibility guide.

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Import process overview

The import workflow gives you visibility into every step of your database migration. You’ll see real-time progress, detailed logs, and replication metrics throughout. Here’s what the process looks like:
  1. Create database - Set up your PlanetScale database
  2. Connect to external database - Add connection credentials and SSL/TLS settings
  3. Validate connection and schema - We check connectivity, server configuration, and schema compatibility
  4. Select tables - Pick which tables to import (all tables imported if foreign keys detected)
  5. Start workflow - Kick off the import
  6. Monitor import - Watch progress with real-time logs, per-table progress, and replication lag information
  7. Complete import - Finalize and detach from your external database
NoteIt’s recommended to avoid all schema changes / DDL (Data Definition Language) statements during an import on both your source database and the PlanetScale database. This includes CREATE, DROP, ALTER, TRUNCATE, etc.

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Step 1: Create your PlanetScale database

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Head to your PlanetScale dashboard and click on “New database” > “Import database”.