How to check your MySQL Version

An outdated MySQL version can pose a sig­ni­fic­ant security risk. To check which version you’re currently using, you have several options, and the command line route is the easiest. If an upgrade is necessary, we recommend cPanel.

The re­la­tion­al database system MySQL is an integral part of many content man­age­ment systems worldwide. When it comes to pro­cessing large amounts of data, there’s often no way around the open-source software. However, there are some dis­tinc­tions you should be aware of when using it. Since its first release in 1995, the man­age­ment system has been con­stantly developed, so there are many different MySQL versions. Therefore, it’s important for you to check which MySQL version you’re currently using and to keep the software up to date.

Un­for­tu­nately, not all hosting services perform regular updates auto­mat­ic­ally, so you may have to install the latest MySQL version manually. This is important because outdated software poses a security risk. It’s important to minimise the risk of a leak, es­pe­cially with sensitive data pro­cessing. Func­tion­al­ity can also suffer from outside access. New MySQL versions also fix bugs from older versions and provide improved functions for this purpose.

Whether you want to make sure you’re using the latest MySQL version or test whether your software is com­pat­ible with a par­tic­u­lar feature, the first step is to check the current MySQL version. To do this, you have several options.

The easiest and fastest way to check the current MySQL version is by using the command line. You can access the command line of your server via the terminal for Linux and macOS. Windows users need a tool like PuTTY. You’ll also need to access your SSH cre­den­tials and log in to your server. Then use the following command to display your MySQL version:

If you are logged in via SSH, you can also view your MySQL version by accessing the client directly. To do this, just type `mysql´ and you’ll get all the in­form­a­tion you need from the `server version´ line.

Many servers have phpMy­Ad­min. If this is the case with the solution you’re using, you can also view your MySQL version this way. To do this, log in and then go to the `database server´ section. You’ll find this on the right-hand side. Under `software version´, you can see which MySQL version is currently being used.

dbForge Studio is a highly re­com­men­ded tool that will help you use your database man­age­ment system even more ef­fect­ively. It also offers you the option to check your MySQL version. First, test your con­nec­tion. When you do this, a window will open that shows the current server version. If you’re already connected, click on the name of the con­nec­tion on the right and then select the last item named `Prop­er­ties´. This will also display your server version.

Proceed similarly if you’re using Workbench. Select your server, click on `server status´ and all the important in­form­a­tion about your MySQL version will be listed.

If you want to check your MySQL version via XAMPP, open the Windows command prompt, select the ap­pro­pri­ate folder and then use the command we showed you above:

Al­tern­at­ively, open the readme text file in the XAMPP folder. The MySQL version is also stored there.

If you find that your MySQL version is out of date, you should update it as soon as possible. This happens auto­mat­ic­ally with newer versions but if your system isn’t up to date, you’ll have to install the update manually. The easiest way to do this is with cPanel. If your host offers the con­fig­ur­a­tion tool, log into your Web Host Manager and select “Software” and `MySQL upgrade´. There, you’ll find a list from which you can select the MySQL version you want. However, keep in mind that cPanel does not allow down­grad­ing. It’s therefore re­com­men­ded that you first create a backup of your entire database.

If you cannot install the new MySQL version using cPanel, you’ll need to perform a manual in­stall­a­tion. For macOS and Linux, use the terminal again and log in with your SSH cre­den­tials. For Linux, you then update your package list with the following command:

On a Mac, the easiest way to install and update MySQL is to use the Homebrew package manager. The ap­pro­pri­ate command for the upgrade is:

On Windows, the easiest way is to use the MySQL Installer to install the latest MySQL version. SSH is not provided by default on Windows.