# Tool to extract single database from a SQL dump file? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 23, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-to-extract-single-database-from-a-sql-dump-file/619645 "2012-04-23T00:30:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-to-extract-single-database-from-a-sql-dump-file/619645/1 "2012-04-23T00:30:05Z")
I’m trying to move a Wordpress web site from one host to another. The hard part is that I don’t have access to the original site, and the person who created the site is being a pain. I needed the database of the site, and he sent me the localhost.sql - 30 megs of unrelated crap. So it exceeds the 7 meg limit of the MySQL web tools, and none of the text tools I’ve found have worked. Any suggestions for a tool, preferably on Windows, that will allow me to load in this 30 meg file and extract the one database I need? ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-to-extract-single-database-from-a-sql-dump-file/619645/2 "2012-04-23T01:27:37Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I’m trying to move a Wordpress web site from one host to another. The hard part is that I don’t have access to the original site, and the person who created the site is being a pain. I needed the database of the site, and he sent me the localhost.sql - 30 megs of unrelated crap. So it exceeds the 7 meg limit of the MySQL web tools, and none of the text tools I’ve found have worked. > > Any suggestions for a tool, preferably on Windows, that will allow me to load in this 30 meg file and extract the one database I need? Is there anything wrong with: ```auto mysql -uuser -ppassword dbname < localhost.sql ``` ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-to-extract-single-database-from-a-sql-dump-file/619645/3 "2012-04-23T01:43:34Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > Is there anything wrong with: > > ```auto > > mysql -uuser -ppassword dbname < localhost.sql > > ``` Yeah, didn’t work. Kept getting an empty file. The situation is made more difficult by the fact that this is on Dreamhost, and the MySQL server is on a different machine. ---
**Author:** ![andrewm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@andrewm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewm)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-to-extract-single-database-from-a-sql-dump-file/619645/4 "2012-04-23T01:54:01Z")
You could install a copy of MySQL Server (it’s a free download) on your local Windows machine, load the full dump, and then dump out just the database you want. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-to-extract-single-database-from-a-sql-dump-file/619645/5 "2012-04-23T02:01:04Z")
sed didn’t work either. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-to-extract-single-database-from-a-sql-dump-file/619645/6 "2012-04-23T02:05:24Z")
I’ve been attempting to you the instructions [here](http://wiki.dreamhost.com/Migrate_MySQL#Importing_Through_the_Shell), and I get a zero byte target file. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-to-extract-single-database-from-a-sql-dump-file/619645/7 "2012-04-23T02:10:42Z")
MySQL keeps giving me ERROR 1044 (42000): Amusingly obscure the first few hundred times, after that you start getting annoyed. So, any solutions that do NOT involve MySQL? ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-to-extract-single-database-from-a-sql-dump-file/619645/8 "2012-04-23T02:16:09Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > MySQL keeps giving me ERROR 1044 (42000): > > Amusingly obscure the first few hundred times, after that you start getting annoyed. > > So, any solutions that do NOT involve MySQL? Dreamhost won’t allow you to run the commands in your sql file. Easiest bet would be to take **andrewm** ’s advice and load the data into an MySQL server running on your local machine and then export exactly what you want for Dreamhost. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-to-extract-single-database-from-a-sql-dump-file/619645/9 "2012-04-23T02:40:11Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > Dreamhost won’t allow you to run the commands in your sql file. Easiest bet would be to take **andrewm** ’s advice and load the data into an MySQL server running on your local machine and then export exactly what you want for Dreamhost. I installed the hateful thing on my computer, and am trying to puzzle out the syntax. As usual for Unix style utilities, the “help” file exists solely as a reminder for the person who wrote the program. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-to-extract-single-database-from-a-sql-dump-file/619645/10 "2012-04-23T04:09:00Z")
For a one-off job, you can split a mysql dump file up with any decent text editor. The division between the tables ought to be plain enough. Also, the phpmysql Import feature will accept a compressed file. It’s unlikely a 30mb file would compress to 7, but worth a try. For future reference, WordPress has an export feature.