Transferring data between databases is a common task in the world of software development and database management. In this blog post, we’ll walk through the process of transferring a MySQL dump from one Docker container to another. This method is particularly useful when migrating data or backing up your database.
Step 1: Create a MySQL Dump
The first step is to create a dump of the database in your source container. Assuming you have a running MySQL container, use the mysqldump utility with this command:
docker exec [source_container_name] /usr/bin/mysqldump -u [username] --password=[password] [database_name] > dump.sql
Replace [source_container_name], [username], [password], and [database_name] with your specific details. This command will create a file named dump.sql containing the database dump.
Step 2: Copy the Dump to the Host (Optional)
If you’ve executed the previous command on the host, this step can be skipped. Otherwise, you’ll need to copy the dump from the source container to your host machine.
Step 3: Transfer the Dump to the Target Container
Next, we need to get the dump into the target container. This can be done using the docker cp command:
docker cp dump.sql [target_container_name]:/dump.sql
This command copies the dump.sql file to the root directory of the target container. Replace [target_container_name] with the name of your target container.
Step 4: Import the Dump into the Target MySQL Database
The final step is to import the dump into the MySQL database within the target container.
docker exec -i [target_container_name] /usr/bin/mysql -u [username] --password=[password] [database_name] < dump.sql
Make sure to replace [target_container_name], [username], [password], and [database_name] with the correct information for your target container.