Update database from MySQL 5.7 to 8

Hello there Kasia,

Thank you for reaching out to us.

To further troubleshoot this issue, we recommend performing the following steps:

1. Ensure that the database connection details in your MailPoet plugin settings are correctly configured and match the new MySQL 8 database.
2. Verify that the necessary database “user” has the appropriate privileges and access rights to the new MySQL 8 database.
3. Double-check if there are any firewall rules or server configurations that might be blocking the connection to the MySQL 8 database.

Can you confirm if you tried re-installing the MailPoet plugin via FTP? Here’s a guide to help: https://kb.mailpoet.com/article/258-re-installing-updating-the-plugin-via-ftp

We recommend reaching out to your website hosting provider for further assistance with the database transfer process. Their technical support team might be able to provide additional insights or configurations specific to their hosting environment.

You can also share our Knowledge Base article (https://kb.mailpoet.com/article/200-solving-database-connection-issues) with them to help them understand the issue and steps you have already taken.

I hope this helps.

Samer problem maybe here, this is the fix:

Check wp-config.php

In my case the database was listed as: utf8mb3
When I changed it to the correct one: utf8
(it should be noted that they are compatible but utf8mb3 allows less characters than utf8)

Mailpoet started working again.

Hey @banny83,

It would be great to hear if you have any success using the method suggested by Jubilo. Please let us know!

The user and his permissions remain unchanged. In wp-config the encoding is set to utf8 – still no MailPoet panel.

Reinstalling via FTP doesn’t change anything either.

• This reply was modified 8 months, 3 weeks ago by Redhotka.

Hello again @banny83,

Thank you for your update and for attempting the troubleshooting steps we provided. I’m sorry to hear that the issue persists.

Since the user permissions remain unchanged, and the standard troubleshooting steps have not resolved the issue, we might need to dive deeper into the specifics of your database configuration. Here are a few more advanced steps you can try:

1. Check Compatibility:
   
   Ensure that your hosting environment meets all the compatibility requirements for MySQL 8. This includes checking the PHP version, as MySQL 8 requires PHP versions 7.1.16 or newer.
2. Update wp-config.php:
   • MySQL 8 has introduced some changes that might require updates to your wp-config.php file. Specifically, check if DB_CHARSET and DB_COLLATE are set correctly for MySQL 8 compatibility.
   • MySQL 8 defaults to ‘utf8mb4’ charset and ‘utf8mb4_unicode_ci’ collation. The wp-config.php might still be set to older settings which might not be fully compatible.
3. Review Server Configuration:
   • MySQL 8 also has updated requirements regarding SSL connection. Ensure that your new database server does not enforce SSL connections, as MailPoet might not support this by default.
   • Check whether ‘caching_sha2_password’ is used as the default authentication method, as it might be incompatible with PHP’s mysqlnd library. If this is the case, changing the authentication method to ‘mysql_native_password’ might help.
4. Error Logs:
   • Check both the WordPress and server error logs for any specific error messages that could give more insight into the issue. You should be looking for any database-related error entries after the transfer.
5. Temporary Debugging Measures:
   • Consider temporarily enabling WordPress debugging by setting define('WP_DEBUG', true); in wp-config.php. This could provide more detailed error messages. Remember to disable debugging after you’ve gathered the necessary information to avoid displaying errors to site visitors.

We realize that these additional steps are technical and may require assistance from your web developer or hosting provider. Your hosting provider may also be able to identify specific incompatibilities between their server setup and MySQL 8 that are preventing a successful connection.

Please let us know the outcome of these checks or if you need any further assistance. We’re here to ensure that your transition to MySQL 8 is smooth and that MailPoet is fully functional for your email campaigns.

I added the configuration:

define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8mb4');
define('DB_COLLATE', 'utf8mb4_unicode_ci');

Still doesn’t change anything.

I don’t understand why other things (plugins) work after changing the database, only one plugin doesn’t…

Hi there @banny83,

Can you share a screenshot of your wp_config.php file with us (with any key / password information blocked)?

In addition, can you share a screenshot of your php.ini file (with keys blocked)?

Thank you!

I’m trying to approach the topic differently: I manually removed the plugin and the tables associated with it (with the _mailpoet prefix).

Unfortunately, after reinstalling and enabling the plugin, the Mailpoet menu still doesn’t appear ??
When I try to manually enter the plugin settings page /wp-admin/admin.php?page=mailpoet-homepage I receive a message that I don’t have the appropriate permissions.

• This reply was modified 6 months, 1 week ago by Redhotka.

Hi there @banny83,

If you are seeing an error like this:
MailPoet Error: MailPoet requires write permissions inside the /wp-content/uploads folder.

Then please follow the instructions here to adjust write permissions on that folder, and also all parent folders:
https://kb.mailpoet.com/article/152-minimum-requirements-for-mailpoet-3#folder_permissions

Please note that some hosting companies do not allow you to adjust permissions on folders like this. You may need to reach out to your host for help with that, or even change plans.

It does seem that in general, MailPoet does not have the correct permissions to access your new database and new installation. While you did do a manual removal of MailPoet, this might not have removed all past links.

If you can get basic access to MailPoet restored, you can do a clean wipe and re-install from MailPoet > Settings on the “Advanced” tab. Here there is an option to “Reinstall from scratch” which will wipe and rebuild all database tables, and re-install the plugin. This is the best and ideal way to do a full reinstall as it will effectively clean all database tables of all past data and information.

Please try to adjust your permissions and settings, and if that works to restore access to the Settings page, use that option to do a clean reinstall.