Our MySQL servers offer great flexibility when it comes to importing and exporting SQL files to and from your database. We allow three distinct ways of achieving this task. You can either use the Database Manager section of our Control Panel, you may opt to use the phpMyAdmin utility instead, or you can connect straight to our servers via an SSH connection and issue MySQL commands to import/export your SQL file.

In this article, we will focus on that third option and will show you how you can use Terminal or a similar application to establish an SSH connection. Then, we will go over how to use the MySQL command line to import or export your data.

Am I Allowed to Use the SSH Functionality?

Before you can start issuing MySQL commands, you first need to connect to our servers via a secure shell (SSH) connection. As a security precaution, we allow only our web hosting servers to communicate with the database servers. In other words, you cannot issue MySQL commands from your own computer directly to the database server. Instead, you need to log onto our web server first and then issue your MySQL commands from there. The only exception to this rule is our array of VPS hosting packages.

SSH is a fairly advanced feature and as such, it is not available on all of our shared hosting plans. You need to be using either our Web Pro Plus or Max Pack Plus hosting plan. Clients who own a Semi-Dedicated web server can also take full advantage of our SSH functionality. SSH is currently not available on our Basic and free website hosting service.

How Do I Connect to the Server via SSH?

To connect to our servers via SSH, follow the steps below:

  1. Go to the SSH Manager section of our Control Panel.
  2. Make a note of the SSH information that is provided. If you are new to the SSH Manager and you do not have an SSH account set up yet, you can refer to our SSH Manager overview article for guidance.