Title: Error importing from .sql database Last modified: November 29, 2019 --- # Error importing from .sql database * [DevonTT](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devontt/) * (@devontt) * [6 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-importing-from-sql-database/) * A friend had a WordPress site that went literally months without any updates. Eventually a vulnerability was exploited and his site was shut down by the hosting service for spam. He kind of gave up on it. After the hosting service restored access, I got a database error trying to access WP admin. I figured the old version( no clue what the site was running three years ago) was just too outdated to work anymore * So I installed the current version of WordPress at his domain and now I’m trying to restore the site from the old .sql file. I created a new .sql database and am trying to import from the old one. I keep getting errors that certain tables already exist, and the import does not finish. There is no .xml file from the old install to import via the dashboard. * Any ideas? Viewing 12 replies - 1 through 12 (of 12 total) * Moderator [James Huff](https://wordpress.org/support/users/macmanx/) * (@macmanx) * [6 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-importing-from-sql-database/#post-12189972) * Do the steps here help? [https://wordpress.org/support/article/restoring-your-database-from-backup/](https://wordpress.org/support/article/restoring-your-database-from-backup/) * Thread Starter [DevonTT](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devontt/) * (@devontt) * [6 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-importing-from-sql-database/#post-12190608) * Yes, I did those steps and got an error, which led me here: “If you get an error message, your best bet is to post to the WordPress support forums to get help.” * Thread Starter [DevonTT](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devontt/) * (@devontt) * [6 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-importing-from-sql-database/#post-12190611) * Here is the error I got when trying to import the database: * Error SQL query: * — — Database: `michaelb_wpmb` — * — ——————————————————– * — — Table structure for table `wp_comments` — * CREATE TABLE `wp_comments` ( `comment_ID` bigint(20) UNSIGNED NOT NULL, `comment_post_ID` bigint(20) UNSIGNED NOT NULL DEFAULT ‘0’, `comment_author` tinytext COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci NOT NULL, `comment_author_email` varchar(100) COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci NOT NULL DEFAULT ”, `comment_author_url` varchar(200) COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci NOT NULL DEFAULT ”, `comment_author_IP` varchar(100) COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci NOT NULL DEFAULT ”, `comment_date` datetime NOT NULL DEFAULT ‘0000-00-00 00:00: 00’, `comment_date_gmt` datetime NOT NULL DEFAULT ‘0000-00-00 00:00:00’, `comment_content` text COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci NOT NULL, `comment_karma` int(11) NOT NULL DEFAULT‘ 0’, `comment_approved` varchar(20) COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci NOT NULL DEFAULT‘ 1’, `comment_agent` varchar(255) COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci NOT NULL DEFA[…] MySQL said: Documentation * #1050 – Table ‘wp_comments’ already exists * Moderator [James Huff](https://wordpress.org/support/users/macmanx/) * (@macmanx) * [6 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-importing-from-sql-database/#post-12190694) * That’s odd, did the table already exist before you started the import? Also, how did you generate the backup? * Thread Starter [DevonTT](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devontt/) * (@devontt) * [6 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-importing-from-sql-database/#post-12191411) * The table that existed is in the .sql file from when the site was active three years ago. I assume these are typical tables for even old WP installations. * Thread Starter [DevonTT](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devontt/) * (@devontt) * [6 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-importing-from-sql-database/#post-12191480) * Well, I just tried exporting the .sql database as an .xml file, then importing it into WP using the Import tool. I got this message: * Sorry, there has been an error. This does not appear to be a WXR file, missing/ invalid WXR version number * Moderator [James Huff](https://wordpress.org/support/users/macmanx/) * (@macmanx) * [6 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-importing-from-sql-database/#post-12192303) * Right, changing the file extension does also change it into a WordPress export file. You can only generate that from within a WordPress site’s Dashboard. * What I meant earlier was, do tables already exist in the database you’re importing this to? * Thread Starter [DevonTT](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devontt/) * (@devontt) * [6 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-importing-from-sql-database/#post-12192307) * Yes, the table I’m importing into is the database created by the new WP installation. * Moderator [James Huff](https://wordpress.org/support/users/macmanx/) * (@macmanx) * [6 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-importing-from-sql-database/#post-12192339) * Ah! That’s the problem. 🙂 * Since you’re importing a whole WordPress database, you don’t need the tables created by the existing new WordPress database. * So (assuming this new installation is bare with no content), delete those newly created tables, and import your database. * Thread Starter [DevonTT](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devontt/) * (@devontt) * [6 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-importing-from-sql-database/#post-12192480) * So, delete all the tables in the new database? * Moderator [James Huff](https://wordpress.org/support/users/macmanx/) * (@macmanx) * [6 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-importing-from-sql-database/#post-12192503) * Assuming this new installation is bare with no content, yes. * Then import the new database. * Thread Starter [DevonTT](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devontt/) * (@devontt) * [6 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-importing-from-sql-database/#post-12192523) * OK, I’ll give that a try, thanks! Viewing 12 replies - 1 through 12 (of 12 total) The topic ‘Error importing from .sql database’ is closed to new replies. * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/) * 12 replies * 2 participants * Last reply from: [DevonTT](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devontt/) * Last activity: [6 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-importing-from-sql-database/#post-12192523) * Status: not resolved ## Topics ### Topics with no replies ### Non-support topics ### Resolved topics ### Unresolved topics ### All topics