db4free.net finally runs MySQL 5.7 which was released on October 21.

Rather than upgrading the existing MySQL server I set up a new MySQL 5.7 server. This is cleaner and it helps to get rid of accounts which are no longer used.

For active users, the MySQL 5.6 server will stay online

until January 15, 2016.

You can access it on port 3307 (the new MySQL 5.7 server will again run on MySQL’s default port 3306).

Users who want to keep their data need to migrate it to the new server:

• create a backup of your data on the MySQL 5.6 server
• signup for a new db4free.net account
• restore your backup in the new MySQL 5.7 server

If you use the MySQL default client and mysqldump, it goes like this (commands in one line):

• mysqldump -h db4free.net -P 3307 -u [username] -p[password] --database [databasename] --opt > backup.sql

• (remember to create the new account)

• mysql -h db4free.net -u [new_username] -p[new_password] [new_databasename] < backup.sql

You can also use phpMyAdmin (there are now 2 login boxes) or MySQL Workbench or any other client software which does the job.

Please remember: db4free.net is a testing service. Data loss can happen any time!

The primary reason why not data loss occurred in the last 2 years (how time flies!) are the many stability and bug fix updates that MySQL 5.6 received over time (current version is 5.6.27).

There were some problems while MySQL 5.6 was young though!

With MySQL 5.7 being a new major release (current version is 5.7.9), the risk of data loss and outages will again be higher. Please take this into account (backups, backups, backups!). It’s the price for the shiny new features.

Since db4free.net is a testing service, this shouldn’t be a problem for you. If it is a problem, db4free.net is probably not the right service for you.

Have fun and enjoy!