cPanel & WHM Version 80 will not support MySQL 5.5, and updates to cPanel & WHM Version 80 will be blocked for any server still running MySQL 5.5. We are also blocking updates for any cPanel & WHM servers that connect to servers running MySQL 5.5. The MySQL/MariaDB Upgrade interface inside WHM makes upgrading safe and easy.
Why the block?
On December 31st, 2018, MySQL version 5.5 entered End of Life status. Any server currently running MySQL 5.5 will not receive any updates, bug fixes, or security patches for MySQL until MySQL is updated to a version 5.6 or later.
What does this block mean?
You must upgrade MySQL (or move to a supported version of MariaDB) before you can upgrade to cPanel & WHM Version 80. We are also blocking upgrades for servers that connect to remote database servers running MySQL 5.5 and earlier. You must disconnect from those servers or upgrade them to use MySQL 5.6 or later (or change to MariaDB). Otherwise, you will not be able to upgrade to cPanel & WHM version 80.
MySQL 5.7
MySQL 5.7 was released on October 21st, 2015, but we didn’t add support for it until v70. We discussed the reason for the delay in our blog post Being a Good Open Source Community Member: Why we hesitated on MySQL 5.7. The improvements in MySQL 5.7 are vast and certainly worth the time to upgrade. A member of our training team did a presentation at last year’s cPanel Conference comparing MySQL 5.7 to MariaDB 10.2. Take a look at his slides for a deeper dive.
When will support for 5.6 end?
While we had previously planned to end support for 5.6 earlier, we have extended our support to Oracle’s defined End of Life for MySQL version 5.6. It is currently expected to reach End of Life on February 5, 2021. We strongly recommend upgrading to MySQL 5.7 before that time, to take advantage of the new features and overall speed improvements that 5.7 brings with it.
Upgrading your MySQL version
To update your server you can use WHM’s MySQL/MariaDB Upgrade interface. Simply select the version of MySQL or MariaDB that you would like to upgrade to, and the software does the rest of the work! You can read more about this interface in our documentation. We recommend upgrading one version at a time, to ensure the most stability.
To view your server’s connections to remote MySQL servers, use WHM’s Manage MySQL Profiles interface.
FAQ
We frequently see this type of change trigger some very reasonable questions. To help users find answers more quickly and easily, we wanted to include a list of those questions and their answers.
Can you switch back to MySQL after converting to MariaDB?
No, on cPanel & WHM servers it is not currently possible to migrate back to MySQL once you migrate to MariaDB. If this is a feature you’d like to see, make sure to add your vote on the feature request site, so you will be notified if we do add that feature.
How do I verify databases on my websites are working well post-upgrade?
The best way is to test the websites in a browser and look for database errors and to watch for errors in the MySQL error log. Unless you have customized the error log in your configuration file ( /etc/my.cnf ), then you will find it named $hostname.err in /var/lib/mysql/. For example, if your hostname is ‘host.example.com’, the name of the file will be host.example.com.err. Don’t attempt to edit this file. Only use commands like tail or cat to interact with it:
tail /var/lib/mysql/`hostname`.err
I got the message from cPanel, need me to upgrade to Mysql 5.7. Is that safe? My server is running WordPress multisite and WHMCS, are those safe?
Yes, both of these applications are safe and compatible with MySQL 5.7.
I have 20+ websites on our server with databases. Is updating MySQL like updating PHP where each account needs to be checked after updating, or should sites that worked in 5.5 still work in 5.7? Or are there certain things I should look out for?
Like with PHP upgrades, we recommend checking each site for problems and checking the error logs, to ensure that you catch any problems with your customers’ sites as quickly as possible.
I keep receiving notifications that my MySQL version is outdated and that I should update. However, I am very hesitant simply because I do not want to be held responsible for any compatibility issues with each account especially those we did not develop. Is this a required upgrade?
Yes, this upgrade is required. We recommend that you contact your customers to give them plenty of notice for your planned server maintenance and ensure that you have account backups enabled.
When will cPanel & WHM Support MySQL Version 8?
Our addition of MySQL hasn’t been assigned a version yet, but it’s certainly something we want to get added. We are hoping to add it in 2019. Add your voice on the feature request site to ensure you get notified when we do add it!
Get started!
Now is the time! Start scheduling your maintenances and getting your servers upgraded today! If you are curious about any future deprecation plans that we have, you can see our Deprecation Plan documentation on our documentation site:
For more information about update blockers, and why we use them, you can read our Upgrade Blockers documentation:
If you have any questions not answered in this article, feel free to comment below, open a ticket with our support team, or reach out on the cPanel Forums, the cPanel subreddit, or on our official Slack and Discord channels.
