Preparing WordPress for MySQL 8.0 Upgrade

WordPress relies on the robust and widely-used MySQL database to store and manage a website’s data. To ensure the best performance, security, and compatibility, it is essential to keep database software up-to-date.

MySQL 5.7 is reaching its end-of-life status on our platform. As a part of our managed WordPress hosting offering, we will be working towards having all new and existing sites using MySQL 8.

Updating to the most current version of MySQL ensures that your site is optimised for the future and protected against a greater number of threats.

How do I check my site’s MySQL version?

Since the release of WordPress 5.2, a new tool called “Site Health” is built into WordPress. Using Site Health, you can check the version of MySQL your WordPress site is running.

• How do I check my site’s MySQL version?

What happens when MySQL 5.7 reaches end of life in October?

We highly recommend that you ensure your sites are 8.0 compatible by this time, as it may cause downtime while you correct any compatibility issues. It is always good practice to double check that your active theme and all plugins are up to date and compatible – this includes any premium plugins that your site may use. It is your responsibility if you find your WordPress theme is not compatible come end of life. Did you know you can offload the tedious task of plugin updates to WPhost?

We recommend that your site is running PHP 8.2 (minimum). We have stressed to WPhost clients since 2022 the importance of upgrading to the latest version of PHP. Making the switch to PHP 8.2 is easy — submit a ticket from your Client Area. Just let us know that you’d like to update to 8.2, and we’ll be happy to help!

What do I need to do?

To minimise possible disruptions to your sites after updating to MySQL 8.0, we recommend that you assess your site(s) readiness and plan accordingly.

We recommend that your active theme and all plugins have been updated before switching. WordPress developers have been hard at work to ensure compatibility with the latest version of MySQL and the best experience will happen on the latest version of their work. If you’d like us to take care of your plugin updates, check out our Managed Plugin Updates service!

We strongly advise that your sites are all running PHP 8.2 (minimum) before the forced upgrade to MySQL 8.0.

What is the timeline for upgrades?

For your upgrade to go as smoothly as possible, we recommend ensuring all plugins, themes and PHP are up to date leading into the week of 21 October. During the upgrade, your sites will be put in a maintenance mode to ensure no corruption of data.

Your site’s MySQL update will take place within one of the following eight-hour windows starting:

• 22 October 2024 at 12:00am NZDT
• 23 October 2024 at 12:00am NZDT
• 24 October 2024 at 12:00am NZDT
• 25 October 2024 at 12:00am NZDT
• 30 October 2024 at 12:00am NZDT
• 6 November 2024 at 12:00am NZDT
• 13 January 2025 at 11:00pm NZDT