As part of our maintenance and upgrades carried out at LetsHost we are upgrading MySQL on some of our shared hosting servers from version 5.7 to 8.0. Version 5.7 will no longer receive performance/security updates so this is in the best interest of our customers and infrastructure to use the recommended software in line with best practice. If you have received notice of upgrades being carried out on the server that you are on, you will receive details in further emails in relation to scheduling of these upgrades and further information.
We would recommend contacting your web designer to confirm if your website is compatible with MySQL 8.0.
For considerations around commonly used blog platforms and content management systems (CMS) please see our sections below on common questions and general information regarding these upgrades.
For frequently asked questions generally concerning updates to MySQL please see further below.
How to Check Versions in WordPress and Other Content Management Systems
Below are guides to check the versions you are using for the core of your website's content management system. You will also need to ensure plugins/themes are up-to-date and compatible with the core and MySQL 8.
WordPress
For WordPress you will need to use a minimum of WordPress 5.0 as older versions are not compatible with MySQL 8. This information is available on the WordPress Compatibility page. To check what version you are using there are two methods:
- Check when logged into the WordPress backend
- Inspect the file under wp-includes/version.php
- Using WordPress Toolkit or Softaculous in cPanel
If logged into the WordPress dashboard this can be viewed in the bottom right, or choose About WordPress in the menubar.
To inspect the version.php file:
- First, you will need to log in to your cPanel control panel
- Once logged in, click on the icon for File Manager under the Files section
- Navigate to the website folder (usually public_html for the main domain) and navigate to wp-includes, then click version.php and click the View button.
This will show similar to:
/**
* The WordPress version string.
*
* Holds the current version number for WordPress core. Used to bust caches
* and to enable development mode for scripts when running from the /src directory.
*
* @global string $wp_version
*/
$wp_version = '6.4.2';
Version should be at least 5.0.0 to ensure compatibility of the core with MySQL.
Joomla!
For more information on determining the version of Joomla! there is a page on their website as this is different depending on the version: How to check the Joomla version?
Joomla! versions 4.0 and above would be compatible with MySQL 8. Joomla! developers would be familiar also with process of changes for 3.x that would allow support for MySQL 8 as outlined in: Joomla and MySQL 8 from their documentation site.
OpenCart
From the OpenCart backend, the version should be displayed on the bottom of the page. OpenCart does not specify requirements for particular versions however further documentation is available on https://docs.opencart.com/
Drupal
- Log in to your Drupal site as an administrator.
- Click on the “Home” link in the top menu bar.
- In the footer of the page, you should see a message that indicates the version of Drupal that you are running.
MySQL is only supported in Drupal 7.76 or later, or the new Drupal 10. For more information please see: Drupal 10 System Requirements or Drupal 7 Database Server Requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is MySQL? If I have a simple/brochureware/blog site will I be affected?
MySQL is widely used for storing data associated with websites. Simple sites often rely on MySQL in order to store content while some sites may be built using basic HTML code only (where you cannot change the site without coding). If you have a web developer they should be able to advise on your website setup. If you have built this site using WordPress, we would recommend reviewing points in the WordPress section on this page.
What will happen if my sites break due to an upgrade?
This would generally apply to non-WordPress sites (as long as core WordPress can be updated), or sites that do not have a database layer/library and use MySQL directly. In the event where MySQL 8.0 is incompatible with your site we would recommend reviewing the core software that it is up-to-date. It may be the case plugins/themes with older versions, will not work in newer versions of the core of your content management system or WordPress. In this case you will need to find alternatives/replacements to these addons (plugins/themes).
End-of-Life Status for MySQL 5.7
MySQL 5.7 was originally released in October 2015 with end-of-life status reached at October 2023. Using the most current version recommended by cPanel (MySQL 8.0) ensures your site is optimised and protected against future threats. We would anticipate 8.0 itself would reach end-of-life on April 2026 but a minor version would be used such as 8.x and changes would be minimal in comparison to the signifcant change from 5.7 to 8.0.
Why is the next version up 8.0? Can I not be placed on a version in-between without upgrades affecting me?
The developers of MySQL started on MySQL 6 and 7 as separate products, 6 being the replacement and 7 for clusters, but both were abandoned after acquisition of MySQL AB by Oracle. Version 8 is the next version up from 5.
Benefits of MySQL 8.0
In MySQL 8.0, the data dictionary has been updated to include a transactional data dictionary, capable of storing information about database objects. New features like Common Table Expressions (CTE), regular expressions (regexp), window functions, and Invisible Indexes have been introduced. Notably, Unicode support has been added for regular expressions. Security enhancements include caching_sha2_password, which replaces mysql_native_password as the default authentication method.
MySQL 8.0 demonstrates improved performance and efficiency in benchmarking tests compared to MySQL 5.7, particularly in read/write workloads.
For further information on improvements in the MySQL Reference Manual: What Is New in MySQL 8.0 - Please note that not all of the functionality mentioned in this article may be available in a shared hosting account, but if required can be configured on virtual private server(s).