How do I quickly rename a MySQL database (change schema name)?

Question

The MySQL manual at MySQL covers this.

Usually I just dump the database and reimport it with a new name. This is not an option for very big databases. Apparently

Answer 1

The simple way

Change to the database directory:

cd /var/lib/mysql/

Shut down MySQL... This is important!

/etc/init.d/mysql stop

Okay, this way doesn't work for InnoDB or BDB-Databases.

Rename database:

mv old-name new-name

...or the table...

cd database/

mv old-name.frm new-name.frm

mv old-name.MYD new-name.MYD

mv old-name.MYI new-name.MYI

Restart MySQL

/etc/init.d/mysql start

Done...

OK, this way doesn't work with InnoDB or BDB databases. In this case you have to dump the database and re-import it.