Source: https://www.todhost.com/knowledgebase/784/How-to-upload-a-database-in-cPanel.html

This tutorial primarily focuses on database upload in cPanel. This will involve uploading from localhost or re-uploading a database you have backed up or downloaded.

This kind of activity is used in restoring a database backup or in duplicating a website. If you wish to.

Uploading a Database

There is a simple utility tool in cPanel which can be used to upload a database or restore downloaded database in cPanel. This tool is called phpMyAdmin. It is available under the database section in cPanel.

Follow this process to use the phpMyAdmin tool to upload a database in cPanel

1. Login to your website cPanel environment. This ill usually require authentication with a username and password.
2. Once you are successfully logged in, scroll down to the database section and click on the phpMyAdmin icon. This ill lead to a window where you will have all your databases displayed. Depending on the configuration of your cPanel and the version you are running, you will have all databases listed. In latest version of cPanel, you will find a button to click which will display all the databases on the website control panel.
3. Click on the database you want to populate. From the top menu bar, click on “import”, locate your database file, usually an “sql” file and then you upload the file. Once it is done successfully, you will find the green bar indicating success.

The database you upload could have been downloaded from the web or saved from localhost.
Let’s briefly look at how to download a database from a live server.

1. Login to the cPanel control panel.
2. Scroll down to the database section and click phpMyAdmin.
3. Click on the database you want to download. Scroll down to the bottom and click the check all button. From the options that follow, click “export” to begin download. You need not do anything else to download an “sql” file of your database.
4. Click “Go” to download your database. The file will save on your local computer. By default, it will save in the downloads folder.

Downloading a database from localhost

To download a database from localhost, let us assume you are using WampServer, you will follow these steps:
1. Start WampServer on your local machine.
2. Click on the phpMyAdmin tool
3. Click on the database you wish to export.
4. Scroll down to the bottom and check all the database tables.
5. Click on the export button to begin download.
6. Click “Go” to get started.

The database will be downloaded to your local machine and can be imported from there to a live server.

What if there be an error?

There are cases when you upload a database and all the tables are not uploaded or an error is reported. Normally, there will be an error message which should guide you on how to go about it.

As a rule, you can try re-uploading your database, if the error continues, try to re-download your database. If the problem is not fixed, check your internet connection. Slow internet can create a problem for file upload.

To delete a database and re-upload, simply check all the tables again, this time, click on “Drop” and click the “Go” button.
Note, terminated databases cannot be recovered so make sure you have a rethink before you terminate. Infact, it is advisable you download to your local machine before you terminate your database.

That will be all. Was this tutorial useful, please let us know by clicking one of the feedback buttons below.