combell-db-import-skill

name

combell-db-import-skill

description

Use when user wants to import a Combell MySQL backup (gzipped SQL dump, typically named like ID######_<sitename>_YYYY-MM-DD_HHMM.sql.gz) into a local MySQL/MariaDB database. Handles the Combell quirk where the dump contains a CREATE DATABASE and USE statement for the original Combell database name (e.g. ID######_sitename) — this skill rewrites those to target any local DB name the user specifies. Triggers: 'import combell dump', 'restore combell backup', 'load combell sql', 'import this into <db>'.

Combell DB Import

Import a Combell MySQL backup (ID*.sql.gz) into a local database, rewriting the embedded database name so the dump lands in the target local DB.

When to use

• User has a Combell backup file (gzipped SQL) and wants it imported locally.
• The dump's embedded CREATE DATABASE / USE points at Combell's internal name (e.g. ID######_sitename) and the local DB is named differently (myproject, clientname, etc.).

Required info

Ask user or infer:

1. Dump file path — .sql.gz from Combell FTP / control panel.
2. Target local DB name — e.g. kina.
3. MySQL connection — host/port/user. Default: 127.0.0.1:3306, user root, no password.

If MySQL is Herd-managed, socket is UUID'd; use TCP -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3306 instead of the default socket.

Steps

1. Inspect the dump

gunzip -c <dump>.sql.gz | head -40

Confirm the embedded DB name (line with -- Host: ... Database: <name> and CREATE DATABASE ... <name> ...). This is the string to replace.

Also count references to catch any edge cases (views, DEFINER clauses):

gunzip -c <dump>.sql.gz | grep -c '<original_db_name>'

Typical Combell dump: 4–8 occurrences (comments + CREATE + USE + events/routines headers). All safe to replace.

2. Verify target DB exists (create if not)

mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3306 -u root -e "SHOW DATABASES LIKE '<target>'"
# if empty:
mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3306 -u root -e "CREATE DATABASE \`<target>\` CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci"

Note: Combell dumps often default to latin1 in the CREATE DATABASE clause, but the actual tables are utf8mb4. Creating the target DB as utf8mb4 ahead of time is safer — the IF NOT EXISTS in the dump will then no-op.

3. Confirm DB is empty (or user wants overwrite)

mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3306 -u root -e "USE <target>; SHOW TABLES"

If non-empty, ask before proceeding — import will DROP TABLE IF EXISTS and overwrite.

4. Import with db-name rewrite

macOS (BSD sed) — must set LC_ALL=C to avoid illegal byte sequence on non-UTF8 bytes:

gunzip -c <dump>.sql.gz \
  | LC_ALL=C sed 's/<original_db_name>/<target>/g' \
  | mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3306 -u root <target>

Linux (GNU sed) — LC_ALL=C not required but harmless.

5. Verify

mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3306 -u root -e "USE <target>; SHOW TABLES" | wc -l
mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3306 -u root -e "USE <target>;
  SELECT COUNT(*) AS posts FROM wp_posts;
  SELECT COUNT(*) AS users FROM wp_users;
  SELECT option_value FROM wp_options WHERE option_name='siteurl';"

For WordPress sites, report counts and siteurl so user can sanity-check. Offer to run wp search-replace or SQL UPDATE wp_options if they want to rewrite the siteurl to the local dev URL.

Quirks / Gotchas

• BSD sed on macOS chokes without LC_ALL=C — binary bytes inside BLOB columns trigger illegal byte sequence.
• Herd MySQL socket is UUID'd at /tmp/mysql-<UUID>.sock — always use TCP (-h 127.0.0.1 -P 3306) unless you know the socket.
• Herd MariaDB runs on 3307 alongside MySQL 3306 — confirm which one user wants.
• Combell dumps > ~100 MB may take a minute. Use pv for a progress bar if user wants:

  gunzip -c <dump>.sql.gz | pv | LC_ALL=C sed 's/ID.../<target>/g' | mysql ...
  

• DEFINER clauses on views/triggers may reference a Combell MySQL user that doesn't exist locally. If import errors on CREATE VIEW/CREATE TRIGGER with definer is not a user, retry with --force on mysql or pre-strip DEFINER= with an additional sed: sed -E 's/DEFINER=[^]+@[^]+//g'.
• Character set mismatch: if the dump's CREATE DATABASE ... latin1 slips through (shouldn't, since IF NOT EXISTS skips when target exists), you may see garbled accents. Verify with a SELECT on a table with known non-ASCII content.

One-liner (for confident users)

gunzip -c DUMP.sql.gz | LC_ALL=C sed 's/ORIGINAL_DB/TARGET_DB/g' | mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3306 -u root TARGET_DB