Mysql – Can’t change charset in MySQL 5.7 (from latin to utf8)

MySQL

I installed MySQL 5.7.8 on my Ubuntu 14.04.

But I can't modify MySQL default charset. I want to change charset to utf8.

I've searched and view many articles on the internet, but every method that I tried don't apply for me.

I already add 'character-set-server=utf8' and 'collation-server=utf8_general_ci' in /etc/mysql/my.cnf. but it's not working…

How can I change my charset of MySQL? Please answer to me!

  • Status in MySQL

    Connection:             Localhost via UNIX socket
Server characterset:    latin1
Db     characterset:    latin1
Client characterset:    utf8
Conn.  characterset:    utf8
UNIX socket:            /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
Uptime:                 1 min 24 sec

  • show variables like 'c%'

    | character_set_client     | utf8                       |
| character_set_connection | utf8                       |
| character_set_database   | latin1                     |
| character_set_filesystem | binary                     |
| character_set_results    | utf8                       |
| character_set_server     | latin1                     |
| character_set_system     | utf8                       |
| character_sets_dir       | /usr/share/mysql/charsets/ |
| check_proxy_users        | OFF                        |
| collation_connection     | utf8_general_ci            |
| collation_database       | latin1_swedish_ci          |
| collation_server         | latin1_swedish_ci          |
| completion_type          | NO_CHAIN                   |
| concurrent_insert        | AUTO                       |
| connect_timeout          | 10                         |
| core_file                | OFF                        |

  • my.cnf (in /etc/mysql)

    [mysqld]
#
# * Basic Settings
#
character-set-server=utf8
collation-server=utf8_general_ci
user            = mysql
pid-file        = /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.pid
socket          = /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
port            = 3306
basedir         = /usr
datadir         = /var/lib/mysql
tmpdir          = /tmp
lc-messages-dir = /usr/share/mysql
skip-external-locking
character-set-server=utf8
collation-server=utf8_general_ci
init_connect=set collation_connection=utf8_general_ci
init_connect=set names utf8
character-set-client-handshake=FALSE

Best Answer

  • Setting UTF-8 character set and collation for the MySQL server:

sudo vi /etc/mysql/mysql.conf.d/mysqld.cnf

Then press i and add the following:

...
[mysqld]
character-set-server=utf8
collation-server=utf8_general_ci
...

Press Esc then :w then :q!

Then restart the server:

sudo /etc/init.d/mysql restart

Check your configuration:

mysql> show variables like "%character%"; 


+--------------------------+----------------------------+
| Variable_name            | Value                      |
+--------------------------+----------------------------+
| character_set_client     | utf8                       |
| character_set_connection | utf8                       |
| character_set_database   | utf8                       |
| character_set_filesystem | binary                     |
| character_set_results    | utf8                       |
| character_set_server     | utf8                       |
| character_set_system     | utf8                       |
| character_sets_dir       | /usr/share/mysql/charsets/ |
+--------------------------+----------------------------+
8 rows in set (0.01 sec)

mysql> show variables like "%collation%";


+----------------------+-----------------+
| Variable_name        | Value           |
+----------------------+-----------------+
| collation_connection | utf8_general_ci |
| collation_database   | utf8_general_ci |
| collation_server     | utf8_general_ci |
+----------------------+-----------------+
3 rows in set (0.00 sec)
  • Setting UTF-8 character set and collation for the database and tables:

Specify it explicitly when creating the database:

CREATE DATABASE some_database CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_general_ci;

Check your configuration: 

mysql> SHOW CREATE DATABASE ... 
mysql> SHOW CREATE TABLE ...
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