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Plesk MySQL Import fails: the SUPER privileges required

Difficulty: Advanced


If you encounter "Access denied; you need (at least one of) the SUPER privilege(s) for this operation" during a MySQL import, this could be due to the SQL dump containing DEFINER in the create statement. For example: 

CREATE DEFINER='admin'@'localhost' PROCEDURE p1()
  UPDATE t1 SET counter = counter + 1;

The DEFINER attribute can assign security restrictions to specific users, however this generally isn't required for most typical Content Management Systems or websites. 

If there are no other users associated with the database, you can safely remove the DEFINER attribute. To do this, run a search and replace on the database dump to remove all instances of DEFINER='admin'@'localhost', which for the above statement would become: 

  UPDATE t1 SET counter = counter + 1;

This can now be imported into Plesk via the standard database tools without any errors. 

If you run into any issues or unsure if it's required, always consullt with your hosting provider for further assistance.

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