Migrate PostgreSQL to MySQL
Certified — live-tested pathMigrating from PostgreSQL (the most advanced open-source relational database) to MySQL (the world's most deployed open-source relational database) means every table, column type, key, index and row has to survive two engines' different opinions about data. DBShifts converts the schema with deterministic rules, transfers data in parallel batches, and validates the result with per-table row counts and type-aware checksums.
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How the migration works
Connect
Point DBShifts at your source and target. Credentials stay encrypted; SSH tunnels supported for private databases.
Analyze
Automatic schema introspection produces a migration plan: what converts automatically, what migrates with warnings, what needs human review.
Migrate
Schema is created on the target, data transfers in parallel batches with constraints deferred, indexes rebuilt after load.
Validate
Per-table row counts, type-aware checksums on both sides, FK integrity — plus a fidelity report listing anything lossy.
What DBShifts handles for PostgreSQL → MySQL
Engine-specific rules baked into the conversion and transfer pipeline — verified by live certification of this exact pair.
- Arrays (integer[], text[]) are preserved natively on PostgreSQL targets and serialized to JSON elsewhere.
- JSONB, UUID, INET and other rich types fall back to portable representations with every downgrade recorded in the fidelity report.
- SERIAL/identity sequences are recreated and reseeded on the target.
- AUTO_INCREMENT counters are reseeded to MAX(id)+1 after bulk load, so the first production insert doesn't collide.
- Oversized VARCHAR definitions from other engines are rewritten to TEXT/LONGTEXT to respect MySQL's row-size limits.
- Foreign keys are applied after data load with FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS deferred for speed and ordering safety.
Frequently asked questions
Is PostgreSQL to MySQL migration production-ready in DBShifts?
Yes — PostgreSQL to MySQL is a certified pair. It passed DBShifts's live certification suite (schema conversion, data transfer, row counts, type-aware checksums over an edge-case fixture) and is battle-tested in production use.
How does DBShifts verify the PostgreSQL to MySQL migration was correct?
Three layers: per-table row counts on both sides, an order-independent type-aware checksum of row data (canonicalized so engine representation differences don't false-alarm), and FK integrity checks on the target. Rows that fail to insert are quarantined with the exact error — never silently dropped — and can be fixed and retried from the UI.
What happens to PostgreSQL types that MySQL doesn't have?
They convert by deterministic rules with a recorded decision: a native equivalent where one exists, a portable fallback (TEXT/JSON/DECIMAL) where one doesn't. Every lossy conversion appears in the migration plan before you run and in the fidelity report after. You can override any mapping per column.
Can I keep PostgreSQL and MySQL in sync after the initial migration?
Yes. DBShifts supports incremental sync (UPSERT-based delta transfers on a sync key) and, for supported sources, real-time change data capture so the target stays current until you cut over.
Do I need to write any SQL or scripts for PostgreSQL to MySQL?
No. Connect both databases, review the generated migration plan (what's automatic, what migrates with warnings, what needs manual review — typically triggers and stored procedures), and run. Procedural code is transpiled best-effort and queued for human review rather than auto-applied.
What's the hardest part of moving PostgreSQL to MySQL?
Type-system mismatches that fail silently rather than loudly — PostgreSQL's edge-case types (3 engine-specific rules apply) converting into MySQL's nearest equivalent. DBShifts's deterministic mapping records every downgrade in the fidelity report, so a value that clips, rounds, or widens is visible before cutover, not after.
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