MySQL 8.0 End of Life: Safe Move to 8.4 or MariaDB

MySQL 8.0 reached the end of extended support on 30 April 2026 with 8.0.46 as the last release. It was the default on a generation of cPanel servers built between 2019 and 2023, and there are still many of them. Staying is not an option for anyone who takes security updates seriously, and cPanel’s own version matrix now steers new installs elsewhere. There are two sensible destinations: MySQL 8.4, the current LTS, or MariaDB, most commonly 11.8. This guide helps you choose and then carries out the move.

Applies to MySQL 8.0 to 8.4 LTS or MariaDB 11.8 on cPanel & WHM; AlmaLinux 8, 9, 10 and Ubuntu 24.04

Short answer: MySQL 8.0 has received no updates since 30 April 2026, so a cPanel server on it should move to MySQL 8.4 LTS, an in-place upgrade through WHM → SQL Services → MySQL/MariaDB Upgrade that keeps applications unchanged, or to MariaDB 11.8, which needs a full logical dump, a fresh install and a restore because the panel cannot switch engines in place. Pick 8.4 for MySQL-specific features or replication with other MySQL hosts, and MariaDB for a MariaDB fleet, wider LTS choice or AlmaLinux 10.

Take stock

whmapi1 current_mysql_version
whmapi1 installable_mysql_versions
mysql -e "SELECT VERSION(); SELECT COUNT(*) FROM information_schema.SCHEMATA;"
cat /etc/os-release | grep -E '^(ID|VERSION_ID)='

What the panel offers depends on the operating system. On AlmaLinux 8 and 9, WHM offers MySQL 8.0 and 8.4 and MariaDB 10.5 through 11.8. On AlmaLinux 10, MySQL 8.4 is the only MySQL option and MariaDB 10.11, 11.4 and 11.8 are available. On Ubuntu 24.04, MySQL 8.0 and 8.4 and MariaDB 10.6 through 11.8. cPanel permits no downgrades, and the MySQL-to-MariaDB path is a one-way door.

Option one: MySQL 8.4 LTS

8.4 is the conservative move. It keeps the same authentication plugin (caching_sha2_password by default), the same replication features, the same mysqldump and mysql tooling, and customer applications written against 8.0 run unchanged. It is supported until April 2029 for premier support and 2032 for extended. The changes that bite are the removal of mysql_native_password as a default and the tightening of a few replication and sql_mode defaults; a server that was already on 8.0 has usually absorbed those.

Upgrade through WHM, SQL Services, MySQL/MariaDB Upgrade, choosing 8.4. Prepare with a backup and a slow shutdown, exactly as in our safe upgrade guide, then:

whmapi1 start_background_mysql_upgrade version=8.4
tail -f /var/cpanel/logs/mysql_upgrade.log

MySQL 8.x runs its own upgrade of system tables automatically at first start, so there is no separate mysql_upgrade step; check the error log for the completion message instead.

Choose 8.4 if your customers depend on MySQL-only features (some use of JSON functions, window functions with specific semantics, GROUP BY behaviour under MySQL’s strict defaults) or if your team’s tooling and monitoring are MySQL-specific. It is also the right choice when the server will be replicating with other MySQL instances.

Option two: MariaDB

MariaDB 11.8 LTS is supported until June 2028, is cPanel’s mainstream engine (new installs default to 10.11 and the upgrade path to 11.8 is well trodden), and is what most of the hosting ecosystem tests against. It uses less memory per connection, its mariadb-dump supports wildcards from 12.1 onward, and the licence and support model are less entangled with a single vendor.

The move from MySQL 8.0 to MariaDB is not a package swap. The on-disk InnoDB formats diverged years ago, MySQL 8’s data dictionary has no MariaDB equivalent, and the panel refuses an in-place switch for good reason. The procedure is a full logical dump under MySQL, a fresh MariaDB install, and a restore, which our MySQL to MariaDB conversion guide describes step by step and our MySQL 8 to MariaDB 11.8 guide covers for WHM specifically. Expect the database to be unavailable for the duration of the restore, which on a large server is hours, so this is a scheduled maintenance rather than a click.

Application compatibility is good but not perfect. The differences that surface most often: MySQL’s caching_sha2_password accounts must be recreated (MariaDB 12.x supports the plugin, 11.8 does not); JSON is stored as text in MariaDB, so applications relying on MySQL’s binary JSON type or its JSON_TABLE semantics may need testing; GROUP BY with non-aggregated columns behaves differently under the default sql_mode; and a few MySQL 8 functions have no MariaDB equivalent. Run the customer applications on a staging restore before committing.

Choose MariaDB if the fleet is otherwise MariaDB, if you want the wider LTS choice (11.4 to 2029, 12.3 when WHM adds it), or if you are moving to AlmaLinux 10 where MySQL choice is narrowest.

What not to do

Do not stay on 8.0 with the reasoning that cPanel still lists it. Being installable is not the same as being supported; cPanel packages what Oracle publishes and Oracle has stopped publishing. Do not attempt the MariaDB switch by installing packages by hand; the panel’s own scripts, EasyApache’s PHP builds and the backup system all key off whmapi1 current_mysql_version and will misbehave.

Common pitfall

Forgetting the PHP side. cPanel rebuilds the mysqlnd extensions after a database engine change, but customer applications with hardcoded mysql_native_password expectations or bundled connectors are outside its reach. After either move, grep the error logs of the busiest sites:

grep -lE 'SQLSTATE\[HY000\] \[2054\]|caching_sha2_password|Authentication plugin' /home/*/logs/*.php.error.log 2>/dev/null | head

Verify

whmapi1 current_mysql_version
mysql -e "SELECT VERSION();" 2>/dev/null || mariadb -e "SELECT VERSION();"
/scripts/restartsrv_mysql --status
php -m | grep -iE 'mysqlnd|pdo_mysql'

Load a handful of customer sites, log into phpMyAdmin from a cPanel account, and run the MySQL health snapshot script to record a post-migration baseline. Then update your provisioning standard so no new server is built on 8.0, and set the next review against the dates in our MySQL 8.4 vs 9.7 guide or the MariaDB timeline guide.

MySQL 8.0 end of life at a glance

Official documentation: MariaDB documentation, endoflife.date, cPanel & WHM documentation.

Related guides: Upgrading MariaDB in WHM safely: backups, slow shutdown and mariadb-upgrade · How to upgrade MySQL 8.0 to MariaDB 11.8 in WHM without losing databases · Converting MySQL to MariaDB (and why in-place switching is no longer supported).

Frequently asked questions

Maintenance record

This guide changes servers, data or security settings, so we re-check it against current versions on a fixed schedule. Take a backup or snapshot before you start.

Maintained by

srvScripts editorial team

Supported versions

MySQL 8.0 to 8.4 LTS or MariaDB 11.8 on cPanel & WHM; AlmaLinux 8, 9, 10 and Ubuntu 24.04

Last full review

3 Oct 2026

Next review

1 Apr 2027

Sources

mariadb.com/docs
docs.cpanel.net