15.1.12 CREATE DATABASE Statement

CREATE {DATABASE | SCHEMA} [IF NOT EXISTS] db_name
    [create_option] ...

create_option: [DEFAULT] {
    CHARACTER SET [=] charset_name
  | COLLATE [=] collation_name
  | ENCRYPTION [=] {'Y' | 'N'}
}

CREATE DATABASE creates a database with the given name. To use this statement, you need the CREATE privilege for the database. CREATE SCHEMA is a synonym for CREATE DATABASE.

An error occurs if the database exists and you did not specify IF NOT EXISTS.

CREATE DATABASE is not permitted within a session that has an active LOCK TABLES statement.

Each create_option specifies a database characteristic. Database characteristics are stored in the data dictionary.

• The CHARACTER SET option specifies the default database character set. The COLLATE option specifies the default database collation. For information about character set and collation names, see Chapter 12, Character Sets, Collations, Unicode.

  To see the available character sets and collations, use the the SHOW CHARACTER SET and SHOW COLLATION statements, respectively. See Section 15.7.7.3, “SHOW CHARACTER SET Statement”, and Section 15.7.7.4, “SHOW COLLATION Statement”.

• The ENCRYPTION option, introduced in MySQL 8.0.16, defines the default database encryption, which is inherited by tables created in the database. The permitted values are 'Y' (encryption enabled) and 'N' (encryption disabled). If the ENCRYPTION option is not specified, the value of the default_table_encryption system variable defines the default database encryption. If the table_encryption_privilege_check system variable is enabled, the TABLE_ENCRYPTION_ADMIN privilege is required to specify a default encryption setting that differs from the default_table_encryption setting. For more information, see Defining an Encryption Default for Schemas and General Tablespaces.

A database in MySQL is implemented as a directory containing files that correspond to tables in the database. Because there are no tables in a database when it is initially created, the CREATE DATABASE statement creates only a directory under the MySQL data directory. Rules for permissible database names are given in Section 11.2, “Schema Object Names”. If a database name contains special characters, the name for the database directory contains encoded versions of those characters as described in Section 11.2.4, “Mapping of Identifiers to File Names”.

Creating a database directory by manually creating a directory under the data directory (for example, with mkdir) is unsupported in MySQL 8.0.

When you create a database, let the server manage the directory and the files in it. Manipulating database directories and files directly can cause inconsistencies and unexpected results.

MySQL has no limit on the number of databases. The underlying file system may have a limit on the number of directories.

You can also use the mysqladmin program to create databases. See Section 6.5.2, “mysqladmin — A MySQL Server Administration Program”.