Where to issue mysql commands?

Question

I am new to using mysql. First I connect to my web hosting SSH and then I use the following command to connect to the mysql server:

mysql -u mysqlusername -h server_ip -p (the server is not localhost, it is a remote server)

Then it prompts for the password, I enter it, and I am connected. I receive a mysql> prompt

Now I am trying to import a sql dump while preserving the charset. I've looked around on the internet and apparently the command to use is

mysql -uUSERNAME -pPASSWORD –default-character-set=utf8 USER_DATABASE < backup.sql

but since I am already connected, I try to issue: –default-character-set=utf8 USER_DATABASE < backup.sql but a new line appears to enter a new command instantly and its not possible that the command has been executed because the sql backup is 20 mb. It does not do anything.

I am having encoding issues with my website. The dump is in utf-8, all the special charachters show up as they should when I view the file using notepad, but for some reason as soon as I import the dump using phpmyadmin's import menu, I browse the tables and all the special characters are scrambled. When I access the website the characters are scrambled. I added AddDefaultCharset UTF-8 to htaccess file, but to no avail. This is why I want to try to import the dump using mysql command.

Answer 1

You see there is a command

mysql -u mysqlusername -h server_ip -p

and another one

mysql -uUSERNAME -pPASSWORD –-default-character-set=utf8 USER_DATABASE < backup.sql

Did you try to merge them?

Such as

mysql -u mysqlusername -h server_ip -p –-default-character-set=utf8 USER_DATABASE < backup.sql

?