How to check MySQL Version?

MySQL Version might have something to do with supported features, syntax, etc. So it’s good to be aware of which version your service is currently running on. This post will demonstrate various ways to see MySQL Version.

1. From the command line

From the command line, run this command:

mysqld -v

Or this command:

mysqld --version

An example for the result:

mysqld  Ver 5.7.27-0ubuntu0.18.04.1 for Linux on x86_64 ((Ubuntu))

2. From a command client

When you first connected to your database via the command client, the server information is shown on the screen:

Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 6
Server version: 5.0.27-standard MySQL Community Edition - Standard (GPL)

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.

mysql>

3. From a GUI MySQL Client

When connected to the database, you can check the MySQL Version by executing this query:

SHOW VARIABLES LIKE "%version%";

It will show you all the relevant system variables, somewhat like this:

Variable_name	Value
innodb_version	8.0.12
protocol_version	10
slave_type_conversions
tls_version	TLSv1,TLSv1.1,TLSv1.2
version	8.0.12
version_comment	MySQL Community Server - GPL
version_compile_machine	x86_64
version_compile_os	macos10.13
version_compile_zlib	1.2.11

You can see MySQL Version from the result as well as some additional information including protocol_version, innodb_version, tls_version, etc.

TablePlus GUI tool has all server information shown on the status bar, you can click on it and see more details.

TablePlus Status bar

Need a good GUI tool for databases? TablePlus provides a native client that allows you to access and manage Oracle, MySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and many other databases simultaneously using an intuitive and powerful graphical interface.