"BV" == Brion Vibber brion@pobox.com writes:
BV> The only tables that should contain binary data at present are BV> linkscc (gzipped data) and math (a binary hash value). Both of BV> these tables' contents are volatile: you can just clear them BV> out, and they will be regenerated when needed.
So, I think what my new strategy is is this:
1. Shut down the site. 2. Backup these tables with a data dump:
* archive * cur * image * interwiki * ipblocks * old * oldimage * user * user_newtalk * watchlist
3. iconv the dump file to UTF-8. 4. Twiddle with mysql till it knows to use UTF-8. 5. Twiddle with PHP's php.ini till it knows to use UTF-8. 6. Change the encoding in LocalSettings.php to use UTF-8. 8. Reinstall MediaWiki, wiping the DB. 9. Import the data dump back in. 10. Rebuild links and RC tables with rebuildall.php. 11. Turn the site back on. 12. Hope for the best.
I guess at 1 I could just lock the database, rebuild in a new DB, and at 11 change localsettings so it points to the new db.
That might work.
~ESP