ddev · stasadev · Feb 20, 2026 · Feb 13, 2026 · Feb 19, 2026 · Feb 19, 2026
@@ -342,14 +342,23 @@ max_execution_time = 240;
 
 You can provide additional MySQL/MariaDB configuration for a project by creating a directory called `.ddev/mysql/` and adding any number of `*.cnf` MySQL configuration files. These files will be automatically included when MySQL is started. Make sure that the section header is included in the file.
 
-An example file in `.ddev/mysql/no_utf8mb4.cnf` might be:
+A common use case is setting the server's default character set and collation. DDEV automatically replaces modern collations like `utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci` (MySQL 8.0+) and `utf8mb4_uca1400_ai_ci` (MariaDB 11.x) with the server's `collation-server` value during `ddev import-db`. Setting this explicitly ensures the substitution lands on the collation you expect:
 
+An example file in `.ddev/mysql/utf8mb4.cnf`:
+
+```ini
+[mysqld]
+collation-server = utf8mb4_unicode_ci
+character-set-server = utf8mb4
 ```
+
+DDEV already sets `max_allowed_packet` to 256M by default, which covers most cases. If your project works with unusually large BLOBs you can raise it further, though this is rarely needed:
+
+An example file in `.ddev/mysql/max-packet.cnf`:
+
+```ini
 [mysqld]
-server-id = 2
-collation-server = utf8_general_ci
-character-set-server = utf8
-innodb_large_prefix=false
+max_allowed_packet = 512M
 ```
 
 To load the new configuration, run [`ddev restart`](../usage/commands.md#restart).

@@ -1036,21 +1036,23 @@ func (app *DdevApp) ImportDB(dumpFile string, extractPath string, progress bool,
 		// Case for reading from file
 		// The Perl regex does three things:
 		// 1. Strips sandbox mode comments, CREATE DATABASE, and USE statements from the dump
-		// 2. Replaces MariaDB 11.x modern collation (utf8mb4_uca1400_ai_ci) with compatible fallback (utf8mb4_unicode_ci)
-		// 3. Replaces MySQL 8.0+ modern collation (utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci) with compatible fallback (utf8mb4_unicode_ci)
+		// 2. Replaces MariaDB 11.x modern collation (utf8mb4_uca1400_ai_ci) with server's default collation
+		// 3. Replaces MySQL 8.0+ modern collation (utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci) with server's default collation
 		// The collation replacements skip INSERT and VALUES lines to avoid corrupting data that mentions these collations
 		// The PIPESTATUS check ensures we catch and report errors from the mysql command
-		inContainerCommand = []string{"bash", "-c", fmt.Sprintf(`set -eu -o pipefail; %[1]s -e "%[2]s"; pv %[3]s/*.*sql |  perl -p -e 's/^(\/\*.*999999.*enable the sandbox mode *|CREATE DATABASE \/\*|USE %[4]s)[^;]*(;|\*\/)//; unless (/^\s*(INSERT\s+INTO|VALUES)/i) { s/COLLATE[= ]utf8mb4_uca1400_ai_ci/COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci/gi; s/COLLATE[= ]utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci/COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci/gi; }' | %[1]s %[5]s; status=${PIPESTATUS[2]}; if [ $status -ne 0 ]; then echo "Database import command failed" >&2; exit 1; fi`, dbClientCmd, preImportSQL, insideContainerImportPath, "`", targetDB)}
+		// DDEV_REPLACED_COLLATION is queried from the server and used via $ENV{DDEV_REPLACED_COLLATION} in Perl
+		inContainerCommand = []string{"bash", "-c", fmt.Sprintf(`set -eu -o pipefail; DDEV_REPLACED_COLLATION=$(%[1]s -sN -e "SELECT @@collation_server" </dev/null 2>/dev/null || echo "utf8mb4_unicode_ci"); export DDEV_REPLACED_COLLATION; %[1]s -e "%[2]s"; pv %[3]s/*.*sql | perl -p -e 's/^(\/\*.*999999.*enable the sandbox mode *|CREATE DATABASE \/\*|USE %[4]s)[^;]*(;|\*\/)//; unless (/^\s*(INSERT\s+INTO|VALUES)/i) { s/COLLATE[= ]utf8mb4_uca1400_ai_ci/COLLATE $ENV{DDEV_REPLACED_COLLATION}/gi; s/COLLATE[= ]utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci/COLLATE $ENV{DDEV_REPLACED_COLLATION}/gi; }' | %[1]s %[5]s; status=${PIPESTATUS[2]}; if [ $status -ne 0 ]; then echo "Database import command failed" >&2; exit 1; fi`, dbClientCmd, preImportSQL, insideContainerImportPath, "`", targetDB)}
 
 		// Alternate case where we are reading from stdin
 		// The Perl regex does three things:
 		// 1. Strips CREATE DATABASE and USE statements from the dump
-		// 2. Replaces MariaDB 11.x modern collation (utf8mb4_uca1400_ai_ci) with compatible fallback (utf8mb4_unicode_ci)
-		// 3. Replaces MySQL 8.0+ modern collation (utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci) with compatible fallback (utf8mb4_unicode_ci)
+		// 2. Replaces MariaDB 11.x modern collation (utf8mb4_uca1400_ai_ci) with server's default collation
+		// 3. Replaces MySQL 8.0+ modern collation (utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci) with server's default collation
 		// The collation replacements skip INSERT and VALUES lines to avoid corrupting data that mentions these collations
 		// The PIPESTATUS check ensures we catch and report errors from the mysql command even when reading from stdin
+		// DDEV_REPLACED_COLLATION is queried from the server and used via $ENV{DDEV_REPLACED_COLLATION} in Perl
 		if dumpFile == "" && extractPath == "" {
-			inContainerCommand = []string{"bash", "-c", fmt.Sprintf(`set -eu -o pipefail; %[1]s -e "%[2]s"; perl -p -e 's/^(CREATE DATABASE \/\*|USE %[3]s)[^;]*;//; unless (/^\s*(INSERT\s+INTO|VALUES)/i) { s/COLLATE[= ]utf8mb4_uca1400_ai_ci/COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci/gi; s/COLLATE[= ]utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci/COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci/gi; }' | %[1]s %[4]s; status=${PIPESTATUS[1]}; if [ $status -ne 0 ]; then echo "Database import command failed" >&2; exit 1; fi`, dbClientCmd, preImportSQL, "`", targetDB)}
+			inContainerCommand = []string{"bash", "-c", fmt.Sprintf(`set -eu -o pipefail; DDEV_REPLACED_COLLATION=$(%[1]s -sN -e "SELECT @@collation_server" </dev/null 2>/dev/null || echo "utf8mb4_unicode_ci"); export DDEV_REPLACED_COLLATION; %[1]s -e "%[2]s"; perl -p -e 's/^(CREATE DATABASE \/\*|USE %[3]s)[^;]*;//; unless (/^\s*(INSERT\s+INTO|VALUES)/i) { s/COLLATE[= ]utf8mb4_uca1400_ai_ci/COLLATE $ENV{DDEV_REPLACED_COLLATION}/gi; s/COLLATE[= ]utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci/COLLATE $ENV{DDEV_REPLACED_COLLATION}/gi; }' | %[1]s %[4]s; status=${PIPESTATUS[1]}; if [ $status -ne 0 ]; then echo "Database import command failed" >&2; exit 1; fi`, dbClientCmd, preImportSQL, "`", targetDB)}
 		}
 
 	case nodeps.Postgres:

@@ -1518,7 +1518,7 @@ func TestDdevImportDB(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 	assert.NoError(err, "Failed to check modern_mariadb collation, stderr=%s", stderr)
 	assert.NotContains(out, "utf8mb4_uca1400_ai_ci", "Modern MariaDB collation should have been replaced")
-	assert.Contains(out, "utf8mb4_unicode_ci", "Modern MariaDB collation should be replaced with utf8mb4_unicode_ci")
+	assert.Contains(out, "utf8mb4_unicode_520_ci", "Modern MariaDB collation should be replaced with utf8mb4_unicode_520_ci")
 
 	// Verify modern MySQL 8.0+ collation was replaced
 	out, stderr, err = app.Exec(&ddevapp.ExecOpts{
@@ -1527,7 +1527,7 @@ func TestDdevImportDB(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 	assert.NoError(err, "Failed to check modern_mysql collation, stderr=%s", stderr)
 	assert.NotContains(out, "utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci", "Modern MySQL collation should have been replaced")
-	assert.Contains(out, "utf8mb4_unicode_ci", "Modern MySQL collation should be replaced with utf8mb4_unicode_ci")
+	assert.Contains(out, "utf8mb4_unicode_520_ci", "Modern MySQL collation should be replaced with utf8mb4_unicode_520_ci")
 
 	// Test legacy collations (should be preserved as-is)
 	legacyCollationsFile := filepath.Join(origDir, "testdata", t.Name(), dbType, "legacy_collations.sql")
@@ -1697,7 +1697,7 @@ func TestDdevAllDatabases(t *testing.T) {
 
 	//Use a smaller list if GOTEST_SHORT
 	if os.Getenv("GOTEST_SHORT") != "" {
-		dbVersions = []string{"postgres:18", "postgres:17", "mariadb:11.4", "mariadb:10.11", "mariadb:10.6", "mysql:8.0", "mysql:8.4", "mysql:5.7"}
+		dbVersions = []string{"postgres:18", "postgres:17", "mariadb:11.8", "mariadb:11.4", "mariadb:10.11", "mariadb:10.6", "mysql:8.0", "mysql:8.4", "mysql:5.7"}
 		t.Logf("Using limited set of database servers because GOTEST_SHORT is set (%v)", dbVersions)
 	}
 

@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 #ddev-generated
 [mysqld]
-collation-server = utf8_general_ci
-character-set-server = utf8
-innodb_large_prefix=false
+collation-server = utf8mb4_unicode_ci
+character-set-server = utf8mb4
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#ddev-generated
+# DDEV already sets max_allowed_packet to 256M by default.
+# Raise this only if you need to work with unusually large BLOBs.
+[mysqld]
+max_allowed_packet = 512M