MySQL 8.0 FAQ: Migration See Chapter 26,  INFORMATION_SCHEMA Tables See https://forums.mysql.com/list.php?101. Unfortunately, the official specifications are not freely available. (ANSI makes them available for purchase.) However, there are books available, such as  SQL-99 Complete, Really  by Peter Gulutzan and Trudy Pelzer, that provide a comprehensive overview of the standard, including INFORMATION_SCHEMA . Both Oracle and MySQL provide metadata in tables. However, Oracle and MySQL use different table names and column names. The MySQL implementation is more similar to those found in DB2 and SQL Server, which also support  INFORMATION_SCHEMA  as defined in the SQL standard. No. Since applications may rely on a certain standard structure, this should not be modified. For this reason,  we cannot support bugs or other issues which result from modifying INFORMATION_SCHEMA  tables or data . For detailed upgrade information, see Section 2.11, “Upgrading MySQL” . Do not skip a major version when upgrading, but rather complete the process in steps, upgrading from one major version to the next in each step. This may seem more complicated, but ultimately saves time and trouble. If you encounter problems during the upgrade, their origin is easier to identify, either by you or, if you have a MySQL Enterprise subscription, by MySQL support. Storage engine support has changed as follows: ALTER TABLE  tblname  ENGINE=MYISAM; 5242 A.8 MySQL 8.0 FAQ: Migration A.7.5 Can I add to or otherwise modify the tables found in the  INFORMATION_SCHEMA  database? .... 5242 A.7.1. Where can I find documentation for the MySQL  INFORMATION_SCHEMA  database? A.7.2. Is there a discussion forum for  INFORMATION_SCHEMA ? A.7.3. Where can I find the ANSI SQL 2003 specification for  INFORMATION_SCHEMA ? A.7.4. What is the difference between the Oracle Data Dictionary and MySQL  INFORMATION_SCHEMA ? A.7.5. Can I add to or otherwise modify the tables found in the  INFORMATION_SCHEMA  database? A.8.1 Where can I find information on how to migrate from MySQL 5.7 to MySQL 8.0? ..................... 5242 A.8.2 How has storage engine (table type) support changed in MySQL 8.0 from previous versions? ... 5242 A.8.1. Where can I find information on how to migrate from MySQL 5.7 to MySQL 8.0? A.8.2. How has storage engine (table type) support changed in MySQL 8.0 from previous versions? •Support for  ISAM  tables was removed in MySQL 5.0 and you should now use the  MyISAM  storage engine in place of  ISAM . To convert a table  tblname  from  ISAM  to  MyISAM , simply issue a statement such as this one: •Internal  RAID  for  MyISAM  tables was also removed in MySQL 5.0. This was formerly used to allow large tables in file systems that did not support file sizes greater than 2GB. All modern file systems allow for larger tables; in addition, there are now other solutions such as  MERGE  tables and views. •The  VARCHAR  column type now retains trailing spaces in all storage engines. • MEMORY  tables (formerly known as  HEAP  tables) can also contain  VARCHAR  columns.