Upgrade Paths •For installations on SLES using the MySQL SLES repository, refer to Section 2.11.9, “Upgrading MySQL with the MySQL SLES Repository” . •For installations performed using Docker, refer to Section 2.11.11, “Upgrading a Docker Installation of MySQL” . •For installations on Windows, refer to Section 2.11.10, “Upgrading MySQL on Windows” . •If your MySQL installation contains a large amount of data that might take a long time to convert after an in-place upgrade, it may be useful to create a test instance for assessing the conversions that are required and the work involved to perform them. To create a test instance, make a copy of your MySQL instance that contains the  mysql  database and other databases without the data. Run the upgrade procedure on the test instance to assess the work involved to perform the actual data conversion. •Rebuilding and reinstalling MySQL language interfaces is recommended when you install or upgrade to a new release of MySQL. This applies to MySQL interfaces such as PHP  mysql  extensions and the Perl DBD::mysql  module. •Upgrade from MySQL 5.7 to 8.0 is supported. However, upgrade is only supported between General Availability (GA) releases. For MySQL 8.0, it is required that you upgrade from a MySQL 5.7 GA release (5.7.9 or higher). Upgrades from non-GA releases of MySQL 5.7 are not supported. •Upgrading to the latest release is recommended before upgrading to the next version. For example, upgrade to the latest MySQL 5.7 release before upgrading to MySQL 8.0. •Upgrade that skips versions is not supported. For example, upgrading directly from MySQL 5.6 to 8.0 is not supported. •Once a release series reaches General Availability (GA) status, upgrade within the release series (from one GA version to another GA version) is supported. For example, upgrading from MySQL 8.0. x  to 8.0. y is supported. (Upgrade involving development-status non-GA releases is not supported.) Skipping a release is also supported. For example, upgrading from MySQL 8.0. x  to 8.0. z  is supported. MySQL 8.0.11 is the first GA status release within the MySQL 8.0 release series. •The  mysql  system schema, which contains tables that store information required by the MySQL server as it runs (see Section 5.3, “The mysql System Schema” ).  mysql  schema tables fall into two broad categories: •Data dictionary tables, which store database object metadata. •System tables (that is, the remaining non-data dictionary tables), which are used for other operational purposes. •Other schemas, some of which are built in and may be considered “owned”  by the server, and others which are not: •The Performance Schema,  INFORMATION_SCHEMA ,  ndbinfo , and  sys  schema. •User schemas. Two distinct version numbers are associated with parts of the installation that may require upgrading: Installing a new version of MySQL may require upgrading these parts of the existing installation: 2.11.2 Upgrade Paths 2.11.3 What the MySQL Upgrade Process Upgrades 263