Can I rebuild missing database from local WordPress folder?

clarify what you mean by I can see the tables in the files… do you mean to say you have a .sql file? if so that is all you need.

If you do not have the .sql backup of the database you will not be able to rebuilt it with the WordPress core files unfortunately.

Let me know if that is helpful. ??

Unfortunately, I don’t have an .sql file. It would be on the Mamp server, because I didn’t back it up before the crash. Within the local folder I can see several table files so thought perhaps there was a chance. I’m bypassing Wamp entirely at this point and trying a few things on Bluehost.

This is probably a silly question but do you think it might work if I copied the WordPress local folder to another Mac and created the same settings in a new Mamp setup?

no that wont work. Basically nothing can replace the database that was deleted. This will require a rebuild or a backup from Bluehost. I believe they can provide you one if it is shared hosting but there may be a cost associated with it.

It was never uploaded to Bluehost. I was working on my Mac so had everything in a local file and used Mamp as the server. It sounds like it’s going to be a rebuild. I thought perhaps if I recreated the exact same settings in Mamp on a borrowed Mac that it might work.

No I do wish I could say it would… unfortunately today I have to bear you this bad news. However there is hope and here is a link to some info you might enjoy about the WordPress backups.

https://codex.www.ads-software.com/WordPress_Backups

Thank you. It’s going to be a busy week.

There are some ways to do this. As an example, here’s some questions from people that are trying to do the same thing:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/879176/how-to-recover-mysql-db-from-myd-myi-frm-files

https://ailoo.net/2011/03/restore-mysql-databases-from-raw-frm-files/

While I believe that it can work, it doesn’t look like it’s an easy thing to do, and gets very geeky very quickly.

As much as it’s bad to say, this is a good lesson in why a good backup system is a required part of any website.

Absolutely! And dont keep it on the computer either. Im going to see if I can set up my salvaged hard drive from the Mac as an external device and with luck, may be able to find the database in the Mamp app files and export it.

Thanks very much for the links! Ill be having a look at those too. At this point, Im willing to try no matter how geeky.

Just in case anyone else is in the same situation one day, I solved it by finding the Mamp file folder on the Mac HD and copying the table files to Windows. I set up Wamp on windows and imported the files to create the database. Exported the database and it worked. Much easier though to backup somewhere other than the computer! Lesson learned.