The first important question: What kind of hosting do you have? Shared hosting account? Managed WordPress? Private server?
If you’re using a shared hosting account or you’re with a managed WordPress provider (eg Kinsta, WPEngine etc), you can’t upgrade the database server yourself: it’s only your host that can do it. In that case, you may want to talk to your host about this or find a new host that runs a more recent server stack.
On the other hand, if you run your own SERVER (VPS, cloud server, or dedicated server), then you would be able to upgrade on your own.
Thread Starter
ferroo
(@ferroo)
Thank you so much for your clarification! I do not actually own the hosting as it is handled by my client’s server. Case is solved now. 🙂