recompiling mysql with utf8 for mediawiki

[catkfr]

Hi,

I have a server with mediawiki and I have had some problems with kanji. When editing a page with kanjis, they disappear in the edit box and are replaced by obscure codes. This doesn't happen on the japanese wikipedia. It turns out that I haven't compiled mysql with utf-8 support and I think this is the problem.

I would like to recompile mysql with utf8 support but have no clue what this will do to the current database. Could someone provide me their insight so that I don't destroy everything that is currently on the wiki? (Since I haven't had the time to look at this, I have absolutely no backup of the mysql database so I can't really afford to just try recompiling and see what happens...).

Thanks in advance.