FAQ Categories

General Usage

Questions

Questions and Answers

11.1: Can I run MySQL Enterprise Service Manager on machine with other applications running?

You can, but ideally you should be running your MySQL Enterprise Service Manager on a dedicated machine, especially if you are monitoring a number of different agents. For more information, see Section E.5, “Choosing Suitable MySQL Enterprise Service Manager Hardware Configurations”.

11.2: What is the relationship between the advisor JAR file and the key?

The JAR file contains graph and advisor definitions. The key file contains typical customer validation data such as contract information, number of servers covered, subscription level and dates.

11.3: During query analysis, I am unable to obtain an EXAMPLE or EXPLAIN information when examining the detail of the analyzed query within the Query Analyzer panel.

You must explicitly enable the EXAMPLE and EXPLAIN query functionality. Make sure that you have enabled both panels. See Section 9.7, “Query Analyzer Settings”.

11.4: I have started a Data Migration of my old data for a server to MySQL Enterprise Service Manager 2.0, but I have noticed that the performance of the monitor server has degraded significantly. Can I stop the migration?

You can stop the migration of your historical data at any time. Go to the Manage Servers display of the Settings panel and click Stop next to each server that is being migrated. You can restart the migration at any point.

11.5: Can the Trial-level key work with the Gold-level advisors JAR file?

The Trial-level key can only be used with the Trial-level advisors JAR file.

11.6: Does the Gold-level key support Silver-level advisors?

The Gold-level advisor JAR file will contain Silver-level advisors plus Gold-level advisors. However, you cannot use the Gold-level key with the Silver-level advisors JAR file. The Gold-level key can only be used with the Gold-level advisors JAR file.

11.7: Does Query Analyzer work with all versions of MySQL and the MySQL Client Libraries?

The MySQL Proxy component, and Query Analyzer, require that clients connecting through MySQL Enterprise Monitor Agent are using MySQL 5.0 or later. Clients that use the library provided with MySQL 4.1 or earlier will not work with MySQL Enterprise Monitor Agent.

11.8: I have enabled EXPLAIN queries for Query Analyzer, but no queries with the EXPLAIN data are showing up in the display.

Query Analyzer only obtains EXPLAIN information when the MySQL Enterprise Monitor Agent identifies a long running query. If none of your queries exceed the defined threshold, then the EXPLAIN information is not obtain and provided to the Query Analyze for display.

To change the query duration at which an EXPLAIN is triggered, you must edit the share/mysql-proxy/quan.lua file within the MySQL Enterprise Monitor Agent directory on each server. You need to change the value configured in the auto_explain_min_exec_time_us. The default is 500ms:

---
-- configuration
--
-- SET GLOBAL analyze_query.auto_filter = 0
if not proxy.global.config.quan then
        proxy.global.config.quan = {
                analyze_queries  = true,   -- track all queries
                query_cutoff     = 160,    -- only show the first 160 chars of the query
                num_worst_queries = 5,
                auto_explain     = true,
                auto_explain_min_exec_time_us = 500 * 1000
        }
end

The value is expressed in microseconds, which is why the value must be multiplied by 1000. To reduce this value to 100ms you would modify the line:

auto_explain_min_exec_time_us = 100 * 1000

You do not need to restart MySQL Enterprise Monitor Agent for the changes to take effect.

11.9: While monitoring my network traffic I have noticed that the agents communicate information at irregular intervals to the MySQL Enterprise Service Manager. I cannot see anything in my configuration that would explain this behavior. What is going on?

Each MySQL Enterprise Monitor Agent periodically sends information to the server about a range of different information, including the core rule and statistical data, Query Analyzer information and other data used to monitor the status of your MySQL server.

One element of this is called the MySQL Enterprise Monitor Agent Heartbeat, which is core information exchange that indicates that the monitored server is still up and running. The heartbeat information is vital because it tells the MySQL Enterprise Service Manager that the agent and server are still communicating. This information is sent regularly to the MySQL Enterprise Service Manager, but to prevent multiple agents from sending the information at the same time, and creating a large network load (or storm), the interval is randomized with each heartbeat. The randomization ensures that the information is still uploaded periodically, but without the potential to overload the network with this data.

11.10: How do I change the name of a server?

Go to the Manage Servers panel within Settings and click Rename server.

11.11: My MySQL Enterprise Service Manager is behind a firewall but it cannot communicate with the MySQL Enterprise website to register and download my license key and advisor bundle. I normally use a proxy service to access external websites. How do I configure the proxy settings for MySQL Enterprise Dashboard?

To configure a proxy service, you need to edit the apache-tomcat/conf/catalina.properties file within the MySQL Enterprise Service Manager installation directory. To make the changes, the proxy configuration information to the end of the file by setting the http.proxyHost and http.proxyPort properties:

http.proxyHost=proxy.example.com
http.proxyPort=8080

You will need to restart the MySQL Enterprise Service Manager for the change to take effect:

shell> mysqlmonitorctl.sh restart

11.12: I have set the graphs to update every 5 minutes, and the page refresh to occur every minute. The page is refreshing correctly, but the graphs do not seem to update.

The graph refresh and page refresh are two different parameters. The graphs will update according to their refresh period, regardless of the refresh period set for the main display page.

11.13: Why do some rules appear to have a Severity of Unknown?

Due to timing issues, certain rules such as “32-Bit Binary Running on 64-Bit AMD Or Intel System” and “Key Buffer Size Greater Than 4 GB” do not evaluate correctly due to timing issues. This is a known issue and will be resolved in future versions of MySQL Enterprise Monitor.

11.14: How frequently is the data purge process executed?

A data purge process is started approximately once a minute. If you have changed the purge period then the data will start to be purged within the next minute.

MySQL Enterprise

Questions

Questions and Answers

11.1: Do all my MySQL Enterprise subscriptions need to be at the same tier?

MySQL Enterprise subscriptions must be at the same tier (Basic, Silver, Gold, Platinum) for all database servers that power that specific application.

11.2: Are there any MySQL Enterprise White Papers available?

Yes. Detailed architecture, technology, and business white papers are available. http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/whitepapers.html

11.3: Does MySQL Enterprise include Maintenance, Updates, and Upgrades?

Yes. As long as you have a valid contract for MySQL Enterprise, you will receive all new MySQL Enterprise Server software releases including Software Maintenance, Updates, and Upgrades. The Software Update Service will automatically notify you of the new releases.

11.4: What if I plan to add more MySQL servers to my MySQL Enterprise subscription?

A great option is the MySQL Enterprise Unlimited offering that allows you cover an unlimited number of MySQL servers for a fixed, low price. http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/unlimited.html

11.5: What is the list of Supported Platforms?

MySQL Enterprise provides broad coverage in its list of Supported Platforms. http://www.mysql.com/support/supportedplatforms/

11.6: How do I get a 30-day trial on MySQL Enterprise?

You can experience the MySQL Enterprise Monitor for 30 days by registering to receive an email with login instructions. http://www.mysql.com/trials/enterprise

11.7: Are there any Demo/Tutorials available for MySQL Enterprise?

Yes. Multiple self-running demos are available. http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/demo.html

11.8: What is MySQL Production Support?

Production Support consists of 4 components:

MySQL Production Support gives you priority access with guaranteed response times to assist you with the development, deployment and management of your MySQL applications. http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/support.html

11.9: Does MySQL Enterprise include 24x7 Technical Support?

MySQL Enterprise, at the Gold and Platinum tiers, includes 24x7 phone and email access to the MySQL Support Team. http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/problemresolution.html

11.10: How should I decide between MySQL Enterprise Basic, Silver, Gold and Platinum?

MySQL Enterprise subscriptions are available in 4 tiers, providing you the flexibility of choosing the capabilities and SLA that best meet your requirements. http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/features.html If you have questions and what to discuss your specific requirements, please http://www.mysql.com/about/contact/sales.html?s=corporate

11.11: What is MySQL Enterprise Server?

MySQL Enterprise Server software is the most reliable, secure and up-to-date version of MySQL for cost-effectively delivering E-commerce, Online Transaction Processing (OLTP), and multi-terabyte Data Warehousing applications. It is a fully integrated transaction-safe, ACID compliant database with full commit, rollback, crash recovery and row level locking capabilities. MySQL delivers the ease of use, scalability, and performance that has made it MySQL the world’s most popular open source database. http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/server.html

11.12: What is the pricing of MySQL Enterprise?

The pricing model for MySQL Enterprise is based on two key components: per server and per year. MySQL Enterprise does not have artificial restrictions based on CPUs, Memory, Machine Size, or Named Users. MySQL Enterprise is available in 4 tiers (Basic, Silver, Gold and Platinum). Choose the tier that best meets your requirements and budget. http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/features.html

11.13: What is MySQL Enterprise Unlimited?

MySQL Enterprise Unlimited is a unique offering that allows you to deploy an unlimited number of MySQL Enterprise Servers for the price of a single CPU of Oracle Enterprise Edition. http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/unlimited.html

11.14: How do I buy MySQL Enterprise?

For pricing and to buy MySQL Enterprise, visit the Online Shop For volume discounts or for more information, please http://www.mysql.com/about/contact/sales.html?s=corporate

11.15: What is a Technical Account Manager?

MySQL Enterprise, at the Platinum tier, provides the option for a Technical Account Manager (TAM). The TAM is your advocate within MySQL, who proactively works to maximize your benefits from MySQL Support Services. http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/tam.html

11.16: Can I buy MySQL Enterprise subscriptions for multiple years?

MySQL Enterprise subscriptions have duration of at least 1 year. Customers have the flexibility of choosing terms with multi-year durations. To purchase multi-year contracts, please http://www.mysql.com/about/contact/sales.html?s=corporate

11.17: Does MySQL Enterprise include Emergency Hot Fix Builds?

MySQL Enterprise, at the Gold and Platinum tiers, gives you the ability to request an Emergency Hot Fix Build to fix issues not already fixed in a MySQL Rapid Update or MySQL Quarterly Service Pack.

11.18: Does MySQL provide IP (Intellectual Property) Indemnification?

MySQL Enterprise, at the Gold and Platinum tiers, has the option of IP Indemnification, for qualifying customers at no extra cost. This provides you with legal protection that you expect from enterprise software providers. http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/indemnification.html

11.19: What is MySQL Enterprise?

The MySQL Enterprise subscription is the most comprehensive offering of MySQL database software, services and production support to ensure your business achieves the highest levels of reliability, security and uptime.

MySQL Enterprise includes:

MySQL Enterprise is available in 4 tiers (Basic, Silver, Gold, Platinum). http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/features.html

11.20: What is MySQL Consultative Support?

MySQL Enterprise, at the Gold and Platinum tiers, includes Consultative Support. This is a proactive approach to support that is designed to help you avoid critical outages. MySQL Support Engineers advise you on how to properly design and tune your MySQL servers, schema, queries, and replication set-up to maximize performance and availability. Also, by taking the initiative to properly design and tune your MySQL database applications you can avoid having to purchase expensive hardware for your IT infrastructure. http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/consultativesupport.html

11.21: Are there any Webinars available?

Yes. MySQL provides regularly scheduled Live Webinars. http://www.mysql.com/news-and-events/web-seminars/index.html MySQL also provides On-Demand Webinars to fit your schedule. These are recordings of previously held Live Webinars that you can replay at any time. http://www.mysql.com/news-and-events/web-seminars/index.html

11.22: Can I buy MySQL Enterprise subscriptions for only some of my production MySQL database servers?

When you choose MySQL Enterprise subscriptions, they must cover all database servers that power that specific application. To negotiate volume discounts, please http://www.mysql.com/about/contact/sales.html?s=corporate

MySQL Monitor

Questions

Questions and Answers

11.1: What MySQL Enterprise subscription levels include the MySQL Enterprise Monitor?

The Enterprise Monitor is available under MySQL Enterprise subscription levels Silver, Gold and Platinum. http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/features.html

11.2: What makes MySQL Enterprise unique?

Of the products on the market that monitor MySQL, SQL code and OS specific metrics, the MySQL Enterprise Monitor is the only solution that is built and supported by the engineers at MySQL. Unlike other solutions that report on raw MySQL and OS level metrics, the MySQL Enterprise Monitor is designed to optimize the use of MySQL by proactively monitoring MySQL instances and providing notifications and “MySQL DBA expertise in a box” advice on corrective measures DBAs can take before problems occur.

11.3: How is the MySQL Enterprise Monitor installed and deployed?

The Enterprise Monitor is powered by a distributed web application that is installed and deployed within the confines of the corporate firewall.

11.4: How are subscribers notified about the availability of new or updated MySQL Enterprise Monitor, MySQL Enterprise Advisors and Advisor Rules?

Customers will receive notifications of new and updated MySQL Enterprise Monitor and Advisors as they become available via the MySQL Enterprise Software Update Service. Notifications will be generated and sent based on the customer profile and the MySQL Enterprise subscription level.

11.5: What versions of MySQL are supported by the MySQL Enterprise Monitor?

The MySQL Enterprise Monitor can be used to monitor MySQL versions 4.0 – 5.x.

11.6: What operating system platforms are supported by the MySQL Enterprise Monitor?

The Enterprise Monitor Service Manager is fully supported on most current versions of Linux, Windows XP and Server Editions, Solaris and Mac OSX. The Monitor Agent supports any platform supported by the MySQL Enterprise server. For the complete list of MySQL Enterprise supported operating systems and CPUs, visit the http://www.mysql.com/support/supportedplatforms/enterprise.html.

11.7: What are the long-term benefits of the MySQL Enterprise Monitor?

Over time, the task of managing even medium-scale MySQL server farms becomes exponentially more complicated, especially as the load of users, connections, application queries, and objects on each MySQL server increases. The Enterprise Monitor continually monitors the dynamic security, performance, replication and schema relevant metrics of all MySQL servers, so as the number of MySQL continues to grow, DBAs are kept up to date on potential problems and proactive measures that can be implemented to ensure each server continues to operate at the highest levels of security, performance and reliability.

11.8: What is MySQL Enterprise Monitor?

Included as part of a MySQL Enterprise subscription, the MySQL Enterprise Monitor is a distributed, web-based application that helps customers reduce downtime, tighten security and increase throughput of their MySQL servers by telling them about problems in their database applications before they occur. It is downloadable from the Enterprise Customer web site and is deployed within the safety of the customer datacenter.http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/monitor.html

11.9: How do I get the MySQL Enterprise Monitor?

The MySQL Enterprise Monitor is available for download to MySQL Enterprise customers at the Silver, Gold and Platinum subscription levels.

11.10: Which Advisors and features are included under different MySQL Enterprise subscription levels?

For the complete list of the MySQL Enterprise Advisors that are available under each MySQL Enterprise subscription level, visit the http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/features.html.

11.11: What are the immediate benefits of implementing the MySQL Enterprise Monitor?

Often MySQL installations are implemented with default settings that may not be best suited for specific applications or usage patterns. The MySQL Advisors go to work immediately in these environments to identify potential problems and proactively notify and advise DBAs on key MySQL settings that can be tuned to improve availability, tighten security, and increase the throughput of their existing MySQL servers

11.12: What are the MySQL Enterprise Advisors and Advisor Rules?

The MySQL Enterprise Advisors are a set of best practice guidelines for the optimal use of MySQL. Advisors are spread across database specific disciplines and are comprised of a set of MySQL Advisor Rules that proactively monitor all MySQL servers and report on database application problems before they occur. Each Advisor Rule provides a detailed overview of the problem it is designed to identify, advices on how to correct the problem, specifies commands to implement the recommended fix and links to additional resources for additional research into the issue at hand. http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/advisors.html

11.13: How is the Enterprise Monitor web application architected?

The Enterprise Monitor web application is comprised of 3 components:

11.14: Which set of Enterprise Advisors, Advisor Rules and features are best for my use of MySQL?

The Enterprise Monitor Advisors and Advisor Rules are available at 3 MySQL Enterprise subscription tiers: Choose MySQL Enterprise Silver if you need:

Choose MySQL Enterprise Gold, when you need everything in Silver, PLUS:

Choose MySQL Enterprise Platinum, when you need everything in Gold, PLUS:

11.15: What are the features and related benefits of the MySQL Enterprise Monitor?

The MySQL Enterprise Monitor is like having a "Virtual DBA Assistant" at your side to recommend best practices to eliminate security vulnerabilities, improve replication, and optimize performance. For the complete features and benefits, visit the http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/monitor-features.html.

MySQL Query Analyzer

Questions

Questions and Answers

11.1: Can I leave the MySQL Query Analyzer enabled at all times?

We have customers who have the Query Analyzer enabled and collecting queries on their development and QA servers so they can tune their code and monitor the fixes as part of the development process. For production systems, Query collection and analysis can easily be toggled on when a slowdown occurs. To avoid collection mode overhead many users are using simple scripts to enable the Query Analyzer to sample queries during nonpeak hours, typically during 30 minute windows. They can then view the collected queries using the date/time or interval filter options.

11.2: What are the typical use cases of the MySQL Query Analyzer?

The typical use cases for developers, DBAs and system administrators are:

11.3: Does the query analyzer look at all queries? or only queries which would show up in the in the slow-queries log?

The Query Analyzer sees all queries that you route through the agent/proxy that performs the query analysis and aggregate them directly.

11.4: Do the MySQL clients have to connect to the port of the mysql proxy to enable the QA?

Yes, or you can re-direct them in various ways, by reconfiguring mysqld to listen to some other port, and the proxy to 3306, use iptables redirection, etc. We have some examples in the manual for the product on how to do it (semi)-transparently.

11.5: How is the MySQL Query Analyzer installed and enabled?

The Query Analyzer feature is installed with the Monitor Agent. It is enabled during agent installation and can be toggled between collection and pass-thru modes from the Query Analysis page of the Enterprise Monitor.

11.6: How are subscribers notified about updates to the MySQL Query Analyzer application components?

Customers will receive notifications of the MySQL Query Analyzer updates as they become available via the MySQL Enterprise Software Update and Alert Service. Notifications will be generated and sent based on the customer profile and the MySQL Enterprise subscription level.

11.7: Does Query Analyzer capture queries by the root user?

Yes, Query Analyzer captures all queries by all users providing that the queries are sent through the proxy port configured by the MySQL Enterprise Monitor Agent.

11.8: What makes the MySQL Query Analyzer unique?

Other products (free, open source and commercial) that provide MySQL query monitoring are dependent on the MySQL Slow Query Log being enabled and available for sampling. While this provides some time savings over the DBA collecting and parsing the Log, the Slow Query Log comes with overhead and does not capture sub millisecond executions. The log data also grows very large very quickly.

The MySQL Query Analyzer collects queries and execution statistics with no dependence on the SQL Query Log, it captures all SQL statements sent to the MySQL server and provides an aggregated view into the most expensive queries in number of executions and total execution time. It is also fully supported as part of the MySQL Enterprise subscription.

11.9: How can I get the MySQL Query Analyzer?

The MySQL Query Analyzer is available for download to MySQL Enterprise customers at the Gold and Platinum subscription levels.

11.10: Does the "Rows" area show the rows returned/updated or the rows visited by the query?

Returned/updated. We don't have visibility into how many rows were touched. at an instance level. Some of the graphs we provide will show you when you're queries are touching a lot of rows.

11.11: Does Query Analyzer enable me to monitor the disk reads and writes during a query?

No, that information is not available to be shown at this time.

11.12: What is the MySQL Query Analyzer?

The MySQL Query Analyzer allows DBAs, developers and system administrators to improve application performance by collecting, monitoring, and analyzing queries as they run on their MySQL servers. http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/query.html

11.13: Does Query Analyzer work with MySQL Cluster?

Yes, providing that eact node is monitored with an agent and query analyzer has been unabled for that node. Note that you must be accessing your cluster data through a standard MySQL node for this to work.

11.14: Does Query Analyzer handler prepared statements?

At this time, the query analyzer does not track server-side prepared statements. However the default configurations for most client-side libraries for MySQL don't use them, they emulate them client-side, and those will be tracked by the query analyzer.

11.15: How much degration in performance does mysql-proxy introduce?

At the very least it's equivalent to a network hop in latency. The degredation is directly related to your average query execution time. If your queries execute in microseconds (which can happen if served from query cache) then the degradation will be higher, and noticable. We've seen some applications that actually do work when they execute queries, the degradation is much less, and in some limited cases because of scheduling, the application actually has better throughput.

11.16: What are the main features and benefits of the MySQL Query Analyzer?

For the complete features and benefits, visit the http://www.mysql.com/products/enterprise/monitor-features.html

11.17: What overhead can I expect when the MySQL Query Analyzer is installed and enabled?

The average overhead when in active collection mode is in the 15-20% range. In pass-thru mode the overhead is minimal, weighing in at 1-5% on most MySQL systems of average load.