I'd like a snapshot of a live MySQL DB to work with on my development machine. The problem is that the DB is too large, so my thought was to execute:
mysqldump [connection-info-here] --no-autocommit --where="1 limit 1000" mydb > /dump.sql
I think this will give me the first thousand rows of every table in database mydb. I anticipate that the resulting dataset will break a lot of foreign key constraints since some records will be missing. As a result the application I mean to run on the dev machine will fail.
Is there a way to mysqldump a sample of the database while ensuring that all records dumped abide by key constraints? (for instance if a foreign key is dumped, the matching record in the foreign table will also be dumped).
If that isn't possible, how do you guys deal with this problem?
No, there's no option for mysqldump to dump only rows that match in foreign key relationships. You already know about the --where option, and that won't do it.
I've had the same task as you, to dump a subset of data but only data that is related. For example, for creating a test instance.
I've been using MySQL for many years, I've worked as a MySQL consultant and trainer, and I try to keep up with current tools. I have never heard of any MySQL tool that does this operation.
The only solution I can suggest is to write your own script to dump table by table using SELECT...INTO OUTFILE.
It's sometimes easier to write a custom script just for your specific schema, than for someone to write a general-purpose tool that works for everyone's schema.
How I have dealt with this problem in the past is I don't copy data from the live database. I find some other way to create a subset of fake data for testing. It's probably better to create synthetic data anyway, because then you don't risk accidentally using live data in your dev/test environment, in case some of it is private data.
Related
I'm currently attempting to create a script that will:
process a mysql schema and dump the descriptions of tables in the schema,
translate the MySQL-specific parts of the resulting DDL to another database system's equivalent (currently targeting H2, but any database that runs in-process in a Java environment and supports memory tables would be appropriate if I need to switch), and
then recreates them in a schema in the new database system.
Currently, I'm using mysqldump to perform the first part of the operation, and a sequence of string/regexp substitutions to perform the second.
The problem I have is that mysqldump is producing output with tables that have foreign keys before the tables they reference. This isn't a problem for mysql because in mysql you can just disable constraint checking and then create them -- unfortunately, while H2 does have an option for disabling constraints, it only applies to data changes and not table creation.
I'd really rather not have to parse the SQL enough to identify the correct order of the tables myself, as it seems at least vaguely tricky to do it right.
Therefore, is there either (1) any way to get mysqldump to produce the tables in the correct order or (2) an alternative approach to produce the correct order?
(I'm aware that it is at least theoretically possible to have a schema where no correct order is possible, but I know none of the schemas I'm likely to work with have this problem, so this isn't something I need to worry about)
I am facing a problem for a task I have to do at work.
I have a MySQL database which holds the information of several clients of my company and I have to create a backup/restore procedure to backup and restore such information for any single client. To clarify, if my client A is losing his data, I have to be able to recover such data being sure I am not modifying the data of client B, C, ...
I am not a DB administrator, so I don't know if I can do this using standard mysql tools (such as mysqldump) or any other backup tools (such as Percona Xtrabackup).
To backup, my research (and my intuition) led my to this possibile solution:
create the restore insert statement using the insert-select syntax (http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/insert-select.html);
save this inserts into a sql file, either in proper order or allowing this script to temporarily disable the foreign key checks to meet foreign keys' constraint;
of course, I do this for all my clients on a daily base, using a file for each client (and day).
Then, in the case I have to restore the data for a specific client:
I delete all his data left;
I restore the correct data using his sql file I created during the backup.
This way I believe I may recover the right data of client A without touching the data of client B. Is my solution eventually working? Is there any better way to achieve the same result? Or do you need more information about my problem?
Please, forgive me if this question is not well-formed, but I am new here and this is my first question so I may be unprecise...thanks anyway for the help.
Note: we will also backup the entire database with mysqldump.
You can use the --where parameter, you could provide a condition like *client_id=N* . Of course I am making an assumption since you don't provide any information on your schema.
If you have a Star schema , then you could probably write a small script that backups all lookup tables (considering they are adequately small) by using this parameter --tables and use the --where condition for your client data table. For additional performance, perhaps you could partition the table by the client_id.
Just some pointers here.
I am making fairly extensive modifications to a site, including the MySQL database.
My plan is to do everything on my development server, export the new MySQL structure for the db and import it onto the clients server.
Basically I need to know that performing a structure only import will not overwrite/delete existing data. I am not making changes to the data type or field length.
In my experience, when you export a database (through phpMyAdmin for instance), part of the SQL script that is created includes a "DROP TABLE IF EXISTS 'table_name';" before doing a "CREATE TABLE 'table_name'...;" to build the new table.
My guess is that this is not what you want to do! Certainly use the dev system to alter the structure in order to make everything correct, but then look around for a database synchronisation routine where you can provide the old structure, the new structure, and the software will create the appropriate "ALTER TABLE 'table_name'...;" scripts to make the required changes.
You should then really examine these change files before executing them on the live database, and of course BACKUP the live database, and ensure you are able to fully recover from the backup before starting any of the alterations!
I've had to do this a lot, and it always goes like this:
Make a backup of the live database, complete with data.
Make a backup of the live database schema only.
Calculate the differences between the old (live) schema and the new (devel) schema.
Create all of the 'ALTER TABLE ...' DDL statements necessary to upgrade from the old schema to the new one. Keep in mind that if you rename a field, you probably won't be able to just rename it -- you'll need to create the new field, copy the data from the old field, and then drop the old field.
If you changed relationships between tables, you'll probably need to drop indexes and foreign key relationships first, and then add them back afterwards.
You'll need to populate any new fields based upon their default values, if any.
Once you've got all the pieces working, you'll need to combine them into one large script, and then run it on a copy of the live database.
Dump the schema and compare it against the desired new schema -- if they don't match, go back to step 3 and repeat.
Dump the data and compare it against the expected changes -- again, if they don't match, go back to step 3 and repeat.
You're going to learn a lot more about SQL DDL/DML during this process than you ever thought you'd learn. (For one project, where we were switching from natural keys to UUID keys for 50+ tables, I ended up writing programs to generate all of the DDL/DML.)
Good luck, and make frequent backups.
I'd recommend to prepare a sql script for every change you do on development server, so you will be able to reproduce it on development. You shouldn't get to the point where you need to calculate differences between database structures
This is how I do it, all changes are reflected in sql scripts, and I can reconstruct the history of my database running all these files if needed.
Test the final release version on a "staging" mysql server. Make a copy of your production server on another machine and test your script to make sure everything's ok.
Of course, preliminary database backup is a must.
If I have a MySQL database with several tables on a live server, now I would like to migrate this database to another server. Of course, the migration I mean here involves some database tables, for example: add some new columns to several tables, add some new tables etc..
Now, the only method I can think of is to use some php/python(two scripts I know) script, connect two databases, dump the data from the old database, and then write into the new database. However, this method is not efficient at all. For example: in old database, table A has 28 columns; in new database, table A has 29 columns, but the extra column will have default value 0 for all the old rows. My script still needs to dump the data row by row and insert each row into the new database.
Using MySQLDump etc.. won't work. Here is the detail. For example: I have FOUR old databases, I can name them as 'DB_a', 'DB_b', 'DB_c', 'DB_d'. Now the old table A has 28 columns, I want to add each row in table A into the new database with a new column ID 'DB_x' (x to indicate which database it comes from). If I can't differentiate the database ID by the row's content, the only way I can identify them is going through some user input parameters.
Is there any tools or a better method than writing a script yourself? Here, I dont need to worry about multithread writing problems etc.., I mean the old database will be down (not open to public usage etc.., only for upgrade ) for a while.
Thanks!!
I don't entirely understand your situation with the columns (wouldn't it be more sensible to add any new columns after migration?), but one of the arguably fastest methods to copy a database across servers is mysqlhotcopy. It can copy myISAM only and has a number of other requirements, but it's awfully fast because it skips the create dump / import dump step completely.
Generally when you migrate a database to new servers, you don't apply a bunch of schema changes at the same time, for the reasons that you're running into right now.
MySQL has a dump tool called mysqldump that can be used to easily take a snapshot/backup of a database. The snapshot can then be copied to a new server and installed.
You should figure out all the changes that have been done to your "new" database, and write out a script of all the SQL commands needed to "upgrade" the old database to the new version that you're using (e.g. ALTER TABLE a ADD COLUMN x, etc). After you're sure it's working, take a dump of the old one, copy it over, install it, and then apply your change script.
Use mysqldump to dump the data, then echo output.txt > msyql. Now the old data is on the new server. Manipulate as necessary.
Sure there are tools that can help you achieving what you're trying to do. Mysqldump is a premier example of such tools. Just take a glance here:
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/mysqldump.html
What you could do is:
1) You make a dump of the current db, using mysqldump (with the --no-data option) to fetch the schema only
2) You alter the schema you have dumped, adding new columns
3) You create your new schema (mysql < dump.sql - just google for mysql backup restore for more help on the syntax)
4) Dump your data using the mysqldump complete-insert option (see link above)
5) Import your data, using mysql < data.sql
This should do the job for you, good luck!
Adding extra rows can be done on a live database:
ALTER TABLE [table-name] ADD [row-name] MEDIUMINT(8) default 0;
MySql will default all existing rows to the default value.
So here is what I would do:
make a copy of you're old database with MySql dump command.
run the resulting SQL file against you're new database, now you have an exact copy.
write a migration.sql file that will modify you're database with modify table commands and for complex conversions some temporary MySql procedures.
test you're script (when fail, go to (2)).
If all OK, then goto (1) and go live with you're new database.
These are all valid approaches, but I believe you want to write a sql statement that writes other insert statements that support the new columns you have.
I have a MySQL database running on a deployment machine which also contains data. Then I have another MySQL database which has evolved in terms of STRUCTURE + DATA for some time. I need a way to merge the changes (ONLY) for both structure and data to the DB in deployment machine without disturbing the existing data. Does anyone know of a tool available which can do this safely. I have had a look at a few comparison tools but I need a tool which can automate the merge operation. Note also that most of the data in the tables is in BINARY so I can't use many file comparison tools. Does any one know of a solution to this?
I doubt you can get around implementing your own diff & merge without paying a lot.
Read the structures on both databases, execute a few alter table [table] add column [foo] statements to update the structure, then port data line by line (SELECT * on old Database, UPDATE [new columns] WHERE [primary key conditions]).
There is no easier way to my knowledge.