This topic describes the feature updates and documentation changes for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL.
For RDS kernel version updates, see ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL AliSQL kernel minor version release notes.
2025
December
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | Documentation |
New feature | DuckDB-based analytical primary instance | ApsaraDB RDS supports DuckDB-based analytical primary instances that can be individually deployed. This instance type deeply integrates the DuckDB engine into the MySQL kernel, leveraging columnar storage and vectorized execution to deliver analytical query performance over 100x faster than the standard MySQL InnoDB engine. Additionally, its use of columnar storage significantly reduces storage costs through efficient compression. The instance fully retains the features of RDS for MySQL, ensuring seamless compatibility with the existing MySQL ecosystem and your workflows. You can operate this instance just like a regular RDS for MySQL instance, enjoying both robust transactional support and high-performance real-time analytics in a single solution. This empowers you to accelerate data-driven decision-making for your enterprise. | 12-04 |
November
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | Documentation |
New feature | Native vector support | Introduced native, enterprise-grade vector data capabilities. This feature supports storing high‑dimensional floating‑point vectors (up to 16,383 dimensions) and performing similarity search via built‑in vector functions. Powered by an optimized HNSW algorithm for high-performance retrieval, it facilitates the rapid deployment of AI applications, such as knowledge base retrieval, semantic search, and recommendation systems—directly within the MySQL ecosystem. | 11-28 | |
Enhancement | DuckDB-based analytical read-only instance | Updated instance specifications for DuckDB-based analytical read-only instances (High-availability Edition). New cost-effective general-purpose types were added, and dedicated instance types were upgraded to provide broader options. | 11-01 |
October
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | Documentation |
New feature | New zone in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) | Added Zone C to the Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) region. The region now supports three zones, enabling three-zone disaster recovery architectures for high-compliance industries such as finance. | 10-30 | - |
New feature | New zone in UAE (Dubai) | Added Zone B to the UAE (Dubai) region. The region now supports two zones, allowing for high-availability cross-zone disaster recovery architectures. | 10-30 | - |
Enhancement | Blue-green deployment | Expanded Blue-Green Deployment support. In addition to MySQL 5.7 to 8.0 upgrades, the feature now supports major version upgrades from 5.6 to 5.7 and 5.6 to 8.0. | 10-15 | |
New feature | HTAP-based automatic query routing | If your business requires both high-concurrency online transaction processing (OLTP) and complex online analytical processing (OLAP), you can add DuckDB-based analytical read-only instances to your RDS for MySQL instance. This setup allows you to implement HTAP-based query routing through a database proxy. OLAP queries are routed to the DuckDB-based analytical read-only instances, while OLTP queries are routed to the primary RDS instance or regular read-only instances. This architecture enables enterprise users efficiently handle HTAP queries. | 10-14 |
September
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | Documentation |
Enhancement | Increased Connection/IOPS limits | Starting from September 19, 2025 (Singapore Time), the default maximum connections and maximum IOPS for specific RDS for MySQL dedicated instances using high-performance local disks (Premium Local SSDs) are increased. | 09-19 | |
New feature | Performance burst | Commercialized the Performance Burst feature. Starting from September 16, 2025 (Singapore time), usage of the performance burst feature is billable. For more information, see the official billing announcement. | 09-02 |
August
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | Documentation |
New feature | New instance types for Premium Local SSDs | Introduced multiple new primary instance types for architectures using Premium Local SSDs. The maximum storage capacity for these instances has been increased to 16,000 GB. | 08-27 | |
New feature | DuckDB-based analytical instance | Released DuckDB-based analytical instance. These instances utilize columnar storage and vectorization to deliver up to 100x performance improvements for complex analytic queries, enabling real-time analytics on large datasets. | 08-06 | |
New feature | Blue-green deployment | Released Blue-green deployment for seamless major version upgrades. This feature creates a synchronized staging environment (Green) alongside the production environment (Blue) for verification, enabling fast switchovers and rollbacks with minimal service interruption. Important This feature is currently available only to whitelisted users. Submit a ticket to request access. After your request is approved, you can use the feature. | 08-01 |
July
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | Documentation |
Enhancement | Custom password policy | Added support for the | 07-25 | |
New feature | Global Active Database | Released Global Active Database (GAD). Built on RDS and Data Transmission Service (DTS), GAD provides a unified solution for cross-region disaster recovery and multi-active deployments. | 07-09 |
June
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | Documentation |
Enhancement | Improved SLA | Improved the Service Level Agreement (SLA) for multi-zone deployments of High-availability and Cluster Editions. The SLA is now 99.995% for dual-zone deployments and 99.997% for deployments across three or more zones. | 06-15 | [Product/Feature Change] SLA for ApsaraDB RDS multi-zone deployment instances is improved |
May
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | Documentation |
New feature | New primary instance specification | Added a 128-core, 512 GB specification ( | 05-29 | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Standard Edition (formerly x86) primary instance types |
New feature | New read-only instance specification | Added a 128-core, 512 GB specification ( | 05-15 | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Standard Edition (formerly x86) read-only instance types |
Enhancement | Proxy retention during upgrade | Supported retaining the database proxy configuration when upgrading an instance from High-availability Edition to Cluster Edition. | 05-12 |
April
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | Documentation |
Enhancement | Maximum storage capacity of Premium Local SSDs | Increased the maximum storage capacity to 16,000 GB for all instances using Premium Local SSDs, including both primary and read-only instances. | 04-15 | |
New feature | Instant ADD COLUMN | Released | 04-14 |
February
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | Documentation |
Enhancement | SSL encryption | Added support for mandatory SSL encryption on RDS for MySQL 8.0 instances. This mode is compatible with direct MySQL connections. | 02-25 | |
New feature | Storage compression | Added storage compression support for instances using Premium ESSDs and Premium Local SSDs, allowing data compression at the storage layer to reduce costs. | 02-25 | |
New feature | Proxy consistency levels | Added support for configuring consistency levels in the database proxy ( read/write (read/write splitting) mode). Supported levels include eventual consistency, session consistency, and global consistency. | 02-24 | |
Enhancement | Increased Premium Local SSD storage capacity | This applies to both primary and read-only instances. Increased the maximum storage capacity from 6,000 GB to 8,000 GB for High-availability Edition instances (32+ cores) using Premium Local SSDs. | 02-21 |
January
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | Documentation |
Enhancement | Disk encryption | Expanded disk encryption support. Previously limited to new instances, disk encryption can now be enabled on existing instances. | 01-17 | |
Enhancement | SSL encryption | Added support for mandatory SSL encryption on RDS for MySQL 5.7 instances. This mode is compatible with direct MySQL connections. | 01-08 |
2024
December
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
Optimized | Disk encryption | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Basic Edition instances now support free disk encryption. You can enable this feature when you create an instance. This feature encrypts all data on the data disk at the block storage level, effectively ensuring your data security. | 12-18 | |
New | RDS native replication | Native replication instances are a new, cost-effective, and self-managed product form for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL in the cloud-native era. Through multi-layer capabilities in the kernel and control plane, it achieves key features such as network and permission compatibility. It also supports the use of native MySQL replication commands for replication and node topology management. | 12-06 | |
New | 16KB atomic write | After you enable the 16KB atomic write feature for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL, the atomicity of each data page write is ensured. This lets you safely disable the InnoDB doublewrite mechanism. This not only reduces I/O writes but also simplifies the dirty page flushing process. It significantly lowers the IOPS and bandwidth requirements for disk writes, which improves the write performance of the instance. | 12-03 |
November
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
Optimized | Maximum IOPS for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances with Premium Local SSDs increased | The maximum IOPS for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances with Premium Local SSDs, including primary and read-only instances, is increased to 150,000. This IOPS increase does not incur any additional fees. | 11-29 | |
New | Support for setting the minimum number of retained instances in the database proxy | By setting the minimum number of retained instances, the cluster can retain a certain number of read-only nodes to process read requests in case of an anomaly, such as a primary node breakdown or replication interruption on a read-only node. | 11-26 | |
Optimized | Support for changing the key for encrypted cloud disks | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL dedicated instances support changing the cloud disk encryption key. | 11-22 | |
New | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL High-availability Edition instances with cloud disks support TDE | The transparent data encryption (TDE) feature of ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL now supports High-availability Edition instances with cloud disks, enabling real-time I/O encryption and decryption of data files. | 11-14 |
October
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
New | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL database proxy supports cross-zone deployment and nearest access | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL supports cross-zone deployment of the database proxy and adds the nearest access feature. This new feature allows applications, proxy nodes, and read-only nodes to be in the same zone, minimizing latency. | 10-22 | |
New | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Standard Edition primary instance type | 64-core 128 GB (mysql.x2.8xlarge.xc) and 64-core 256 GB (mysql.x4.8xlarge.xc) instance types are added for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Standard Edition (formerly x86) Cluster Edition. | 10-18 | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Standard Edition (formerly x86) primary instance types |
September
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
New | Database and table restoration | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Cluster Edition instances support the database and table restoration feature. You can use this feature for quick correction after accidental operations and for analyzing historical data. | 09-14 | |
Optimized | Column encryption | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL now supports setting column encryption rules and related user role permissions through the console, not just through SQL. | 09-13 | |
Optimized | Upgrade database version | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL supports upgrading Cluster Edition instances and High-availability Edition instances with read-only instances from 5.7 to 8.0. | 09-01 | Upgrade the major engine version of an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance |
August
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
Optimized | Add nodes to a cluster instance | When adding a node to an RDS Cluster Edition instance, you can select an instance type different from that of the primary instance. | 08-30 | |
New | Database proxy | Database proxy versions 2.9.1 and later support setting a connection pool and latency threshold for endpoints with the read-only attribute. | 08-29 | |
New | Database proxy | The purchase page supports enabling the database proxy feature. | 08-13 | |
New | Database proxy | Starting from August 1, 2024, the 2.9.1 update for the ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL database proxy adds support for persistent connections during failovers. This reduces the risk of database connection interruptions and improves the reliability of database connections. | 08-01 |
July
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
Optimized | Automatic performance scaling | The automatic performance scaling feature of ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL now supports High-availability Edition general-purpose instances with Premium Local SSDs. When database traffic increases due to business growth, data volume increases, or new services, scaling up the database compute resources (CPU and memory) is an effective solution. The High-availability Edition general-purpose instances of ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL with cloud disks and Premium Local SSDs support automatic scaling of compute resources to quickly adapt to peak traffic. It also supports scaling in when traffic decreases to avoid resource waste. | 07-05 | |
New | Custom certificate SSL | The SSL encryption feature can encrypt data transmitted between ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL and a client to prevent data from being monitored, intercepted, and tampered with by third parties. When configuring SSL encryption for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL, you can now use a custom certificate in addition to the cloud certificate provided by Alibaba Cloud. | 07-02 |
June
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
New | zero-ETL | ApsaraDB RDS provides the zero-ETL feature to synchronize RDS data to a data warehouse, such as AnalyticDB for MySQL or ClickHouse. You do not need to build or maintain a data synchronization link, and the data synchronization link is free of charge. This reduces data transmission and O&M costs. | 06-30 | |
New | YiTian Edition |
| 06-30 | |
New | Persistent connections | Starting from June 27, 2024, the database proxy for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Cluster Edition supports persistent connections. | 06-27 | |
New | Read-only instances | Starting from June 20, 2024, ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL introduces Standard Edition read-only instance types for the Basic Edition. To offload database pressure, you can create one or more read-only instances to handle many database read requests and increase the throughput of your application. | 06-20 | |
New | MySQL major engine version upgrade | A pre-check feature for MySQL major engine version upgrades is added. | 06-20 | |
New | Premium ESSD | Alibaba Cloud RDS Premium ESSD is a new storage type supported by ApsaraDB RDS. In addition to being compatible with all features of enterprise SSDs (ESSDs), Premium ESSDs support performance burst, Buffer Pool Extension (BPE), and data archiving to OSS. | 06-20 | |
New | Serverless | Instances with Premium ESSDs support conversion between pay-as-you-go and Serverless. | 06-06 | |
New | Serverless | Serverless supports disk encryption. | 06-06 | |
Optimized | MySQL major engine version upgrade | The logical check for SSL is removed from the MySQL major engine version upgrade process. | 06-03 |
May
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
New | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL 5.7 supports YiTian Edition | YiTian Edition is based on Alibaba Cloud's self-developed YiTian ARM chip. It is dedicated to providing highly cost-effective instance types to help users quickly establish database instances and reduce IT investment costs. | 05-29 | |
New | YiTian Edition primary instance types | New available region for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL YiTian Edition: China (Hong Kong) Zone D | 05-20 | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL YiTian Edition (formerly ARM) primary instance types |
New | Migrate database proxy zone | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL supports migrating the zone of a database proxy instance. You can migrate the database proxy to another zone within the region of the RDS instance. | 05-16 |
April
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
New | New purchase page | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL supports a new purchase method, which is simpler and more convenient than the old version. | 04-29 | |
New | Cross-region backup and recovery | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Cluster Edition instances now support cross-region backup and recovery. After you enable cross-region backup, the system automatically backs up data to another region. This can be used for regulatory compliance or disaster recovery. | 04-23 | |
New | Download backup | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL cloud disk instances support downloading backup files in CSV format with table headers. This can be used for data analytics or offline archiving. You can also restore the downloaded CSV or SQL format backup files to a self-managed MySQL database. | 04-15 | |
Optimized | Serverless instances | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Serverless instances are now available in 20 more regions: South Korea (Seoul) Zone A Thailand (Bangkok) Zone A Philippines (Manila) Zone A Japan (Tokyo) Zones A and B Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) Zone B US (Silicon Valley) Zones A and B US (Virginia) Zones A and B UK (London) Zones A and B China (Shanghai) Zones M, N, E, G, F, B, and L China (Beijing) Zones L, I, H, G, and K China (Hangzhou) Zones J and K China (Qingdao) Zone C China (Zhangjiakou) Zones A, B, and C China (Hohhot) Zones A and B China (Ulanqab) Zones A, B, and C China (Shenzhen) Zones E and F China (Heyuan) Zones A and B China (Guangzhou) Zones A and B China (Chengdu) Zones A and B | 04-13 |
March
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
New | Major engine version upgrade for cloud disk instances | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Basic Edition instances with ESSDs and High-availability Edition instances with ESSDs (excluding read-only instances) support upgrading the database version from 5.7 to 8.0. | 03-28 | Upgrade the major engine version of an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance |
Optimized | Change configuration | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL supports changing the storage type from Premium Local SSD to ESSD to obtain better elasticity. | 03-20 | Change the storage type from Premium Local SSD to cloud disk |
February
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
Optimized | SSL encryption | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Basic Edition instances support SSL encryption. | 02-26 | |
New | Confidential database | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL adds the confidential database feature. This feature provides an encryption solution that ensures your data security in compliance with data protection regulations, protecting your data from unauthorized access. | 02-22 |
January
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
Optimized | Set point-in-time recovery policy | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL supports point-in-time recovery (PITR), which is an upgraded version of the original log backup feature. By enabling the Point-in-time Restore switch and setting the Point-in-time Restore Period, you can restore data to any point in time within the specified period. This can solve the problem of a significantly shortened recoverable time range caused by the expiration and cleanup of the earliest full backup set. | 01-30 | |
Optimized | ESSD | The maximum storage capacity supported by ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL ESSDs (PL1 ESSD, PL2 ESSD, PL3 ESSD) is changed from 32 TB to 64 TB. | 01-29 | |
New | Basic Edition instances add YiTian and Standard Edition instance types | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Basic Edition adds 1-core 1 GB, 1-core 2 GB, 2-core 2 GB, and 2-core 4 GB YiTian Edition instance types. Taking the Singapore region as an example, the monthly compute price for the new 1-core 1 GB and 1-core 2 GB ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances is only 3 USD and 4 USD, respectively. Annual prices are more favorable. Purchase now ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Basic Edition adds 4-core 8 GB and 8-core 16 GB Standard Edition instance types. | 01-05 | |
New | Whitelist template | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL adds the whitelist template feature. You can configure rules in an IP whitelist template and then quickly associate the whitelist rules with multiple ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances. | 01-03 |
2023
December
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
New | Binlog Cache Free Flush | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL adds the Binlog Cache Free Flush feature. It effectively resolves issues where large transaction commits cause excessive binary logging time, or cause the instance to become unwritable or hang for a long time, improving instance stability. | 12-28 | |
New | Set backup retention policy after instance release | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL (including Serverless) cloud disk instances support long-term retention of backups. By setting a retention policy for backup files after the instance is released, the backup files will be retained for a long time even if the instance is released. | 12-25 | |
New | Database proxy | The database proxy for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL High-availability Edition instances with cloud disks adds a persistent connection feature. It ensures that connections from applications accessing the database through the proxy endpoint are not interrupted when an active switchover of the RDS instance occurs, further improving product availability. | 12-15 | |
New | Database proxy | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL adds a general-purpose database proxy (free of charge). | 12-15 |
October
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
Optimized | Cluster Edition instances | Cluster Edition ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances support direct connection endpoints for cluster nodes. | 10-20 | |
Optimized | Cluster Edition instances | The number of secondary nodes supported by Cluster Edition ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances is increased from 4 to 8 (1 primary and 8 secondary nodes, for a total of 9 nodes). | 10-20 | |
Optimized | Serverless instances | High-availability Edition ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Serverless instances support minor engine version upgrades. | 10-20 | Upgrade the minor engine version of an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance |
Optimized | Serverless instances | When creating or configuring an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Serverless instance, the RCU range is changed from [0.5, 16] to [0.5, 32], with a maximum support of 32 RCU. | 10-18 |
September
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
Optimized | Serverless instances | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Serverless instances support the High-availability Edition. | 09-25 | |
Optimized | Serverless instances | When creating or configuring an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Serverless instance, the RCU range is changed from [0.5, 8] to [0.5, 16], with a maximum support of 16 RCU. | 09-15 |
August
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
New | Parameter diagnostics | Diagnose the parameters of a database instance, providing static parameter diagnostic results and a 7-day history of parameter modifications. | 08-07 |
June
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
New | Set instance parameters | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL supports modifying the innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit and sync_binlog parameters. | 06-25 | Adjust the innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit and sync_binlog parameters |
April
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
Optimized | Change configuration | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Basic Edition or High-availability Edition instances with cloud disks support manual scale-in of ESSD storage. | 04-21 | |
Optimized | Automatic storage expansion | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Cluster Edition instances support automatic storage expansion. | 04-19 | |
Optimized | Change configuration | You can change the architecture of an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance between x86 and ARM. | 04-17 | |
Optimized | Cluster Edition instances | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL 5.7 and 8.0 support Cluster Edition instances. These instances support a high-availability deployment of up to one primary node and four secondary nodes. The secondary nodes are readable. | 04-14 | |
Optimized | Replication mode | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL Cluster Edition instances support MySQL Group Replication (MGR). | 04-14 | |
Optimized | Upgrade edition | You can upgrade ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL 8.0 and 5.7 High-availability Edition instances with ESSDs to Cluster Edition instances. | 04-14 | Upgrade an instance from High-availability Edition to Cluster Edition |
New | ARM architecture instances | ApsaraDB RDS supports creating ARM-based MySQL instances. | 04-03 |
March
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
Optimized | High-frequency physical backup | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL 8.0 High-availability Edition instances with Premium Local SSDs support high-frequency physical backup. You can enable this feature to achieve a higher backup frequency. | 03-29 | |
Optimized | Create instance | You can now specify the instance port when creating an RDS instance. | 03-16 |
February
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
New | Database and table restoration | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL cloud disk instances now support fast restoration for individual databases and tables. You can restore specified databases or tables to the original instance from a backup set or to a point in time. This is useful for quickly correcting data after accidental operations and for analyzing historical data. | 02-15 | |
New | Performance Insight (New Version) | Based on MySQL's performance_schema, this feature aggregates SQL information to assess the load on the target database, identify the source of performance issues, provide corresponding governance solutions, and improve database stability. | 02-07 |
January
Type | Feature | Description | Release date | References |
Optimized | Monitoring and alerting | In addition to the Classic View, the system now provides diagnostic views for common issue scenarios. You can use the trends of key metrics in these views to quickly locate the cause of problems. | 01-13 | |
New | Set instance parameters | ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances with cloud disks support modifying the maximum connection parameters, including max_user_connections and max_connections. | 01-03 | |
New | Task Hub | ApsaraDB RDS adds the Task Hub feature. After performing an operation on an instance, you can view the current task progress and historical task details in the RDS Task Hub. You can also modify the execution time of some switchover operations. | 01-03 |