Migrate data from a self-managed MySQL database to an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance - Data Transmission Service

This topic describes how to migrate data from a self-managed MySQL database to an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance by using Data Transmission Service (DTS). DTS supports schema migration, full data migration, and incremental data migration. When you migrate data from a self-managed MySQL database to Alibaba Cloud, you can select all the supported migration types to ensure service continuity.

Supported source and destination databases

You can use DTS to migrate data between the following types of MySQL databases. In this example, the source database is a self-managed MySQL database with a public IP address and the destination database is hosted in an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance. You can follow the procedure to configure data migration tasks for other types of MySQL databases.


Source database	Destination database
ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance Self-managed databases: Self-managed database with a public IP address Self-managed database that is hosted on Elastic Compute Service (ECS) Self-managed database that is connected over Express Connect, VPN Gateway, or Smart Access Gateway Self-managed database that is connected over Database Gateway	ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance Self-managed databases: Self-managed database with a public IP address Self-managed database that is hosted on Elastic Compute Service (ECS) Self-managed database that is connected over Express Connect, VPN Gateway, or Smart Access Gateway Self-managed database that is connected over Database Gateway

Prerequisites

The engine version of the self-managed MySQL database is 5.1, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, or 8.0.
The CIDR blocks of DTS servers are added to the IP address whitelist of the source MySQL database if the database is an on-premises database. This setting ensures that DTS servers can access the source MySQL database. For more information, see Add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the security settings of on-premises databases.
The destination ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance is created. For more information, see Create an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance.
The available storage space of the ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance is larger than the total size of the data in the self-managed MySQL database.

Limits

Note

During schema migration, DTS migrates foreign keys from the source database to the destination database.
During full data migration and incremental data migration, DTS temporarily disables the constraint check and cascade operations on foreign keys at the session level. If you perform the cascade and delete operations on the source database during data migration, data inconsistency may occur.


Category	Description
Limits on the source database	The server to which the source database belongs must have sufficient outbound bandwidth. Otherwise, the data migration speed decreases. The tables to be migrated must have PRIMARY KEY or UNIQUE constraints, and all fields must be unique. Otherwise, the destination database may contain duplicate data records. If you select tables as the objects to be migrated and you need to edit tables, such as renaming tables or columns, in the destination database, you can migrate up to 1,000 tables in a single data migration task. If you run a task to migrate more than 1,000 tables, a request error occurs. In this case, we recommend that you split the tables and configure multiple tasks to migrate the tables, or configure a task to migrate the entire database. If you want to migrate incremental data, make sure that the following requirements are met: The binary logging feature is enabled. The value of the binlog_format parameter is set to row. The value of the binlog_row_image parameter is set to full. Otherwise, error messages are returned during the precheck and the data migration task cannot be started. Important If the self-managed MySQL database is deployed in a dual-primary cluster, you must set log_slave_updates to ON. This ensures that Data Transmission Service (DTS) can obtain all binary logs. For an incremental data migration task, binary logs of the source database must be stored for more than 24 hours. For a full data and incremental data migration task, binary logs of the source database must be stored for at least seven days. After full data migration is complete, you can set the retention period to more than 24 hours. Otherwise, DTS may fail to obtain the binary logs and the task may fail. In exceptional circumstances, data inconsistency or loss may occur. Make sure that you set the retention period of binary logs based on the preceding requirements. Otherwise, the Service Level Agreement (SLA) of DTS does not ensure service reliability and performance. Limits on operations to be performed on the source database: During schema migration and full data migration, do not perform DDL operations to change the schemas of databases or tables. Otherwise, the data migration task fails. If you perform only full data migration, do not write data to the source database during data migration. Otherwise, data inconsistency between the source and destination databases may occur. To ensure data consistency, we recommend that you select schema migration, full data migration, and incremental data migration as the migration types.
Other limits	To ensure compatibility, we recommend that you use the same engine versions for the source and destination MySQL databases. Before you migrate data, evaluate the impact of data migration on the performance of the source and destination databases. We recommend that you migrate data during off-peak hours. During full data migration, DTS uses read and write resources of the source and destination databases. This may increase the loads on the database servers. During full data migration, concurrent INSERT operations cause fragmentation in the tables of the destination database. After full data migration is complete, the tablespace of the destination database is larger than that of the source database. You must make sure that the precision settings for columns of the FLOAT or DOUBLE data type meet your business requirements. DTS uses the `ROUND(COLUMN,PRECISION)` function to retrieve values from columns of the FLOAT or DOUBLE data type. If you do not specify a precision, DTS sets the precision for the FLOAT data type to 38 digits and the precision for the DOUBLE data type to 308 digits. DTS attempts to resume data migration tasks that failed within the last seven days. Before you switch workloads to the destination database, stop or release the data migration task. You can also execute the `REVOKE` statement to revoke the write permissions from the accounts used by DTS to access the destination database. Otherwise, the data in the source database will overwrite the data in the destination database after the failed task is resumed.
Special cases	If the source database is a self-managed MySQL database, take note of the following limits: If you perform a primary/secondary failover on the source database when the data migration task is running, the task fails. DTS calculates migration latency based on the timestamp of the latest migrated data in the destination database and the current timestamp in the source database. If no DML operation is performed on the source database for an extended period of time, the migration latency may be inaccurate. If the latency of the data migration task is excessively high, you can perform a DML operation on the source database to update the latency. Note If you select an entire database as the object to be migrated, you can create a heartbeat table. The heartbeat table is updated or receives data every second. DTS executes the CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS `test` statement in the source database as scheduled to move forward the binary log file position. If the destination database runs on an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance, take note of the following limits: DTS automatically creates a destination database in the ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance. However, if the name of the source database is invalid, you must manually create a database in the ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance before you configure the data migration task. For more information, see Create a database.

Billing


Migration type	Instance configuration fee	Internet traffic fee
Schema migration and full data migration	Free of charge.	Charged only when data is migrated from Alibaba Cloud over the Internet. For more information, see Billing overview.
Incremental data migration	Charged. For more information, see Billing overview.

Migration types

Schema migration
Data Transmission Service (DTS) migrates the schemas of objects from the source database to the destination database.
Note
- DTS supports schema migration for the following types of objects: table, view, trigger, stored procedure, and function.
- During schema migration, DTS changes the value of the SECURITY attribute from DEFINER to INVOKER for views, stored procedures, and functions.
- DTS does not migrate user information. To call a view, stored procedure, or function of the destination database, you must grant the read and write permissions to INVOKER.
Full data migration
DTS migrates the historical data of objects from the source database to the destination database.
Incremental data migration
After full data migration is complete, DTS migrates incremental data from the source database to the destination database. Incremental data migration allows data to be migrated smoothly without interrupting services of self-managed applications during data migration.

SQL operations that can be performed for incremental data migration


Operation type	SQL operation
DML	INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE
DDL	ALTER TABLE and ALTER VIEW CREATE FUNCTION, CREATE INDEX, CREATE PROCEDURE, CREATE TABLE, and CREATE VIEW DROP INDEX and DROP TABLE RENAME TABLE TRUNCATE TABLE

Permissions required for database accounts


Database	Schema migration	Full data migration	Incremental data migration
Self-managed MySQL database	SELECT permission	SELECT permission	SELECT permission on the objects to be migrated REPLICATION CLIENT, REPLICATION SLAVE, and SHOW VIEW permissions Permissions to create databases and tables. The permissions allow DTS to create a database named dts to record heartbeat data during migration.
ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance	Read and write permissions

For more information about how to create a database account and grant permissions to the database account, see the following topic:

Self-managed MySQL database: Create an account for a user-created MySQL database and configure binary logging
ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance: Create an account on an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance and Modify the permissions of a standard account on an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance

Procedure

Go to the Data Migration Tasks page.
1. Log on to the Data Management (DMS) console.
2. In the top navigation bar, click DTS.
3. In the left-side navigation pane, choose DTS (DTS) > Data Migration.
Note You can also go to the Data Migration Tasks page of the new DTS console.
From the drop-down list to the right of Data Migration Tasks, select the region in which the data migration instance resides.
Note If you use the new DTS console, select the region in which the data migration instance resides in the upper-left corner.

Click Create Task. On the page that appears, configure the source and destination databases.

Warning After you select the source and destination instances, we recommend that you read the limits displayed at the top of the page. This ensures that the data migration task can be successfully created and run.


Section	Parameter	Description
None	Task Name	The name of the task. DTS automatically generates a task name. We recommend that you specify an informative name to identify the task. You do not need to specify a unique task name.
Source Database	Select Instance	The instance that you want to use. You can choose whether to use an existing instance based on your business requirements. If you use an existing instance, DTS automatically applies the parameter settings of the instance. If you do not use an existing instance, you must configure parameters for the source database.
	Database Type	The type of the source database. Select MySQL.
	Access Method	The access method of the source database. Select an access method based on the deployment location of the source database. In this example, Public IP Address is selected. Note If you select other access methods, you must set up the environment that is required for the self-managed database. For more information, see Preparation overview.
	Instance Region	The region in which the source MySQL database resides.
	Hostname or IP address	The endpoint that is used to access the source MySQL database. In this example, the public IP address is entered.
	Port Number	The service port number of the source MySQL database. The port must be accessible over the Internet. Default value: 3306.
	Database Account	The account of the source MySQL database. For more information about the permissions that are required for the account, see Permissions required for database accounts.
	Database Password	The password of the database account.
Destination Database	Select Instance	The instance that you want to use. You can choose whether to use an existing instance based on your business requirements. If you use an existing instance, DTS automatically applies the parameter settings of the instance. If you do not use an existing instance, you must configure parameters for the destination database.
	Database Type	The type of the destination database. Select MySQL.
	Access Method	The access method of the destination instance. In this example, select Alibaba Cloud Instance.
	Instance Region	The region in which the destination ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance resides.
	RDS Instance ID	The ID of the destination ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance.
	Database Account	The database account of the destination instance. For information about the permissions that are required for the account, see Permissions required for database accounts.
	Database Password	The password of the database account.
	Encryption	Specifies whether to encrypt the connection to the source database. You can select Non-encrypted or SSL-encrypted based on your business requirements. If you want to select SSL-encrypted, you must enable SSL encryption for the ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance before you configure the data migration task. For more information, see Configure SSL encryption for an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance.

In the lower part of the page, click Test Connectivity and Proceed.
If a whitelist is configured for your self-managed database, add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the whitelist. Then, click Test Connectivity and Proceed.
Warning
- If the source or destination database is an Alibaba Cloud database instance, such as an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL or ApsaraDB for MongoDB, DTS automatically adds the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the whitelist of the instance. For more information, see Add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the security settings of on-premises databases. If the source or destination database is a self-managed database hosted on an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance, DTS automatically adds the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the security group rules of the ECS instance, and you need to manually add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the whitelist of the self-managed database on the ECS instance to allow DTS to access the database. If the source or destination database is a self-managed database that is deployed in a data center or provided by a third-party cloud service provider, you must manually add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the whitelist of the database to allow DTS to access the database.
- If the CIDR blocks of DTS servers are automatically or manually added to the whitelist or ECS security group rules, security risks may arise. Therefore, before you use DTS to migrate data, you must understand and acknowledge the potential risks and take preventive measures, including but not limited to the following measures: enhancing the security of your username and password, limiting the ports that are exposed, authenticating API calls, regularly checking the whitelist or ECS security group rules and forbidding unauthorized CIDR blocks, or connecting the database to DTS by using Express Connect, VPN Gateway, or Smart Access Gateway.
- After the DTS task is complete or released, we recommend that you manually remove the CIDR blocks from the whitelist or ECS security group rules. You must remove the IP address whitelist group whose name contains dts from the whitelist of the Alibaba Cloud database instance or the security group rules of the ECS instance. For more information about the CIDR blocks that you must remove from the whitelist of the self-managed databases that are deployed in data centers or databases that are hosted on third-party cloud services, see Add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the security settings of on-premises databases.

Configure objects to migrate and advanced settings.


Parameter	Description
Migration Type	To perform only full data migration, select Schema Migration and Full Data Migration. To ensure service continuity during data migration, select Schema Migration, Full Data Migration, and Incremental Data Migration. Note If Incremental Data Migration is not selected, we recommend that you do not write data to the source instance during data migration. This ensures data consistency between the source and destination instances.
Processing Mode of Conflicting Tables	Precheck and Report Errors: checks whether the destination database contains tables that have the same names as tables in the source database. If the source and destination databases do not contain tables that have the same names, the precheck is passed. Otherwise, an error is returned during the precheck, and the data migration task cannot be started. Note You can use the object name mapping feature to rename the tables that are migrated to the destination database. You can use this feature if the source and destination databases contain tables that have identical names and the tables in the destination database cannot be deleted or renamed. For more information, see Map object names. Ignore Errors and Proceed: skips the precheck for identical table names in the source and destination databases. Warning If you select Ignore Errors and Proceed, data inconsistency may occur, and your business may be exposed to potential risks. If the source and destination databases have the same schema, DTS does not migrate data records that have the same primary keys as data records in the destination database. If the source and destination databases have different schemas, only some columns are migrated or the data migration task fails.
Capitalization of Object Names in Destination Instance	The capitalization of database names, table names, and column names in the destination instance. By default, DTS default policy is selected. You can select other options to ensure that the capitalization of object names is consistent with that in the source or destination database. For more information, see Specify the capitalization of object names in the destination instance.
Source Objects	Select one or more objects from the Source Objects section. Click the icon and add the objects to the Selected Objects section. Note You can select columns, tables, or schemas as the objects to be migrated. If you select tables or columns as the objects to be migrated, DTS does not migrate other objects such as views, triggers, or stored procedures to the destination database.
Selected Objects	To rename an object that you want to migrate to the destination instance, right-click the object in the Selected Objects section. For more information, see Map the name of a single object. To rename multiple objects at a time, click Batch Edit in the upper-right corner of the Selected Objects section. For more information, see Map multiple object names at a time. Note If you use the object name mapping feature to rename an object, other objects that are dependent on the object may fail to be migrated. To specify WHERE conditions to filter data, right-click an object in the Selected Objects section. In the dialog box that appears, specify the conditions. For more information, see Use SQL conditions to filter data. To select the SQL operations performed on a specific database or table, right-click an object in the Selected Objects section. In the dialog box that appears, select the SQL operations that you want to migrate. For more information about the SQL operations that can be migrated, see SQL operations that can be performed for incremental data migration.

Click Next: Advanced Settings to configure advanced settings.


Parameter	Description
Set Alerts	Specifies whether to set alerts for the data migration task. If the task fails or the migration latency exceeds the threshold, the alert contacts will receive notifications. Valid values: No: does not set alerts. Yes: sets alerts. If you select Yes, you must also set the alert threshold and alert contacts. For more information, see Configure monitoring and alerting when you create a DTS task.
Copy the temporary table of the Online DDL tool that is generated in the source table to the destination database	If you use DMS or the gh-ost tool to perform online DDL operations on the source database, you can specify whether to migrate temporary tables generated by online DDL operations. Valid values: Important You cannot use tools such as pt-online-schema-change to perform online DDL operations on the source database. Otherwise, the DTS task fails. Yes: DTS migrates the data of temporary tables generated by online DDL operations. Note If online DDL operations generate a large amount of data, the data migration task may take an extended period of time to complete. No, Adapt to DMS Online DDL: DTS does not migrate the data of temporary tables generated by online DDL operations. Only the original DDL operations that are performed by using DMS are migrated. Note If you select this option, the tables in the destination database may be locked. No, Adapt to gh-ost: DTS does not migrate the data of temporary tables generated by online DDL operations. Only the original DDL operations that are performed by using the gh-ost tool are migrated. You can use the default or custom regular expressions to filter out the shadow tables of the gh-ost tool and tables that are not required. Note If you select this option, the tables in the destination database may be locked.
Retry Time for Failed Connections	The retry time range for failed connections. If the source or destination database fails to be connected after the data migration task is started, DTS immediately retries a connection within the time range. Valid values: 10 to 1440. Unit: minutes. Default value: 720. We recommend that you set the parameter to a value greater than 30. If DTS reconnects to the source and destination databases within the specified time range, DTS resumes the data migration task. Otherwise, the data migration task fails. Note If you specify different retry time ranges for multiple data migration tasks that have the same source or destination database, the shortest retry time range takes precedence. When DTS retries a connection, you are charged for the DTS instance. We recommend that you specify the retry time range based on your business needs. You can also release the DTS instance at your earliest opportunity after the source instance and the destination database are released.
Configure ETL	Specifies whether to configure the extract, transform, and load (ETL) feature. For more information, see What is ETL? Valid values: Yes: configures the ETL feature. You can enter data processing statements in the code editor. For more information, see Configure ETL in a data migration or data synchronization task. No: does not configure the ETL feature.
Whether to delete SQL operations on heartbeat tables of forward and reverse tasks	Specifies whether to write SQL operations on heartbeat tables to the source database while the DTS instance is running. Yes: does not write SQL operations on heartbeat tables. In this case, latency of the DTS instance may be displayed. No: writes SQL operations on heartbeat tables. In this case, features such as physical backup and cloning of the source database may be affected.

In the lower part of the page, click Next: Save Task Settings and Precheck.
Note
- Before you can start the data migration task, DTS performs a precheck. You can start the data migration task only after the task passes the precheck.
- If the task fails to pass the precheck, click View Details next to each failed item. After you troubleshoot the issues based on the causes, run a precheck again.
- If an alert is triggered for an item during the precheck:
  If an alert item cannot be ignored, click View Details next to the failed item and troubleshoot the issues. Then, run a precheck again.
  If an alert item can be ignored, click Confirm Alert Details. In the View Details dialog box, click Ignore. In the message that appears, click OK. Then, click Precheck Again to run a precheck again. If you ignore the alert item, data inconsistency may occur, and your business may be exposed to potential risks.
Wait until the Success Rate value becomes 100%. Then, click Next: Purchase Instance.

On the Purchase Instance page, specify the Instance Class parameter for the data migration instance. The following table describes the parameter.


Section	Parameter	Description
New Instance Class	Instance Class	DTS provides several instance classes that vary in the migration speed. You can select an instance class based on your business scenario. For more information, see Specifications of data migration instances.

Read and select the check box to agree to Data Transmission Service (Pay-as-you-go) Service Terms.
Click Buy and Start to start the data migration task. You can view the progress of the task in the task list.