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Data Transmission Service:Migrate PolarDB-X 2.0 to ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL

Last Updated:Aug 21, 2026

This topic describes how to use DTS to migrate data from a PolarDB-X 2.0 instance to an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance.

Prerequisites

  • You have created a source PolarDB-X 2.0 instance.

  • You have created a target ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance. For more information, see QuickCreate an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance.

  • The target ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance must have more storage space than is used by the source PolarDB-X 2.0 instance.

Precautions

Note
  • DTS migrates foreign keys during schema migration.

  • During full and incremental data migration, DTS temporarily disables constraint checks and foreign key cascades at the session level. Cascade updates or deletes on the source database while the task runs may cause data inconsistency.

Type

Description

Source database limitations

  • The server that hosts the source database must have sufficient outbound bandwidth. Insufficient bandwidth slows down data migration.

  • Enterprise Edition PolarDB-X 2.0 read-only instances are not supported as a source database.

  • Tables to be migrated must have a PRIMARY KEY or a UNIQUE constraint, and the fields in the key or constraint must be unique. Otherwise, this may cause duplicate data in the destination database.

  • If you migrate objects at the table level and need to edit them, for example, by mapping column names, a single data migration task supports a maximum of 1,000 tables. If you exceed this limit, the task submission will fail. In this case, split the tables into multiple data migration tasks or configure a task to migrate the entire database.

  • For incremental data migration, the source database must meet the following binary log requirements:

    • Enable the binary log feature, and set the binlog_row_image parameter to full. Otherwise, the precheck fails and the data migration task cannot start.

    • For incremental data migration tasks, DTS requires that the binary logs of the source database be retained for at least 24 hours. For tasks that include both full data migration and incremental data migration, the binary logs must be retained for at least 7 days. You can change the retention period to 24 hours after the full data migration is complete. If the binary logs are not retained for the required period, DTS may fail to obtain them, which can cause task failures or even data inconsistency and loss. The DTS SLA does not cover issues caused by an insufficient binary log retention period.

  • If a table name in the PolarDB-X 2.0 instance contains uppercase letters, only schema migration is supported for that table.

  • Operational limitations on the source database:

    • During schema migration and full data migration, do not perform DDL operations that change the database or table schema. Otherwise, the data migration task will fail.

      Note

      During full data migration, DTS queries the source database. This action places a metadata lock, which may block DDL operations on the source database.

    • If you need to change the network type of the PolarDB-X 2.0 instance during migration, you must update the network connection information of the migration task after the change is complete.

    • If you perform only full data migration, do not write new data to the source database during the migration. Otherwise, data will become inconsistent between the source and destination databases. To maintain real-time data consistency, select schema migration, full data migration, and incremental data migration.

  • Migration of table groups (TABLEGROUP) and databases or tables with the Locality attribute is not supported.

  • Migration of tables whose names are reserved words, such as select, is not supported.

  • In a PolarDB-X 2.0 instance, database partitions in DRDS mode are not supported for synchronization.

  • During the operation of a DTS migration task, changing the type of a broadcast table in the source PolarDB-X 2.0 instance (for example, changing a broadcast table to a regular table or a sharded table) is not supported. To change the table type, stop the migration task first, and then reconfigure the migration task after the change is complete.

Other limitations

  • Evaluate the performance of the source and destination databases before you start migration. We recommend that you perform data migration during off-peak hours because DTS consumes read and write resources on both databases during full data migration, which increases database load.

  • During full data migration, concurrent INSERT operations can cause table fragmentation in the destination database. As a result, tables in the destination database may occupy more storage space than those in the source database.

  • DTS attempts to recover failed tasks for up to seven days. Before you switch your workloads to the destination database, end or release the task, or revoke the write permissions of the DTS account on the destination database by using the REVOKE command. This prevents DTS from overwriting data in the destination database if the task is automatically recovered.

  • If your data includes four-byte characters—such as rare Chinese characters or emojis—the destination database and table must use the utf8mb4 charset.

    Note

    If you use DTS to migrate schemas, set the instance-level parameter character_set_server to utf8mb4 in the destination database.

  • If a DDL statement fails to execute on the destination database, the DTS task continues to run. Check the task log for the failed DDL statement. For more information, see View task logs.

  • If you write columns with identical names but different cases into the same table in the destination MySQL database, unexpected results may occur. MySQL column names are case-insensitive.

  • After migration completes—the task status is Status and the status changes to Completed—run analyze table <table_name> to confirm all data is written to the destination table. For example, after a high-availability (HA) switchover in the destination MySQL database, data may remain in memory and never reach disk, causing data loss.

  • If a task fails, DTS support staff will attempt to restore it within eight hours. During restoration, they may restart the task or adjust its parameters.

    Note

    Only DTS task parameters are modified—not database parameters. Parameters that may be adjusted include those listed in Modify instance parameters.

Other precautions

  • DTS periodically updates the dts_health_check.ha_health_check table in the source database to advance the binlog position.

  • When the destination database is ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL

    DTS automatically creates a database in ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL. If the name of the database to be migrated does not comply with the naming conventions of ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL, you must create the database in ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL before you configure the data migration task. For more information, see Manage databases.

Billing

Migration type

Instance configuration fee

Internet traffic fee

Schema migration and full data migration

Free of charge.

When the Access Method parameter of the destination database is set to Public IP Address, you are charged for Internet traffic. For more information, see Billing overview.

Incremental data migration

Charged. For more information, see Billing overview.

Migration types

  • Schema migration

    DTS migrates the schema definitions of the migration objects from the source database to the destination database.

  • Full migration

    DTS migrates all historical data of the specified migration objects from the source database to the destination database.

  • Incremental migration

    After a full migration is complete, DTS migrates incremental data updates from the source database to the destination database. Incremental migration lets you smoothly migrate data without interrupting your self-managed applications.

Supported SQL operations

Type

SQL statement

DML

INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE

DDL

  • ALTER TABLE

  • CREATE FUNCTION, CREATE INDEX, and CREATE TABLE

    Note

    If the source database is an Enterprise Edition PolarDB-X 2.0 instance, CREATE FUNCTION and CREATE INDEX operations are not migrated.

  • DROP INDEX and DROP TABLE

  • RENAME TABLE

    Note

    The RENAME TABLE operation may cause data inconsistency. For example, if you select only a specific table as the migration object and that table is renamed in the source database during the migration, the data migration task does not migrate its data to the destination database. To prevent this issue, select the entire database that contains the table as the migration object when you configure the data migration task.

  • TRUNCATE TABLE

Permission requirements for database accounts

Database

Schema migration

Full migration

Incremental migration

PolarDB-X 2.0 instance

SELECT permission

SELECT permission

REPLICATION SLAVE and REPLICATION CLIENT permissions, and SELECT permission on the objects to be migrated.

Note

For information on how to grant permissions, see Account permission issues during data synchronization.

ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance

read and write permissions

To create database accounts and grant permissions:

For an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance, see Create an account and Modify account permissions.

Procedure

  1. Navigate to the migration task list page for the destination region using one of the following methods.

    From the DTS console

    1. Log on to the Data Transmission Service (DTS) console.

    2. In the navigation pane on the left, click Data Migration.

    3. In the upper-left corner of the page, select the region where the migration instance is located.

    From the DMS console

    Note

    The actual operations may vary based on the mode and layout of the DMS console. For more information, see Simple mode console and Customize the layout and style of the DMS console.

    1. Log on to the Data Management (DMS) console.

    2. In the top menu bar, choose Data + AI > Data Transmission (DTS) > Data Migration.

    3. To the right of Data Migration Tasks, select the region where the migration instance is located.

  2. Click Create Task to navigate to the task configuration page.

  3. Configure the source and destination databases.

    Warning

    After you select the source and destination instances, we recommend that you carefully read the limits displayed at the top of the page. Otherwise, the task may fail or data inconsistency may occur.

    Category

    Parameter

    Description

    N/A

    Task Name

    DTS automatically generates a task name. We recommend that you specify a descriptive name for easy identification. The name does not need to be unique.

    Source Database

    Select Existing Connection

    • To use a database instance that has been added to the system (created or saved), select the desired database instance from the drop-down list. The database information below will be automatically configured.

      Note

      In the DMS console, this parameter is named Select a DMS database instance..

    • If you have not registered the database instance with the system, or do not need to use a registered instance, manually configure the database information below.

    Database Type

    Select PolarDB-X 2.0.

    Access Method

    Select Alibaba Cloud Instance.

    Instance Region

    Select the region where the source PolarDB-X 2.0 instance is located.

    Replicate Data Across Alibaba Cloud Accounts

    If you are migrating data within the same Alibaba Cloud account, select No.

    Instance ID

    Select the instance ID of the source PolarDB-X 2.0 instance.

    Database Account

    Enter the database account of the source PolarDB-X 2.0 instance. For more information about the required permissions, see Permission requirements for database accounts.

    Database Password

    Enter the password for the database account.

    Destination Database

    Select Existing Connection

    • To use a database instance that has been added to the system (created or saved), select the desired database instance from the drop-down list. The database information below will be automatically configured.

      Note

      In the DMS console, this parameter is named Select a DMS database instance..

    • If you have not registered the database instance with the system, or do not need to use a registered instance, manually configure the database information below.

    Database Type

    Select MySQL.

    Access Method

    Select Alibaba Cloud Instance.

    Instance Region

    Select the region where the destination ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance is located.

    Replicate Data Across Alibaba Cloud Accounts

    If you are migrating data within the same Alibaba Cloud account, select No.

    RDS Instance ID

    Select the instance ID of the destination ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance.

    Database Account

    Enter the database account of the destination ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance. For more information about the required permissions, see Permission requirements for database accounts.

    Database Password

    Enter the password for the database account.

    Connection Method

    Select Non-encrypted or SSL-encrypted based on your database requirements. If you set this parameter to SSL-encrypted, you must enable SSL encryption for the RDS for MySQL instance beforehand. For more information, see Quickly enable SSL encryption using a cloud certificate.

  4. After you complete the configuration, click Test Connectivity and Proceed at the bottom of the page.

    Note
    • Ensure that the IP address segment of the DTS service is automatically or manually added to the security settings of the source and destination databases to allow access from DTS servers. For more information, see Add DTS server IP addresses to a whitelist.

    • If the source or destination database is a self-managed database (the Access Method is not Alibaba Cloud Instance), you must also click Test Connectivity in the CIDR Blocks of DTS Servers dialog box that appears.

  5. Configure the task objects.

    1. On the Configure Objects page, configure the objects that you want to migrate.

      Parameter

      Description

      Migration Types

      • If you only need to perform a full migration, select both Schema Migration and Full Data Migration.

      • To perform a migration with no downtime, select Schema Migration, Full Data Migration, and Incremental Data Migration.

      Note
      • If you do not select Schema Migration, you must ensure that a database and tables to receive the data exist in the destination database. You can also use the object name mapping feature in the Selected Objects box as needed.

      • If you do not select Incremental Data Migration, do not write new data to the source instance during data migration to ensure data consistency.

      Processing Mode for Existing Destination Tables

      • Precheck and Report Errors: Checks whether tables with the same names exist in the destination database. If no tables with the same names exist, the precheck is passed. If tables with the same names exist, an error is reported during the precheck, and the data migration task does not start.

        Note

        If a table in the destination database has the same name but cannot be easily deleted or renamed, you can change the name of the table in the destination database. For more information, see Object name mapping.

      • Ignore Errors and Proceed: Skips the check for tables with the same names.

        Warning

        Selecting Ignore Errors and Proceed may cause data inconsistency and business risks. For example:

        • If the table schemas are consistent and a record in the destination database has the same primary key value as a record in the source database:

          • During full migration, DTS keeps the record in the destination database. The record from the source database is not migrated.

          • During incremental migration, DTS does not keep the record in the destination database. The record from the source database overwrites the record in the destination database.

        • If the table schemas are inconsistent, only some columns of data may be migrated, or the migration may fail. Proceed with caution.

      Source Objects

      Select one or more objects from the Source Objects section. Click the Rightwards arrow icon and add the objects to the Selected Objects section.

      Note

      The granularity for selecting migration objects is schema, table, and column. If you select only tables or columns as migration objects, other objects such as views, triggers, and stored procedures are not migrated to the destination database.

      Selected Objects

      Note
      • If you rename an object, the migration of any objects that depend on it may fail.

      • To filter data by using a WHERE clause, right-click the table in the Selected Objects box and specify the filter condition in the dialog box that appears. For more information, see Set filter conditions.

      • To select SQL operations to migrate at the database or table level, right-click the migration object in the Selected Objects box and select the desired SQL operations in the dialog box that appears.

    2. Click Next: Advanced Settings to configure advanced parameters.

      Parameter

      Description

      Dedicated Cluster for Task Scheduling

      By default, DTS schedules tasks on a shared cluster. You do not need to select one. If you want more stable tasks, you can purchase a dedicated cluster to run DTS migration tasks.

      Retry Time for Failed Connections

      After the migration task starts, if the connection to the source or destination database fails, DTS reports an error and immediately begins to retry the connection. The default retry duration is 720 minutes. You can customize the retry time to a value from 10 to 1440 minutes. We recommend that you set the duration to more than 30 minutes. If DTS reconnects to the source and destination databases within the specified duration, the migration task automatically resumes. Otherwise, the task fails.

      Note
      • For multiple DTS instances that share the same source or destination, the network retry time is determined by the setting of the last created task.

      • Because you are charged for the task during the connection retry period, we recommend that you customize the retry time based on your business needs, or release the DTS instance as soon as possible after the source and destination database instances are released.

      Retry Time for Other Issues

      After the migration task starts, if a non-connectivity issue, such as a DDL or DML execution exception, occurs in the source or destination database, DTS reports an error and immediately begins to retry the operation. The default retry duration is 10 minutes. You can customize the retry time to a value from 1 to 1440 minutes. We recommend that you set the duration to more than 10 minutes. If the related operations succeed within the specified retry duration, the migration task automatically resumes. Otherwise, the task fails.

      Important

      The value of Retry Time for Other Issues must be less than the value of Retry Time for Failed Connections.

      Enable Throttling for Full Data Migration

      During full migration, DTS consumes read and write resources on the source and destination databases, which may increase the database load. If required, you can enable throttling for the full migration task. You can set Queries per second (QPS) to the source database, RPS of Full Data Migration, and Data migration speed for full migration (MB/s) to reduce the load on the destination database.

      Note
      • This configuration item is available only if you select Full Data Migration for Migration Types.

      • You can also adjust the full migration speed after the migration instance is running.

      Enable Throttling for Incremental Data Migration

      If required, you can also choose to set speed limits for the incremental migration task. You can set RPS of Incremental Data Migration and Data migration speed for incremental migration (MB/s) to reduce the load on the destination database.

      Note
      • This configuration item is available only if you select Incremental Data Migration for Migration Types.

      • You can also adjust the incremental migration speed after the migration instance is running.

      Environment Tag

      You can select an environment tag to identify the instance. In this example, no selection is needed.

      Whether to delete SQL operations on heartbeat tables of forward and reverse tasks

      Choose whether DTS writes heartbeat SQL information to the source database while the instance is running.

      • Yes: Does not write heartbeat SQL information to the source database. The DTS instance may display latency.

      • No: Writes heartbeat SQL information to the source database. This may interfere with source database operations like physical backups and cloning.

      Configure ETL

      Based on your business needs, select whether to configure the ETL feature to process data.

      • Yes: Configures the ETL feature. You must also enter data processing statements in the text box.

      • No: Does not configure the ETL feature.

      Monitoring and Alerting

      Select whether to set alerts and receive alert notifications based on your business needs.

      • No: Does not set an alert.

      • Yes: Configure alerts by setting an alert threshold and an alert notifications. If a migration fails or the latency exceeds the threshold, the system sends an alert notification.

    3. Click Next: Data Validation to configure a data validation task.

      For more information about the data validation feature, see Configure data validation.

  6. Save the task and run a precheck.

    • To view the parameters for configuring this instance when you call the API operation, move the pointer over the Next: Save Task Settings and Precheck button and click Preview OpenAPI parameters in the bubble that appears.

    • If you do not need to view or have finished viewing the API parameters, click Next: Save Task Settings and Precheck at the bottom of the page.

    Note
    • Before the migration task starts, DTS performs a precheck. The task starts only after it passes the precheck.

    • If the precheck fails, click View Details next to the failed check item, fix the issue based on the prompt, and then run the precheck again.

    • If a warning is reported during the precheck:

      • For check items that cannot be ignored, click View Details next to the failed item, fix the issue based on the prompt, and then run the precheck again.

      • For check items that can be ignored, you can click Confirm Alert Details, Ignore, OK, and Precheck Again to skip the alert item and run the precheck again. If you choose to ignore a warning, it may cause issues such as data inconsistency and pose risks to your business.

  7. Purchase the instance.

    1. When the Success Rate is 100%, click Next: Purchase Instance.

    2. On the Purchase page, select the link specification for the data migration instance. For more information, see the following table.

      Category

      Parameter

      Description

      New Instance Class

      Resource Group Settings

      Select the resource group to which the instance belongs. The default value is default resource group. For more information, see What is Resource Management?

      Instance Class

      DTS provides migration specifications with different performance levels. The link specification affects the migration speed. You can select a specification based on your business scenario. For more information, see Data migration link specifications.

    3. After the configuration is complete, read and select Data Transmission Service (Pay-as-you-go) Service Terms.

    4. Click Buy and Start. In the OK dialog box that appears, click OK.

      You can view the progress of the migration task on the Data Migration Tasks list page.

      Note
      • If the migration task does not include incremental migration, it stops automatically after the full migration is complete. After the task stops, its Status changes to Completed.

      • If the migration task includes incremental migration, it does not stop automatically. The incremental migration task continues to run. While the incremental migration task is running, the Status of the task is Running.