How do I migrate data from a MySQL database to an ApsaraDB for Redis instance? - Data Transmission Service

Data Transmission Service (DTS) allows you to migrate data from a self-managed MySQL database or an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance to a Tair or ApsaraDB for Redis instance. This reduces the load on backend relational databases and improves user experience. This topic describes how to migrate data from an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance to an ApsaraDB for Redis instance.

Prerequisites

The tables to be migrated from the source database must contain primary keys.
A destination ApsaraDB for Redis instance is created, whose available storage space is larger than the total size of the data in the source ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance. For more information, see Step 1: Create an ApsaraDB for Redis instance.
Note
For information about the supported versions of the source and destination databases, see Overview of data migration scenarios.

Limits

Category	Description
Limits on the source database	The objects to be migrated must contain primary keys. If you select tables as the objects to be migrated and you need to edit the tables in the destination database, such as renaming tables or columns, up to 1,000 tables can be migrated 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 configure multiple tasks to migrate the tables in batches or configure a task to migrate the entire database. The following requirements for binary logs must be met: By default, the binary logging feature is enabled. The binlog_row_image parameter must be set to full. Otherwise, error messages are returned during the precheck and the data migration task cannot be started. For more information, see Modify instance parameters. Important If the source database is a self-managed MySQL database, you must enable the binary logging feature and set the binlog_format parameter to row and the binlog_row_image parameter to full. If the source database is a self-managed MySQL database deployed in a dual-primary cluster, you must set the log_slave_updates parameter to ON. This ensures that DTS can obtain all binary logs. For more information, see Create an account for a self-managed MySQL database and configure binary logging. The binary logs of the source database must be stored for at least seven days. 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 guarantee service reliability or performance. For more information about how to manage the binary log files of an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance, see Manage binary log files.
Other limits	The source and destination databases must reside in the China (Qingdao) region. If the transparent data encryption (TDE) feature is enabled for the destination instance, you cannot use DTS to migrate data. By default, the maxmemory-policy parameter that specifies how data is evicted is set to volatile-lru for ApsaraDB for Redis instances. If the destination instance has insufficient memory, data inconsistency may occur between the source and destination instances due to data eviction. In this case, the data synchronization task does not stop running. To prevent data inconsistency, we recommend that you set maxmemory-policy to noeviction for the destination instance. This way, the data synchronization task fails if the destination instance has insufficient memory, but data loss can be prevented for the destination instance. Note For more information about data eviction policies, see How does ApsaraDB for Redis evict data by default? DTS uses the resources of the source and destination databases during initial full data migration. This may increase the loads on the database servers. If you migrate a large volume of data or if the server specifications cannot meet your requirements, database services may become unavailable. Before you migrate data, evaluate the impact of data migration on the performance of the source and destination instances. We recommend that you migrate data during off-peak hours. If the destination instance is deployed in a cluster architecture and the amount of memory used by a shard in the destination instance reaches the upper limit, or if the available storage space of the destination instance is insufficient, the data migration task fails due to out of memory (OOM). During data migration, we recommend that you use only DTS to write data to the destination database. This prevents data inconsistency between the source and destination databases.
Special cases	If the source database is a self-managed MySQL database, take note of the following limits: If you perform a primary/secondary switchover 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 source database runs on an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance: If you want to migrate incremental data, you cannot use a read-only ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance that does not record transaction logs, such as an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL V5.6 instance, as the source instance.

Billing

Migration type	Task configuration fee	Internet traffic fee
Schema migration and full data migration	Free of charge.	Free of charge in this example.
Incremental data migration	Charged. For more information, see Billing overview.	Free of charge in this example.

SQL operations that can be incrementally migrated

Operation type	SQL statement
DML	INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE

Permissions required for database accounts

Database	Required permission	References
Source ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance	Read permissions on the objects to be migrated	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
Destination ApsaraDB for Redis instance	Read and write permissions on the destination instance	Create and manage database accounts

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
- Operations may vary based on the mode and layout of the DMS console. For more information, see Simple mode and Customize the layout and style of the DMS console.
- You can also go to the Data Migration Tasks page of the new DTS console.
From the drop-down list next to Data Migration Tasks, select the region in which the data migration instance resides.
Note If you use the new DTS console, you must select the region in which the data migration instance resides in the upper-left corner.

Click Create Task. On the Create Task wizard, configure the source and destination databases. The following table describes the parameters.

Section	Parameter	Description
N/A	Task Name	The name of the task. DTS automatically assigns a name to the task. We recommend that you specify a descriptive name that makes it easy to identify the task. You do not need to specify a unique task name.
Source Database	Select an existing DMS database instance. (Optional. If you have not registered a DMS database instance, ignore this option and configure database settings in the section below.)	The database instance that you want to use. You can choose whether to select an existing instance based on your business requirements. If you select an existing instance, DTS automatically populates the parameters for the database. If you do not select an existing instance, you must manually configure parameters for the database.
	Database Type	The type of the source database. Select MySQL.
	Access Method	The access method of the source database. Select Alibaba Cloud Instance.
	Instance Region	The region in which the source ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance resides.
	Replicate Data Across Alibaba Cloud Accounts	Specifies whether to migrate data across Alibaba Cloud accounts. In this example, No is selected.
	RDS Instance ID	The ID of the source ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance.
	Database Account	The database account of the source ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance. For information about the permissions that are required for the account, see the Permissions required for database accounts section of this topic.
	Database Password	The password of the database account.
	Encryption	Specifies whether to encrypt the connection to the database. Select Non-encrypted or SSL-encrypted based on your business requirements. If you select SSL-encrypted, you must enable SSL encryption for the ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance before you configure the data synchronization task. For more information, see Configure the SSL encryption feature.
Destination Database	Select an existing DMS database instance. (Optional. If you have not registered a DMS database instance, ignore this option and configure database settings in the section below.)	The database instance that you want to use. You can choose whether to select an existing instance based on your business requirements. If you select an existing instance, DTS automatically populates the parameters for the database. If you do not select an existing instance, you must manually configure parameters for the database.
	Database Type	The type of the destination database. Select ApsaraDB for Redis Enhanced Edition (Tair).
	Access Method	The access method of the destination database. Select Alibaba Cloud Instance.
	Instance Region	The region in which the destination ApsaraDB for Redis instance resides.
	Instance ID	The ID of the destination ApsaraDB for Redis instance.
	Database Password	The database password of the destination ApsaraDB for Redis instance. Note The database password is in the <user>:<password> format. For example, if the username of the account that you use to log on to the destination ApsaraDB for Redis instance is admin and the password is Rp829dlwa, the database password is admin:Rp829dlwa.

In the lower part of the page, click Test Connectivity and Proceed.
If the source or destination database is an Alibaba Cloud database instance, such as an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL or ApsaraDB for MongoDB instance, DTS automatically adds the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the IP address whitelist of the instance. 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 must make sure that the ECS instance can access the database. If the self-managed database is hosted on multiple ECS instances, you must manually add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the security group rules of each ECS instance. 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 IP address whitelist of the database to allow DTS to access the database. For more information, see the "CIDR blocks of DTS servers" section of the Add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the security settings of on-premises databases topic.
Warning
If the public CIDR blocks of DTS servers are automatically or manually added to the IP address whitelist of a database instance or to the security group rules of an ECS instance, 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 account and password, limiting the ports that are exposed, authenticating API calls, regularly checking the IP address whitelist or ECS security group rules and forbidding unauthorized CIDR blocks, and connecting the database to DTS by using Express Connect, VPN Gateway, or Smart Access Gateway.

Configure the objects to be migrated and advanced settings.

Parameter	Description
Migration Types	To perform only full data migration, select only Full Data Migration. To ensure service continuity during data migration, select Full Data Migration and Incremental Data Migration. Note If you do not select Incremental Data Migration, we recommend that you do not write data to the source database during data migration. This ensures data consistency between the source and destination databases.
Processing Mode of Conflicting Tables	Precheck and Report Errors: checks whether the destination database is empty. If the destination database is empty, the precheck is passed. Otherwise, an error is returned during the precheck and the data migration task cannot be started. Ignore Errors and Proceed: skips the precheck on whether the destination database is empty. Warning If you select Ignore Errors and Proceed, the data in the source database overwrites the data in the destination database that has the same keys as the source data. This may cause data loss in the destination database. Proceed with caution.
Source Objects	Select one or more objects from the Source Objects section and click the icon to add the objects to the Selected Objects section. Note You can select columns, tables, or databases as the objects to be migrated.
Selected Objects	If you want to specify the destination database on the ApsaraDB for Redis instance, right-click the schema to be migrated in the Selected Objects section, configure the following parameters, and then click OK. Mapping Name of ApsaraDB for Redis Database (0 to 255): the name of the database that is used to receive data. You need to only enter a number. Cache Mapping Mode: the format of the data that is migrated to the ApsaraDB for Redis instance. Move the pointer over the icon next to an option to view the note. If you set the Cache Mapping Mode parameter to Key-Value Model Based on Database, Table, and Primary Key, you must also configure the Value Separation Method parameter. Note Schema names and table names are not supported by the object name mapping feature. 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, see the SQL operations that can be incrementally migrated section of this topic. To specify WHERE conditions to filter data, right-click a table in the Selected Objects section. In the dialog box that appears, specify the conditions. For more information, see Set filter conditions.

Click Next: Advanced Settings to configure advanced settings.

Parameter	Description
Select the dedicated cluster used to schedule the task	By default, DTS schedules the data migration task to the shared cluster if you do not specify a dedicated cluster. You can also purchase and specify a dedicated cluster of the required specifications to run the data migration task. For more information, see What is a DTS dedicated cluster.
Set Alerts	Specifies whether to configure alerting for the data migration task. If the task fails or the migration latency exceeds the specified threshold, the alert contacts will receive notifications. Valid values: No: does not configure alerting. Yes: configures alerting. If you select Yes, you must also specify the alert threshold and alert contacts. For more information, see Configure monitoring and alerting.
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 retry 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 is reconnected to the source and destination databases within the specified retry 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 share the same source or destination database, the value that is specified later 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 requirements. You can also release the DTS instance at your earliest opportunity after the source and destination instances are released.
The wait time before a retry when other issues occur in the source and destination databases.	The retry time range for other issues. For example, if DDL or DML operations fail to be performed after the data migration task is started, DTS immediately retries the operations within the retry time range. Valid values: 1 to 1440. Unit: minutes. Default value: 10. We recommend that you set the parameter to a value greater than 10. If the failed operations are successfully performed within the specified retry time range, DTS resumes the data migration task. Otherwise, the data migration task fails. Important The value of the The wait time before a retry when other issues occur in the source and destination databases parameter must be smaller than the value of the Retry Time for Failed Connections parameter.
Enable Throttling for Full Data Migration	Specifies whether to enable throttling for full data migration. During full data migration, DTS uses the read and write resources of the source and destination databases. This may increase the loads of the database servers. You can enable throttling for full data migration based on your business requirements. To configure throttling, you must configure the Queries per second (QPS) to the source database, RPS of Full Data Migration, and Data migration speed for full migration (MB/s) parameters. This reduces the loads of the destination database server. Note This parameter is displayed only when Full Data Migration is selected as Migration Types.
Enable Throttling for Incremental Data Migration	Specifies whether to enable throttling for incremental data migration. To configure throttling, you must configure the RPS of Incremental Data Migration and Data migration speed for incremental migration (MB/s) parameters. This reduces the loads of the destination database server. Note This parameter is displayed only when Incremental Data Migration is selected as Migration Types.
Environment Tag	The environment tag that is used to identify the DTS instance. You can select an environment tag based on your business requirements. In this example, no environment tag is selected.
Cache Expiration Time	The validity period of the keys after data is migrated to the ApsaraDB for Redis instance. Configure this parameter based on your business requirements. Important A value of -1 specifies that the keys never expire. This may cause the ApsaraDB for Redis instance to run out of memory, and exceptions occur in the migration task.
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 synchronization task. No: does not configure the ETL feature.

Save the task settings and run a precheck.
- To view the parameters to be specified when you call the relevant API operation to configure the DTS task, move the pointer over Next: Save Task Settings and Precheck and click Preview OpenAPI parameters.
- If you do not need to view or have viewed the parameters, click Next: Save Task Settings and Precheck in the lower part of the page.
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 error message, you can run a precheck again.
- If an alert is triggered for an item during the precheck:
  If the alert item cannot be ignored, click View Details next to the failed item and troubleshoot the issues. Then, run a precheck again.
  If the 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 becomes 100%. Then, click Next: Purchase Instance.

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

Section	Parameter	Description
New Instance Class	Resource Group	The resource group to which the data migration instance belongs. Default value: default resource group. For more information, see What is Resource Management?
New Instance Class	Instance Class	DTS provides 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 agree to Data Transmission Service (Pay-as-you-go) Service Terms by selecting the check box.
Click Buy and Start to start the data migration task. You can view the progress of the task in the task list.